On a windy Wednesday afternoon in the City of Trees, Woodland Christian High School varsity baseball head coach John Rodegerdts began his final postseason run and the Cardinals took care of business in the quarterfinals of the Division VII CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Playoffs.
The Cardinals (20-4) beat the Knights (3-11) by a final score of 12-1 in five innings on Wednesday afternoon at Joseph Trafican Memorial Field to reach the D7 semifinals for the second straight season.
“I think we could play crisper but this is a good first start. It’s always good to get the W and now we know what to expect,” Rodegerdts said. “We got Turlock Christian next so I’m looking forward to that. We feel in D7, we got the deepest pitching staff. The three game series series doesn’t scare us.”
Woodland Christian tallied 4 runs in the first frame. Buckingham Charter scored its lone run in the top of the fourth, then the Cardinals responded with 8 in the bottom half to trigger the 10-run mercy rule after five frames.
“I think we played good as a team. We came out ready to play hard. We want to go for sections this year, we think we got a chance,” said junior second baseman Jeffrey Nannini. “I think we did good getting ready for today. We practiced a lot of hitting in the field.”
The opening inning was kick-started by 2 big hits. Sophomore first baseman Jayden Badhesha got Woodland Christian on the scoreboard with a multi-RBI double to deep left center field, scoring Nannini and junior outfielder Owen Tessier. Badhesha proceeded to steal third base, then scored on a passed ball at third. Senior third baseman Abriean Eredia concluded the frame with an inside-the-park solo home run to make the score 4-0.
The 8-run fourth inning for the Cardinals was punctuated with a 2-run blast by Badhesha, his third of the year and first in the postseason, increasing the advantage to 10-1. Jayden’s twin brother, sophomore catcher Armaan, ensured the game would wrap up early with a 2-run triple to right field.
“I saw the pitch well, hit that as my pitch and I was excited,” Jayden recalled. “That was huge to get the momentum and everyone woke up.”
Senior right-handed pitcher Wyatt “The Machine” Bickel (5-2) toed the rubber and earned the win. Woodland Christian’s ace tossed 4.0 frames, allowing 2 hits, 1 unearned run, 1 walk, 1 stolen base and 1 hit by pitch with 8 strikeouts on 58 pitches. Junior RHP Wyatt Trafican pitched a hitless final inning, tallying 2 Ks on 19 pitches.
“Wyatt was dominant, his fastball was good today. It’s hard to pitch in the north wind,” Rodegerdts explained. “You’re thrown right into the wind, don’t know exactly where the curveballs going and everything. He battled through that and threw a good four innings and then Trafican had to close it out for us.”
Jayden led the way offensively, going 2-for-2 with a game-high 4 RBI, two runs scored, 1 swiped bag and 1 walk. Eredia was 2-for-3 with 2 runs and 1 run batted in. Tessier went 1-for-1 with 1 free pass, 1 HBP, 2 runs and 3 stolen bases to reach 31 SB this season.
Nannini reached base in each plate appearance Wednesday recording 3 walks, 2 swiped bags and 2 runs.
“Just having good plate appearances, that was big for me,” Nannini recalled. “You know just seeing the ball, they didn’t give me any strikes, but I was ready to come back next time, hit the ball hard.”
The top seed Cardinals now have four days to prepare for the D7 CIF SJS Playoff semifinals, which is a best-of-three series, beginning Monday. Woodland Christian will host No. 4 Turlock Christian (14-5), who shutout Golden Sierra 5-0 in the quarterfinals.
Game 2 is Wednesday in Turlock. If needed, Game 3 would be Thursday in Woodland. First pitch of each contest is scheduled for 4 p.m.
“We definitely need to have the right mindset, we have to take practice serious. I mean, no goofing off. So everything is about the mindset,” Jayden foretold. “Coach Nelson says ‘Act like you want to win sections and act like the championship is on the line in every game.”
