CARDS WIN OPENER TO BEGIN PLAYOFFS
Woodland Christian wraps up 10-0 victory over Golden Sierra in six-inning demolition
Thanks to an explosive offensive team performance, highlighted by solo home runs from Evan Bilhman and Wyatt Bickel, the Woodland Christian varsity baseball team got off to a perfect start in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII playoffs when they hosted and defeated Golden Sierra 10-0.
With the win, the Cardinals advance to the D7 quarterfinals, where they will take on No. 3 seed Ripon Christian in a best-of-three-game series. Ripon Christian defeated No. 8 seed Turlock 11-1 Wednesday.
The first game of the series is set for Monday, May 15, at Woodland Christian. Game two is set for Wednesday, May 17, at Ripon Christian before the final game, if necessary, back at Woodland Chrisitan on Thursday. All games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
The Cardinals came into Wednesday night's home opening-round playoff matchup at Trafican Memorial Field against the Grizzlies following a nearperfect 9-1 season in the Central Valley California League along with an overall 19-3 record, earning them a league championship.
For their hard work, the Cardinals were rewarded with the No. 2 seed in D7. Delta was awarded the No. 4 seed and lost to No. 5 seed Valley Christian 8-3 Wednesday.
Out of Garden Valley, the Grizzlies enjoyed a 6-4 season in the Sierra Delta League, earning them the No. 7 seed.
“We were better this year,” said Cardinals head coach John Rodegerdts. “We didn't finish the season great, but today we really brought the effort and game. Today we did our job. We got key hits. Our pitching was phenomenal with Bickel and Huerta.”
The Cardinals enjoyed an early lead and never really let it go. In the bottom of the first, both Tevin Knight and Bilhman were walked in, giving the home side a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, the Cardinals' Zander Gimenez drove in Ethan Howland before Bilhman hit a solo home run to double the lead at 4-0.
In the top of the fourth, the Cardinals suffered through what was the most challenging stretch of the game for them after starting pitcher Jacob Huerta allowed runners to reach first and second base with no outs. While things looked dicey, Huerta got out of the jam with three straight strikeouts to preserve the four-run lead.
Huerta finished the game with four innings pitched, only allowing three hits and a walk while striking out eight.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cardinals broke the game wide open and practically ensured their passage to the semifinals. Jordan Sacramento kicked off the scoring with a sacrifice play to knock in Bilhman and go up 5-0. Gabe Sanchez then came up and knocked home Bickel, who hit a double in his earlier at bat.
Sanchez then scored from second base after Own Tessier hit a dribbler down the first base line that forced a bad throw from the Grizzlies' first baseman to the pitcher covering the base, making it 7-0.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Zander Gimenez came up to bat and singled home both Jacob Huerta and Owen Tessier to make it 9-0.
With the game firmly out of reach, Bickel stepped up to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning and hit a towering shot over the left field fence for a game-end
ing home run that activated the 10-run mercy rule.
Bickel finished the game on the mound for the Cardinals throwing two innings and striking out four. Bilhman led the way for the Cardinals' offense with three runs and three hits, including the second-inning home run. Gimenez had three RBI, while Sacramento knocked in two runs of his own.
“You need your guys to step up,” Rodegerdts said. “You have to have your top guys come through and for us they did tonight. We will keep working. We have a tough team coming up in Ripon Christian. They know how to win section championships.”
Next for the Cardinals will be an extended weekend before they host the Ripon Christian for game one. The first pitch is set for Monday, May 15, at 4 p.m. After that, the series winner will advance to the D7 championship against either No. 1 seed Turlock Christian or No. 5 seed Valley Christian, scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 23, at 4 p.m.
“I think the players now want this as much as the coaches want it,” Rodegerdts said. “We are right there, I don't know if we are favored against Ripon, but we are pretty even. It will be a great series. We travel well, they travel well, and they are excellently coached. So we are really looking forward to playing them.”