While the beginning of the game might have been a lot closer than they were accustomed to, the end of the game mirrored most of this season’s results as the Woodland Christian varsity baseball team defeated Summerville 10-0 in five innings to advance to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI semifinals.

Led by 10 strikeouts from junior Jayden Badhesha and 3 hits and 3 RBI from sophomore sensation Billy Flowers, the No. 2-seeded Cardinals (23-6, 14-0 Sierra Delta League) are now set to face the No. 3-seeded Colfax next week in a three-game series semifinal.

Game one is set for 4 p.m. at Trafican Memorial Field on Monday, game two will be at Colfax on Wednesday, and if necessary, game three will be back at Trafican on Thursday, with first pitch set for 4 p.m.

While many of the Cardinal’s SDL matchups might not have tested them, late-season tournament matchups against teams like Chico, Bella Vista, Consumnes Oaks and Del Campo gave the team a different look on the diamond to better prepare them for another run at a section championship.

“We have had a few tough games already this year, and that really helped us because they were close games,” Cardinals Jandro Torres said. “It helped us build some grit, and that then helps in these types of playoff games. We just know that we can win because we played that hard of competition.”

Summerville (14-14-1, 10-5 Mother Lode League) came into the matchup after a second-place finish in the MLL, earning them the D6 No. 7 seed. They defeated No. 10 seed Mariposa County 20-10 in their opening round matchup this past Tuesday. In the same round, the No. 2-seeded Cardinals defeated the No. 15-seeded Humphreys Able Charter 15-1.

After a scoreless first inning, the Cardinals got the bats going in the bottom of the second.

After Torres and Owen Tessier reached base safely, fellow senior Gary Mann came up to slap a double into center field, scoring both to go up 2-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Cardinals poured on three more runs to go up 5-0. Following a Mann walk and Parker Howald bunt, Flowers cleared the bases with a double and made it 4-0. Senior Jeffrey Nannini then smacked a single to center field and scored Flowers to make it 5-0.

“It’s really fun when everyone is scoring,” Torres said. “It really takes some pressure off our shoulders once we get all those runs. We also find a way to stay focused on the game because anything can happen.”

With five more runs to go to activate the 10-run rule, the Cardinals got to work.

Junior Armaan Badhesha would knock home Torres for the first run to make it 6-0. The Cardinals then loaded the bases with Badhesha on third, Tessier on second after being hit by a pitch, and Mann on first after beating out an infield single.

With the pressure on, senior Parker Howald would single and score Badhesha to make it 7-0. Flowers then came up huge yet again with a single to left, scoring Tessier to make it 8-0.

The Cardinals sensed the end of the game was near, and after Nannini came up to smack a deep single to center, Mann and Flowers crossed home plate to send the Cardinals to the semis with a 10-0 win.

“We need to just keep playing how we are playing and make sure that when we get to practice, we get to work,” Torres said. “We need to know that we need to work and want it more than anyone else does.”