Thanks to a complete team effort, the Woodland Christian baseball team took one step closer to back-to-back section championships when they defeated Colfax 5-3 in game one of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D6 semifinals at Traficant Memorial Field.

The Cardinals (24-6, 14-0 Sierra Delta League) came into Monday evening’s game one after a fun, walk-off 10-0 mercy rule win over No. 7 seed Summerville in the CIF SJS quarterfinals last week. Before that, the No. 2-seeded Cardinals destroyed Humphreys Able Charter 15-1 in the first round.

No. 3 seed Colfax (12-11, 5-7 Pioneer Valley League) came into the game after taking out No. 6 seed Ripon Christian 17-7 in the quarterfinals last week. Before that game, they defeated No. 14 seed Western Sierra Collegiate Academy 18-2 in the opening round.During the regular season, the Falcons enjoyed a fifth-place finish in the ultra-competitive PVL, a league won by Oakmont, which just defeated Pioneer High School in the D3 quarterfinals last week by the score of 3-2.

“You always want to win the first game, and we did that,” Cardinals head coach Nelson Randolph said. “We needed a good dog fight in which we were in, and it just shows the team’s character that we didn’t waver on anything, even though the game got close, we stayed the course, and it was a good victory.”

Things looked to get off to a dicey start for the Cardinals as starting pitcher Kyle Misner got into a bit of a jam in the top of the first inning, allowing runners to reach second and third. Misner, however, managed to compose himself enough to end the inning with a strikeout.

The Cardinals then made Colfax pay for stranding a few runners by pouring in three runs in the bottom of the second inning.

The first run came via a Kyle Misner single that eventually scored junior Armaan Badhesha to make it 1-0. Senior Owen Tessier then crossed home plate on a Gary Mann fielder’s choice to make it 2-0 before junior Jordan Villanueva came up to double home Misner and make it 3-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Cardinals got one more manufactured small-ball run to make it 4-0. Tessier began the one-man offensive showing by reaching base on a passed ball on a third strike. He then stole second base and later made it to third base on a Gary Mann fielder’s choice.

Freshman Billy Flowers then came up to single home Tessier and give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

The inning continued up until the home side loaded the bases on the Falcons, but a dubious call at first base ended the inning and allowed the Colfax players to gleefully race off the diamond with only the one run allowed.

In the top of the fifth, the visitors carried over the momentum from the bottom of the fourth into their at-bats and loaded up the bases with no outs. A single then brought home their first run, making it 4-1.

Misner looked to be in some real trouble but calmly got out of the jam once again by inducing a ground ball right to him that he relayed back to Armaan Badhesha at home plate for the force out. The Cardinals then happily traded the second out for the Falcons’ second run on a ground ball to the shortstop, who threw the ball to first for the easy out.

However, a passed ball to the next batter allowed the Falcons to score another run and cut the lead to just 4-3. With Misner now out of the game, fellow Senior Wyatt Trafican came in from the bullpen and eventually got the Cardinals out of the inning, clinging to the lead.

Misner finished the game with a steady 4.2 innings pitched, allowing 5 hits, 3 runs, and striking out an outstanding 7 batters.

“It’s important to keep them on their toes, keep them off balance, force weak contact for the fielders who I know have my back,” Misner said about his performance. “It also keeps me a lot less stressed on the mound, knowing that I have someone else (Trafican) who can come in and dominate.”

“I knew no matter what happened there, my team had my back,” Trafican said. “When I go into situations like that, I never worry about the score because if we need to score runs, we will. Kyle gave me a great game to work with to come in and finish it off.”

In the bottom half of the inning, Trafican came up just as big at the plate, hitting a bloop single over the shortstop’s outstretched glove, allowing senior Jandro Torres to score from second base and make it 5-3.

After a seamless top-of-the-sixth inning from Trafican, the Cardinals loaded up the bases again in the bottom half. They were looking to get some key insurance runs, but a flyout to the right field ended the inning.

Trafican then came out for the final inning to slam the door shut on the Falcons and take game one of the series. He finished the game with a clutch 2.1 innings pitched, allowing only 1 hit, a walk, and striking out two.

“We know what it’s like, and we know that game two is like everything,” Trafican said. “We are locked in and want to do everything we can to win. We know what we must do and need to take care of business. That’s where our mindset is going to be.”

Up next for the Cardinals will be a trip to Colfax for game two of the series, with a first pitch set for 4:30 p.m.

While playing at home is always welcome, which would be the case for a potential game three, the Cardinals would be best served to try to end the series with a sweep. Two years ago, their playoff run ended after taking a 1-0 series lead over Ripon Christian.

“We are happy but not satisfied,” Randolph said. “We did this a couple of years ago against Ripon Christian, winning the first game. We sort of kicked back, allowed them to get all the momentum, and beat us twice. We are going to learn from a few years ago and come ready to battle on Wednesday.

“The weather might have some sort of factor, but we are going to be hungry. We now know that we can beat this team, and so I think we’ll go with a different attitude than we had today.”