You can’t win ’em all, but you have to at least try.

That’s what the Woodland Christian baseball team attempted to do on Thursday night and Friday afternoon, but in the end, they fell 15-11 to Menlo School in the CIF NorCal Championships regional semifinals.

The Cardinals came into the matchup after beating Durham 10-0 in five innings during their NorCal opener this past Tuesday.

With the loss, however, the Cardinals’ dreams of a second consecutive treble fall just short after completing the first two legs of it earlier this year, including winning the Sierra Delta League championship, and the still-freshly won CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D6 championship.

Menlo School (23-8, 13-1 Peninsula-Ocean Baseball) also came into the matchup having wrapped up two championships this year, including the POB league title and the CIF D5 Central Coast Section championship, defeating Monterey 5-4 back on May 29.

The Knights then earned the No. 5 seed in the D4 NorCal bracket and upset No. 4-seeded Las Lomas 2-0 this past Tuesday. They will face off against No. 3 seed Santa Clara on Saturday.

Last season, Menlo School lost to the Cardinals in the NorCal title game, so they will be eager to continue to avenge that painful loss.

The Cardinals got off to a less-than-ideal start after giving up a lead-off double that would eventually score and give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

That lead, however, soon evaporated into thin air like water on my radiator last night as the Cardinals poured on four runs in the top of the first inning.

Junior and CIF SJS D6 title run hero Jayden Badhesha led off the scoring with a double to center field, bringing home Jordan Villanueva and Jeffery Nannini to make it 2-1. Armaan Badhesha then got in on the action with a single, scoring his brother, Jayden, to make it 3-1.

For the final run, senior Owen Tessier would knock in fellow senior Jandro Torres on a single to left to make it 4-1.

While things looked to be going smoothly, walk issues arose for the Cardinals in the marathon-esque top of the second inning as the Knights knocked senior Kyle Misner out of the game, forcing the Cardinals to turn to junior Jordan Villanueva.

Villanueva looked to have found a path out of an impossible bases loaded with no outs situation after striking out the first batter, but then fell into his own command issues, walking two straight batters to make it 4-3.

The Cardinals then graciously traded an out for a run on a fielder’s choice to get the runner at second base, but a fielding error allowed an extra run to score, giving the Knights a 5-4 lead.

Menlo School added two more runs in the top of the third before the Cardinals added one themselves in the bottom half of the inning courtesy of a Torres line drive that scored Jayden Badhesha, making it 7-5.

After a scoreless fourth inning, the fireworks picked right back up in the fifth as the Cardinals remembered just who they were and what they were capable of with their bats.

Menlo appeared to have broken the game wide open with three huge runs to go up 10-5. With the innings dwindling and their backs up against the wall, the Cardinals leaned on the middle part of the order, more specifically Tessier, to get them back into the game.

Jayden Badhesha would draw a walk before a Torres double set the stage for Tessier. With runners on second and third, Tessier squared up the pitch and smashed a line drive over the left field fence for an emphatic three-run home run. After rounding third base, a jubilant Tessier touched home plate, made it 10-8, and then leaped into his teammate’s arms, signaling the start of a whole new ball game.

A single in the top of the sixth inning to drive in one more run gave Menlo a bit of insurance going into the final two innings, as they clung to an 11-8 lead.

The grip must not have been strong enough, as the Cardinals mounted another huge inning to tie the game up at 11-11.

Jayden Badhesha led off with a double that scored Villanueva to make it 11-9. Torres then came up and grounded out, but still managed to score Nannini from third base to cut the lead to just one. With the pressure on, Armaan Badhesha came up and singled to center, scoring his brother and tying the game up at 11-11.

After only the third scoreless half inning of the night, the Cardinals had a chance to end the game in the bottom of the seventh. With the sun dangerously low and two outs, the Cardinals’ Gary Mann reached third base. Menlo, however, had no plans to get on the bus home just yet and got out of the inning following a Nannini strikeout that sent the game to extras.

Menlo School made the Cardinals pay for not ending the game in the inning before by scoring four runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a commanding 15-11 lead.

The Cardinals came up ready to attack the deficit and led off with Jayden Badhesha. After fouling off two pitches, the umpire decided the game would be postponed until Friday at noon due to a lack of sunlight.

After a 15 or so hour break, Badhesha would be out at first after a dropped third strike. A walk to Torres gave the Cardinals hope, but a flyout quickly cut the Cardinals’ season to just one out.

Then came some life. Tessier would take one for the team and get drilled by a pitch to reach first before Parker Howald drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Menlo School, however, dug deep, remembered the pain of last year’s loss, and channeled it into a strikeout on a full count to win the regional semifinal and advance straight into the NorCal regional championship.

The NorCal regional final will be played between Menlo School and D4 No. 3 seed Santa Clara on Saturday.