With the playoffs just a few weeks away, the Woodland Christian varsity baseball team kicked off its penultimate Sierra Delta League series of the season against Golden Sierra in style with a 14-0 home win Tuesday afternoon.

The Cardinals (19-6, 11-0, SDL) entered the matchup just two games ahead of Vacaville Christian for first place in the SDL, thanks to having already beaten them twice this year by scores of 11-1 and 12-0.

Despite the two losses to the Cardinals, Vacaville Christian looks all but assured to win its final three SDL games, meaning the Cardinals still need to win two out of their final three games to guarantee themselves an outright league title.

“Facing the teams we face doesn’t help us out too much,” Cardinals head coach Nelson Randolph said. “Therefore, we have to stay focused and remind the kids to win each inning at a time. I know they can become complacent, and the intensity won’t be as high as it needs to be all the time, so we have to put in a lot of work on the days we don’t play.”

Coming into the matchup, the Cardinals faced a tough test during a tournament last week, during which they took their lumps, going 1-3 with losses to Chico, Del Campo and Bella Vista, but a 6-4 win over Consumes Oaks. While the SDL might not prove to be a significant challenge, the tournaments and non-league games have helped keep the Cardinals sharp.

“That tournament will help us out quite a bit due to playing a few D2 or D3 schools and facing everyone’s No.1 pitcher,” Randolph said. “We didn’t play our best and made some mistakes we need to fix, but as long as we do that, we can compete with anyone at the next stage of our season.”

Two runs in the bottom of the second, eight in the bottom of the third, and a four insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth proved to be too much for Golden Sierra to deal with.

Junior Armaan Badhesha kicked off the scoring with a single that scored fellow junior Jordan Villanueva to make it 1-0. They would double their lead after a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt from senior Gary Mann, which managed to score Badhesha and make it 2-0.

The Cardinals poured it on in the next inning and kicked things off with a Jandro Torres line drive that managed to score fellow senior Owen Tessier. They made it 5-0 after Villanueva doubled to bring home Torres and senior Jeffrey Nannini.

Two consecutive singles from Badhesha and then Mann brought home two more runs to make it 7-0 before crafty baserunning from Mann culminated with a run on a passed ball to make it 8-0.

The final two runs of the inning activated the 10-run mercy rule and came courtesy of a Jayden Badhesha double that brought home twins Ethan and Parker Howald.

In the bottom of the fourth, Ethan Howland would reach first on a throwing error that allowed Nannini to score and make it 11-0. A Parker Howald fielder’s choice scored Jayden Badhesha to make it 12-0 before a Mateo Torres single to left field managed to score Parker Howald thanks to a bad throw to third base.

The game’s final run came courtesy of a passed ball that allowed Parker Howald to score and make it 14-0.

Up next for the Cardinals will be the final series of the season with Golden Sierra, with the road game set for Thursday at 4 p.m. at Golden Sierra High School. The team’s final regular season game and Senior Night is set for Thursday, May 1, at Mesa Verde. Both games are set for 4 p.m.

“It’s been incredible to see the seniors grow,” Randolph said. “It’s been remarkable to see the growth of the players over the past few years. It’s going to be both fun and sad to see them all on senior night, but we’re going to embrace and enjoy it. I look forward to all the coming games we will play with the seniors.”