Photos? What kind of wood? What is the stain? What does it look like after poly is applied?

We used Minwax in Red Oak Have not applied poly yet

The wood is pine

Pine is about the trickiest wood to stain since the soft areas absorb the stain readily and the hard areas barely at all. I’ve found that extensive sanding is required before staining, if you are trying for a dark stain like this you probably need a wood conditioner as well.

As for the color itself there are tons of colors available, every species take stain differently so what works on oak won’t work on pine, even white and yellow pine take stain very differently.

Any advice on how to save the boards we have?

If you have not put poly on it then do another coat noting that the wood will only absorb as much as it can. If you find you want a darker tone then you will have to go with a solid stain or gel stain instead. Read the can of instructions. You are best to make sure it is fully dry and do an extra fine sandpaper sanding before you do a second coat.

Ok,time out. First off flip trim and experiment on backside until you get it right. Conditioner prevents blotchy spots but doesn't make much difference in tone. Clear coat will change the appearance so I suggest staining back of a piece then applying your choice of clear to see what it looks like. If it still has blue cast,apply Sedona Red 222 over Red Oak,clear coat and see what you think. Apply sedona red to raw wood,clear and see if that suits you. , On the matter of sanding between coats,I never sand between coats of oil base stain and finish. After water base stan dries I feel for "wiskers" and if present I only sand enough to cut them off,

I received this instructions from a friend and it worked for me. Hope it helps you as well. I used it on poplar and pine

Sand 150

100% wax free shellac as conditioner

Mix equal parts dewaxed Shellac, alcohol based stain and detanure alcohol

Apply to wood

Apply poly 

Water sand 600