Shannon Cunningham is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Saguaro High School for AZPreps365.com.

A seven-run third inning propelled Saguaro past Marcos De Niza in a 4A Desert Sky regional matchup Monday afternoon, making the Sabercats 9-1 winners against the Padres. 

Saguaro took on Marcos at Steve R. Adolph Field in Tempe to finish its two-game series against the Padres. In those two matchups, the Sabercats outscored the Padres 19-1 and had 24 strikeouts with four different pitchers.

In Monday’s game, Marcos drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning after a leadoff single by sophomore Jesus Valles, who came around to score on a fielder’s choice by senior JP McIntyre.

That was all Marcos could muster against the Sabercats, as senior right-handed pitcher Billy Gregory only gave up five hits and struck out eight in his five innings of work.

“Just really focusing on hitting my spots today. Didn’t really feel the slider but changeup worked too, so that was helping me out, but mainly just spotting them today,” Gregory said.

Saguaro would eventually tie the game at one in the top of the second inning, after Marcos starting pitcher Izayiah Abril gave up a bases-loaded walk to Saguaro hitter Cam Caminiti. This came after Abril walked three of the previous four batters in the inning to load the bases.

The Sabercats would eventually run away with the game in the top of the third after putting up a seven spot in the inning to give them an 8-1 lead. In an inning that sent 11 Saguaro players to the plate, Marcos pitchers walked four of them. The Padres pitching staff ended the game with 10 free passes to the Sabercats, which was the deciding factor of the game.

In all of the innings where Saguaro scored, walks were the determining factors of how Saguaro hitters got on base and eventually scored. In two of the three innings that the Sabercats scored in, a leadoff walk was issued. 

The biggest hit of the night came off the bat of senior left fielder Chris Margarella, who opened up the game in the top of the third with a two-RBI triple. This came right after an RBI single by sophomore Alain Gudino-Gomez, who ended the night with two hits and two runs scored.

With the lead, head coach Joe Muecke was able to make substitutions to give some younger players on the team more experience before heading into the playoff atmosphere the next couple of weeks.

Senior Santiago Hernandez, who finished the day with two walks, two runs scored and a stolen base, was able to see some of his younger teammates thrive.

“It was really fun out there, having fun with the boys, everything you could do for the team,” Hernandez said. “Loved to see it, I gave one of my at-bats up, loved it, trying to get everybody ready for the next level.”

Once Saguaro got its lead, Gregory continued to cruise through the Padres lineup and finished his night with only one run and a free pass given up.

“It’s always nice, it gets the stress off the shoulders, but I mean no better feeling than having my guys behind me, I can’t ask for more,” Gregory said.

Senior Jackson Potter came on for the six-out save in the top of the sixth to finish the game for the Sabercats. The senior worked his way through the Padres lineup and struck out four of the eight batters he faced and ended the game with a strikeout swinging.

“My boys, they did it all for me at the start, they got me a 9-1 lead and I knew I had to come in and finish the job,” Potter said.

Saguaro finishes its regular season with a pair of games against St. Mary’s, and looks to finish the season with some continued positive momentum going into the playoffs. The Sabercats currently sit at No. 1 in the 4A Conference rankings and look to repeat their postseason success from last season, by finishing with a state title in hand.

For senior Gregory, the end goal in mind for many of the players hasn’t wavered since the end of last season.

“Think we’re pretty confident, we have the pitching, we have the defense, we have the hitting and I think that’s all we want to go back and do it and actually win it this time,” Gregory said. “We’re more eager than last year I think.”