Kolton O'Connor is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Cactus Shadows for AZPreps365.com

Cactus Shadows baseball defeated St.Mary’s 8-0 on Wednesday night, behind a strong effort from the Falcons’ pitching staff.

Cactus Shadows has now won four in a row and move to 14-2 on the season. St. Mary’s loses back-to-back to Cactus Shadows and falls to 8-6 on the season.

Cactus Shadows scored seven of their eight runs in the first two innings in this one. The starting pitcher for St.Mary’s, Zach Tanner, struggled with command, walking two straight batters before hitting sophomore Keyen Marquez with a pitch.

Billy Lewis would then come in to pitch for St Mary’s with the bases loaded and give up a single to Henry Verhamme, which scored two runs, making the score 6-0, before getting out of the inning.

“They came in super loose. Normally, when this team comes in with that kind of positive energy, it’s going to be a good day,” said Gianni.

In the second inning, St. Mary’s had a chance to get back into the game with the bases loaded before Cactus Shadows called time for a mound visit.

“The whole team was out there supporting me, cleared my mind a little bit, and I went out there and threw three strikes,” said starting pitcher Grayson Headon.

Dallas Dunn came in to relieve Headon and said before the game that he knew he was going to get to pitch, and he prefers to pitch in a reliever role.

“We’re already in the game, it’s more important innings and we have to put zeroes on the board and keep the scoreboard the same,” said Dunn.

Once again in the fifth inning, St. Mary’s had a chance to try and get back in the game after two straight hits, but once again, Cactus Shadows pitchers would prove difficult to get that big hit off of, with Dallas Dunn rolling a double play to essentially end this one.

“Sometimes when you have those innings that are a little stressful, as a pitcher, it helps you grow for later on in the season, so it’s not always a bad thing to have those innings that test you a little,” said Gianni.

Before the game started, Cactus Shadows congratulated Head Coach Gaetano Gianni on his 200th win at the school.

“Obviously it’s a good feeling… I’ve been doing this a long time, and I don't do it for the wins, you do it for the development of the kids, but I’ve truly been blessed with a long career,” said Gianni.

Gianni said this is one of the best teams he’s ever coached, the other team being a team he coached during his time at Notre Dame Preparatory. That team at one point was ranked number two in the country.

“This is just a special group of kids, they’re grinders, they love baseball, I knew from the get-go that this team had a lot of talent,” said Gianni.

Cactus Shadows has two games left in the regular season, both of them against Mesquite. The Falcons will look to secure two more victories before hopefully making a deep run in the playoffs.