By Mitch Vareldzis

The Marcos de Niza Padres (15-9 overall) turned in a stellar performance from pitcher Jake Denham in their 3-0 Monday victory at McClintock.

Denham dominated hitters, allowing only five base runners through all seven innings and getting support on defense. He allowed two hits, one walk and hit two batters.

More impressively, he struck out 10 batters, including six in a row between the fourth and sixth innings.  

“It felt great,” Denham said. “I had been on a roll lately and it was great to go out on a solid note.”

Denham also applauded his defense for the work it did.

During the second inning, Denham ran into some trouble after hitting McClintock’s Mario Muñoz and Ben Wiley consecutively, putting runners at first and second.

But after a Jonah Wiley sacrifice bunt, Denham induced a BJ Murillo roller to the mound and was thrown out at first.

During the play, a base running error by Wiley led to Wiley being tagged out between second and third to end the threat.

“I let the defense do the work, and I just threw the ball,” Denham said.

The offense for the Padres was provided from almost all parts of the batting order.

Catcher Connor Woods reached base three times and drove in one run. Shortstop Nick Leach tripled and came around to score in one of his four plate appearances.

Right fielder Giovanni Nieves doubled and scored the game’s final run in the seventh inning.

The McClintock Chargers (15-7-2 overall) struggled to back up Danny Gorman’s quality start due to a lack of offense and defensive errors throughout the game. Gorman threw seven innings, allowed six hits and struck out two batters.

“He had another great performance,” Mather said. “He is a natural born leader.”

The Chargers also faced an ejection, as second baseman Jonah Wiley was thrown out because of some inappropriate language after getting called out on strikes.

“(Wiley) let his emotions get to him,” Mather said. “I talked with him and he understood his mistake. I stand behind the ump’s decision.”

Mather also said that this was not a loss for his team. His team either wins or learns lessons, he said.

“Baseball does not define us,” Mather said. “It is not who we are but what we do. (The team) let baseball define them today, and they were unable to overcome the adversity.”

Both teams are playing well enough to reach the playoffs. With just a few games left in the regular season, Denham wants to keep the focus to “one game at a time.”

“Hopefully, we will find ourselves in (the playoffs) at the end,” Denham said.

The Padres will go on the road to face the Dobson Mustangs (5-18 overall) at HoHoKam Stadium on Thursday at 4 p.m. The Chargers will go on the road to face the Higley Knights (5-18 overall) on Thursday at 4 p.m. as well.

Mitch Vareldzis is a sports journalism student at Arizona State.