Kendall Rooker is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Peoria High School for AZPreps365.com

The Peoria Panthers opened up their game against Cortez with one thing in mind: dominate.

They did. And then some. Behind shutout pitching and an explosive offense, Peoria peppered Cortez 15-0 ending the game in four innings.

“Our guys played really well together today, (we) probably had our most hits in four years,” said coach Shawn Sullivan.

The Panthers did it on both sides of the ball, clearly with their offense blowing this game open. Defensively the Panthers looked solid and Lee Linares threw well.

“We executed great but there is something we can work on, it is a game of failure,” said sophomore Mikel Black. “The bench keeps us hyped up,”

The Panthers improved their overall record to 2-3.

“Build on the pitching and hitting, pitching was solid today,” said Sullivan.

The Panthers look ahead to their next game Thursday at home against Dysart.

“Same mindset and energy, just ball out,” said Linares.

Linares opened the first inning with two strikeouts. One set the tone for the rest of the game.

With the bases loaded and two outs he got a strikeout to keep Cortez scoreless.

“My mindset was to keep throwing strikes and not let it get to me, not falling under pressure,” said Linares.

Jayson Hefley opened the bottom half of the first with a triple, which led to the Panthers getting an early lead.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Panthers blew this game open scoring 13 runs.