Obren Manjencich is an ASU student at the Cronkite School assigned to cover Perry High School for AZPreps365.com

After Friday’s game against Westwood ended in a 9-9 tie, the Perry Pumas were hungry for a win.

“None of us were in a good mood when we got home last night,” head coach Damien Tippett said.

On Saturday afternoon that mood changed when the Pumas beat the Dobson Mustangs 12-0 to wrap up the Adam Donnenfield Memorial tournament.

“It was good to see the guys came out in high spirits,” said Tippett. “They were hungry to get back in that batter’s box and hungry to get back on the field; so, that’s good to see.”

Throughout their rout, Perry hitters remained disciplined, working deep counts in almost every at-bat.

Discipline is something Perry has worked on through the first four games of the season.

“Our discipline at the plate has been improving. That’s a big key to scoring runs; getting guys on base; drawing walks; swinging at good pitches,” senior shortstop Dustin Crenshaw said.

Perry scored four runs in the first inning, allowing senior pitcher and infielder Zach de Hondol to settle in.

“It gives me more confidence,” said de Hondol.

De Hondol threw four innings, allowing one hit, striking out four and walking two. His approach remained constant as he kept hitters off balance.

After a stellar performance on the mound, de Hondol went to play second, which allowed him to hit. De Hondol had a single, stole two bases and scored a run increasing the Pumas lead.

De Hondol admitted he was somewhat fatigued but enjoyed playing in the field.

“It’s tiring but, I get to keep on playing,” said de Hondol. “I get to hit still, I love that.”

His fellow pitchers followed his performance.

Each pitcher tossed a clean inning.

“They’re all competing to one-up each other, which is want you want to see,” said Tippett. “We have a quality inning stat and all seven innings were quality innings today.”

Despite scoring early, the Pumas bats cooled off slightly. Eventually, a coach held a brief meeting reminding hitters not to be complacent.

After the meeting, the bats heated up leading to five runs over the final two innings.

Tippett maintained a cut-and-dry view on his hitters.

“At the end of the day, we put up 12 runs but, we only had eight hits,” said Tippett. “We had a two and a half to three-inning lull where we popped up more times than I can count; where we just lost our focus.”

The Pumas win improves their record to 2-1-1 as Dobson falls to 0-4.

Perry’s next game is at home against Kofa on Tuesday.