Through four innings against Cascade High, the Bothell baseball team rode the steady pitching of starter Brody Ponti.

And then, the Cougar bats came alive.

Behind back-to-back three-run innings, Bothell cruised to a 6-0 shutout win over Cascade Thursday at Bothell High School. With the victory, the Cougars improved to 4-0 this season.

“We’re just keeping it rolling,” said senior first baseman Sam Petritz. “We’re staying hot with our bats, our pitching is doing really well. Our team is just coming together really well to start the season.”

Ponti kept the Cascade batters in check, allowing one hit and one walk in his four innings of work while striking out five, until Petritz kicked off a Cougar rally in the bottom of the fourth.

Petritz sent a fastball from Cascade pitcher Zach Gil into left-center field, bringing home Jake Peoples from second with an RBI single to put Bothell on the board.

Three batters later and with runners on first and second, Dylan Gerard crushed a 2-2 pitch from reliever Dakota Talt for a 2-RBI triple to give Bothell a 3-0 advantage.

Defensively, the Cougars saw the Bruins (0-5) put runners in scoring position at three different junctures of the game, but the Bothell pitchers found their way out of each jam. Cascade put runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the fifth, only for Bothell’s Zack Underwood to force Cascade’s Brandon Porter to ground out to end the inning.

Bothell scored three more runs in the bottom of the fifth, with two runs walked in and a third coming off a wild pitch. As a team, the Cougars drew 13 walks in Thursday’s contest.

Petritz, Gerard, Ponti and Peoples all registered hits for Bothell. Nich Kelmp was 2-for-3 at the plate for Cascade, while teammates Brett Gillis and Jacob Sesso each went 1-for-3.

Despite Thursday’s win coming by the largest margin of victory for his team this season, Bothell coach Kent Schaefer said he thought the Cougars looked sharper offensively in their previous three wins. He lauded the effort from his pitchers and said defensively, the Cougars had their best outing of the year.

“We’ve got a young pitching staff that’s starting to gain some experience,” Schaefer said. “We’re happy with them. We got a shutout today, so that’s good. And really, they’ve been pretty decent. They’ve been throwing strikes and giving us a chance.”

Bothell is scheduled to begin KingCo Conference competition Monday, taking on the Eastlake Wolves (3-1) at 6 p.m. at Eastlake High School.

Bothell’s Brody Ponti evades Cascade pitcher Steven Maynard as he slides home after a wild pitch Thursday at Bothell High School (Joe Livarchik/staff photo).