SANTA CRUZ >> Soquel High’s baseball team was determined to avenge its only loss of the season Tuesday.

Sophomore pitcher Luke Shoemaker kept rival Santa Cruz in check for four innings, and the Knights’ offense was relentless and opportunistic and backed him with early run support in a 10-4 victory.

“We just got a lot more hits,” said TJ Moran, the Knights’ head coach. “More situational hitting, too; getting guys over when we needed to, clutch ABs (at-bats), and being able to score more runs. We only scored two runs last game. Obviously, we feel like if we give up three or four runs, we still feel like we should be able to win games. So to be able to get 10 on them made it feel like, ‘OK, we can play with these guys.’ They’re a tough team, for sure. They’re never going to quit either.”

With their win, the Knights (18-1, 7-1), ranked No. 7 in the Central Coast Section by maxpreps.com, jumped back into a tie for first place with the No. 15 Cardinals (10-6, 7-1) in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League standings.

Seven games remain in the regular season. Soquel stewed over its only loss for 21 days. The Cardinals, if they haven’t flushed it already, will vent for a mere two days, because the teams square off again in Soquel on Friday at 4 p.m.Neither team needs any inspiration for their next meeting. Soquel wants to prove its latest win wasn’t a fluke, and Santa Cruz wants to show better for itself. Moreover, sole possession of the league lead is on the line.

“You don’t need any extra motivation for anybody in this league,” said Bubba Trumbull, the Cardinals’ coach. “Everybody knows everybody. It’s just another good game. We’d like to hang around in first place so we gotta go out and play really well. We got a couple of days to work on it. I like the fact it’s not football or another sport where we don’t see them again for a year. We get another opportunity two days down the road and you get to do better.”

Santa Cruz snapped the Knights’ season opening 10-game win streak, 3-2, on March 25. Soquel struggled against Cardinals pitcher Owen Rogers in that loss, but fared considerably better in the teams’ latest meeting.

Soquel finished with 13 hits, drew one walk, took advantage of having three batters hit by pitches, and four Cardinals’ errors.

“An attitude thing; focus, I think, more than anything,” said Trumbull, of his team’s post-game meeting. ” ‘A team came to your field to beat you and had an attitude to do that. You didn’t match that attitude. So, that’s the outcome you’re going to get. You need to be mentally there and ready to play and be focused in all those things.’ And today, at the plate, on the mound, in the field, they had the sharper edge. That’s what’s going happen.”

The Knights broke through for a run against Owens in the opening frame, but the Cardinals knotted the score in the bottom half of the inning.

Soquel didn’t let up. The Knights tacked on two runs in the second, four in the third, and three in the fourth to a commanding 10-1 lead.

Santa Cruz chased Shoemaker in the fifth inning, and broke through for three runs, but the Cardinals went fairly quietly over the final two frames.

Noah Piona had three hits, one RBI, and scored twice for the Knights. Enzo Goff had two hits and three RBI, and Sam Whelan had two hits and scored three runs. Jake Escalante had two hits, one RBI, and scored a run, and Gabe Virgallito had a hit and scored twice.

“This is definitely a big week; we have another big game Friday against them,” Piona said. “The job is not finished. We’re going to try and not get too high, stay hungry, and do the same thing.”

Seth Jin had a walk, one hit, and scored twice for the Cardinals. Damos Deworken drew a pair of walks and scored a run. Fernando DeCosta had a hit, two walks, and reached base four times but crossed home plate once. Cam Fusari reached base three times but the Cardinals were unable to drive him in.

The Cardinals were sloppy on the base paths and defense, too, but they did receive a highlight reel, diving catch from Fusari in center field to rob Cash Moran of a hit.

Moran, the Knights’ catcher, picked off another runner. He and first baseman Connor Corlett were the defensive stars of the game. Corlett teamed with Moran for a 3-2-3 double-play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the first inning.

Corlett also made a full sprint, over-the-should catch in foul territory to end the second inning.

“I feel like the start wasn’t my best, but my defense picked me up,” Shoemaker said. “Shout out to my first baseman staying in there for those hard hits. … I feel we did a good job starting the game off hot hitting. Just the first three innings were super big.”