SUNRISE BASEBALL: Basic’s Nelson wins pitcher’s duel over Gilbertson, Gators

Basic senior pitcher Ryne Nelson didn’t have his best stuff when he beat Green Valley on April 27.

But the right-hander had all his pitches working Thursday night.

Nelson threw a two-hit gem to lead the host Wolves to a 3-1 victory over Green Valley in an emotionally charged winner’s bracket final of the Division I Sunrise Region baseball tournament.

The top-seeded Wolves (32-4) advance to the championship at noon Saturday and must lose for a second game to be played. Green Valley (22-11) will take on either Silverado or Las Vegas in an elimination game at 7 p.m. Friday.

“We went with our senior guy that’s supposed to get us there. He wanted the ball,” Basic coach Scott Baker said. “He had his stuff tonight. He had all three pitches working. His velocity was up. He got ahead of hitters all night long. Just a fantastic job all the way around.”

Nelson, an Oregon commit, walked five and labored through seven innings of a 7-2 victory when the teams met on the same field two weeks ago. This time, he was dominant from the outset.

Nelson struck out Jimmy Montiel to open the game and fanned the side in the seventh inning to finish with 10 strikeouts. He walked one and faced three batters more than the minimum through 6 2/3 innings before allowing a single up the middle to Frankie Fitzgerald.

The only other hit for the Gators came in the top of the second inning when Drake Maningo muscled an opposite-field, solo homer to right-center that tied the game at 1, much to the dismay of the Basic fans tailgating in the nearby street.

“I wanted to be the one to take us to the championship game,” Nelson said. “I just filled up the zone and let my defense work for me. I got ahead a lot with my fastball, and my offspeed was working for me.”

Garrett Giles and J.J. Smith each went 1-for-3 with an RBI for Basic, which took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning without the benefit of a hit.

Leadoff hitter David Hudleson, who scored both of Basic’s runs, walked to open the inning and was sacrificed to second base by Christian Rivero. After Nelson grounded out to move Hudleson to third, he scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat.

“To win games like this you have to be able to manufacture a run,” Baker said. “You’ve got to be able to move runners in key situations. And we’ve had a lot of guys buying into it and just completely taking pride in doing that.”

Green Valley starter Matt Gilbertson went the distance and allowed only two hits through the first five innings. He finished allowing five hits, including Smith’s run-scoring single in the bottom of the sixth, to give the Wolves some insurance.

“Gilbertson threw a great game,” Baker said. “It was a pitcher’s duel the whole way. Fantastic game.”

Silverado 5, Coronado 4 — At Basic, James Skelly singled in Michael Camburn with the winning run, and the Skyhawks scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to bounce the Cougars (19-12-1) in dramatic fashion.

Alex Grafiada and Chase Cortez opened the seventh with singles for Silverado, and Camburn followed with a two-run triple off the fence in left-center field to tie the game at 4. After Payton Ballard and Dax Fellows were intentionally walked to load the bases, Skelly hit a deep drive to left that capped the comeback.

Silverado (23-9) takes on Las Vegas (18-14) in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Friday at Basic.

Cortez went 3-for-3 with a double, and Fellows was 2-for-3 to lead the Skyhawks. Skelly and Grafiada each went 2-for-4.

Jerald Murray pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory.

Noah Hemphill was 2-for-4 and drove in two runs for Coronado. He had an RBI single in the first inning and added a run-scoring single in the top of the fifth to give the Cougars a 4-2 advantage.

Garett Lake went 2-for-4 with a double, and Anthony Carro was 2-for-4 for the Cougars.

Coronado starter Jacob Collins went five solid innings and didn’t allow a hit after the second inning.

Las Vegas 7, Liberty 4 — At Basic, Hector Perez went 2-for-2 with two RBIs, and Trey Chauncey was 3-for-4 as the Wildcats eliminated the Patriots (21-13).

Chauncey doubled and scored on an error, and Antonio Gaxiola added a run-scoring single in the top of the sixth inning to put Las Vegas on top 6-3. Diego Delgado added a bloop, RBI single in the seventh for the Wildcats.

Perez had a run-scoring single in the first inning and singled in another run as part of Las Vegas’ three-run third inning.

Tristan Fabian pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief to earn the save and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth inning after Liberty closed to within 6-4.

Jared Herrera and Jason Herrera each had an RBI for the Wildcats.

Omar Ortiz went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI to lead Liberty. His run-scoring single in the bottom of the fifth cut Las Vegas’ lead to 4-3.

Andrew Gallegos also finished 2-for-4 and scored a run, and Jayzen Ramirez added an RBI double in the fifth for the Patriots.