SUNRISE REGION: Qualls’ no-hitter sends Rams to Sunrise finale

Rancho’s Zak Qualls wasn’t perfect Thursday at Green Valley High.

The junior left-hander had to settle for being unhittable.

Qualls fired a no-hitter to lead the Rams to a 2-1 win over Green Valley to advance to the Sunrise Region title game.

“We didn’t use him much early, knowing that we would need him to be strong down the stretch, and it was just an incredible performance today,” Rancho coach Tom Pletsch said.

Qualls struck out 10 and walked four in moving Rancho within a win of the Sunrise Region title and a trip to next week’s state tournament in Reno.

“It’s a big deal for us,” Qualls said. “We had one goal at the beginning of the year, and that’s Reno or bust. And it looks like we’re doing it.”

Green Valley drops into the losers’ bracket and will play the winner of today’s Silverado-Coronado game at 4 p.m. today at Green Valley. The winner of that game will play Rancho on Saturday and would have to win twice to take the region title.

“Rancho hasn’t been in this position to go to the state tournament since 1977, and we’re really excited about where we’re at,” Pletsch said. “But by no means do we think today gets us there. We know we still have one more to win, and we’re not taking anybody lightly.”

Rancho scratched across two runs in the top of the first inning to give Qualls all the cushion he would need.

With one out, Brandon Pletsch walked and stole second. Kevin Kline hit a dribbler to second base for an infield hit, and Pletsch scored from second.

Scott Koenen then hit a potential double-play ball to second, but Green Valley shortstop Brett Harrison couldn’t handle Rudy Strnad’s throw.

One out later, Josh Gomez singled home Kline to give the Rams a 2-0 lead.

An Eric Holdren single loaded the bases, but Green Valley’s Nolan Kohorst struck out Mike Cruz to end the inning.

“We had an opportunity to really blow it open at that point, and Kohorst did a great job today and took us out of the inning,” Tom Pletsch said. “A couple times we had some things going, and he always came up with a big pitch.”

Green Valley’s lone run came in the top of the second when Cameron Harper walked and came around to score on an errant pickoff throw by Qualls.

Qualls allowed just one more runner to reach second base.

“They hit the ball, and from top to bottom they’ve got quality kids that put the ball in play,” Tom Pletsch said. “Zak was on today and he pitched a phenomenal game in a big game.”

Qualls walked the leadoff batter to start the seventh but came back to strike out the next two before Chad Whiteaker hit a fly ball toward the gap in right-center field.

But Cruz chased the ball down to end the game.

“I was hoping he would catch it, because he hit that ball pretty damn hard,” Qualls said. “But when I saw him get under it, it was perfect.”

Coronado 10, Las Vegas 9 — At Las Vegas, Coronado roared back from a five-run deficit, then made a heady defensive play late in the game to advance to Friday’s losers’ bracket semifinals.

The Cougars (17-8-2) will take on Silverado (22-10) at 1 p.m. today at Green Valley. The teams split their two regular-season meetings.

Coronado trailed 7-2 after three innings but started its comeback on a Jordan Scott solo home run in the fourth inning. They completed their huge rally by scoring seven runs in the fifth inning.

Taylor Giordano led off with a long solo home run to left field, then added an RBI single in his second at-bat of the frame. Coronado sent 12 men to the plate and compiled seven hits in the inning.

Cougars coach David Padilla kept the message simple for his team when it fell behind early. “Let’s go get more than one run an inning,” Padilla said, recounting his advice to his players. “We’ve been hitting too good all year to just sit on one run, one run.”

The Wildcats (23-10) quickly bounced back to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Robert Melendrez brought home a run on an infield single, and Jesse Acosta drove in another on a sacrifice fly to center.

But the Cougars noticed Las Vegas’ Quinnton Mack leave early from second base as he tried to advance to third. Their successful appeal ended the inning.

Coronado’s Matt Hall earned the win with four solid innings in relief of Kenny Oakley. The southpaw allowed five hits, walked none and struck out four to give the Cougars’ offense a chance to claw back.

“I knew he was ready to go,” Padilla said of Hall. “He threw 28 pitches (Wednesday), and he wanted (to start Thursday.) I said, no, let’s put you in right field and see what happens.”

Las Vegas squandered a big lead for the second straight day. Melendrez had three hits and two RBIs for the Wildcats.

Silverado 11, Foothill 1 — At Las Vegas, Luc Balestracci did not allow an earned run in five innings as the Skyhawks eliminated the Falcons (24-7).

Silverado made its move in the fifth inning, sending 11 batters to the plate en route to seven runs. Drew Robinson keyed the

Skyhawks’ offense throughout the day, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, one RBI and a stolen base.

Balestracci faced his only jam in the first inning when the Skyhawks committed consecutive errors following a walk to load the bases, but the rally ended quietly on a sacrifice fly and a strikeout. Balestracci gave up just that one unearned run on four hits, walking two and striking out two.