SUNRISE REGION: Rams’ Qualls frustrates Gators

Rancho baseball coach Tom Pletsch said he feels pretty confident any time Zak Qualls pitches.

Qualls showed why on Tuesday.

The senior left-hander fired a two-hitter to help Rancho to a 7-1 road win over Green Valley in the Sunrise Region tournament.

“He had great stuff today,” Pletsch said. “Any time we put Qualls on the mound we’ve got a chance to beat anybody.”

Qualls struck out 11 and walked three. Seven Green Valley batters struck out looking as Qualls took advantage of a generous outside corner.

“The umpire helped me out a bit, he did,” Qualls said. “But they couldn’t adjust and I kept doing it.”

Rancho (29-4) plays Coronado (21-11) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Las Vegas High, with the winner moving into Friday’s championship round in the double-elimination tournament.

Green Valley (27-6) plays Las Vegas (22-7) in an elimination game at 10 a.m.

The Rams staked Qualls to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Michael Cruz led off with a single, and Qualls was hit by a pitch.

Brandon Pletsch then hit a ground-rule double to right to score Cruz. Qualls came home on a wild pitch, and Pletsch scored on Scott Koenen’s grounder to second.

“We’ve been talking about setting the tempo,” Tom Pletsch said. “It got us going, and I think we caught them off guard a little bit.”

Qualls agreed that the first-inning burst put the Gators on their heels.

“They knew they had to come back and they knew they had a slim chance of doing it,” Qualls said. “And then we just kept going and we took off.”

Kevin Kline led off the fourth with a double and scored on a Manny Llamas sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.

Then the Rams had five consecutive two-out hits in the fifth to score three more runs. Brandon Pletsch had an RBI double, and Koenen and Eric Holdren added RBI singles.

“The three-spot in the fifth inning was the one that really did the damage,” Tom Pletsch said.

Brandon Pletsch was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs, and Kline and Holdren each went 2-for-3 for Rancho.

Alec Hutt had a solo homer in the second to account for Green Valley’s run.

Qualls said Tuesday’s game was key because it knocked a quality Green Valley team into the losers’ bracket.

“This game was the biggest game to win,” Qualls said. “Tomorrow, it will be a good game, but this was the big game. We came out and handled our business and found out how it feels to play a really good game.”

His coach didn’t agree, saying that the matchup with Coronado will be the biggest in the tournament.

“Tomorrow’s the one that you’ve got to win,” Tom Pletsch said. “If you win that, you get a day off, you get to rest your pitching and somebody’s got to beat you twice on Friday.

“Our whole goal the entire season has been to win the regional and get back to the state tournament. And tomorrow we’re going to play like it’s the championship game.”

Coronado 8, Silverado 4 — At Coronado, the Cougars used a five-run sixth inning to come from behind and top the Skyhawks.

Cody Howard was 2-for-4 with a double, a run and two RBIs, and Jordan Kingsley was 2-for-2 with three runs for Coronado.

Marty Sifuentes went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Silverado, which led 4-3 before the five-run inning.

The Skyhawks (17-14) play Liberty (18-9-1) in an elimination game at 1 p.m. today at Las Vegas High.

Liberty 11, Chaparral 7 — At Liberty, Michael Vargas went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and three RBIs as the Patriots eliminated the Cowboys (7-16).

Manuel Menocal went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Patriots, who had 13 hits. Danny Topps went 3-for-4 for Liberty.

Vargas drove in the go-ahead run during a five-run fourth inning that gave Liberty a 10-6 lead.

Las Vegas 11, Eldorado 1 — At Las Vegas, Jessie Acosta went 3-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs as the Wildcats eliminated the Sundevils (15-16) in five innings.

Dustin Cash was 2-for-2 with a double, two runs and an RBI, and Justin Cheney was 2-for-4 with a dobule for Las Vegas.

Sterling Tidwell threw a three-hitter to get the win.