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Green Valley flexes muscles in 12-1 baseball win over Basic

Green Valley’s baseball team had six home runs by six players in its first 32 games this season.

The Gators slugged half that total in game No. 33.

Blake Inouye homered twice, and Jarrett Perns launched a three-run homer that bounced into a nearby apartment building as Green Valley beat Basic 12-1 in five innings Thursday at Las Vegas High to advance to the Division I Sunrise Region championship.

Basic (27-5), the top seed from the Southeast League, will play either Coronado or Liberty in an elimination game at 4 p.m. today at Las Vegas. The championship is at 1 p.m. Saturday, and Green Valley must lose for a second game to be played.

“I think the guys have been punching in pretty good the last week or so,” Green Valley coach Corey Gehlken said. “We didn’t focus on trying to hit the ball out of the yard. Our goal is to get the next guy to the plate, and when we do that we’ve been successful.”

Inouye went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and Perns 2-for-3 with four RBIs as the Gators (27-6) took advantage of the jet stream that was blowing out to left field.

“Hey, you’ve still got to hit it,” Gehlken said.

The 12 runs are the most allowed by Basic since a 13-6 loss to Cimarron-Memorial on March 9 in its sixth game of the season.

Inouye hit a two-run homer in the top of the first inning, and he chased Basic starter Josh McLean with another two-run shot to cap Green Valley’s five-run fourth.

Perns, who scored all four times he reached base, added his no-doubt-about-it blast in the fifth to put Green Valley on top 12-1.

Eric Samson went 3-for-3 with a double, two runs and an RBI, and Gavin Morley had a two-run triple into the left-field corner that gave the Gators a 4-0 lead in the third inning.

Green Valley starter Spencer Cofer held the Wolves in check as he allowed only three hits in five innings and worked around three walks.

The right-hander wriggled out of a two-on, one-out jam in the third inning and limited the damage in the fourth as Basic broke the shutout. Jack Wold doubled home Ryne Nelson, who singled to lead off the inning, but Cofer struck out McLean, then got two ground balls after a walk to Logan Green.

Cofer recorded 10 ground-ball outs and was aided by a defense that turned two double plays.

“He did a great job,” Gehlken said. “Down the stretch, he hasn’t pitched a lot for us. He’s a great athlete, and he’s a competitor who goes out ready to fight.”

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.

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