Basic defeats Green Valley, moves toward title

Basic baseball coach Scott Baker wasn’t worried about magic numbers, league standings or anything else like that Wednesday.

But for those keeping track at home, the No. 1-ranked Wolves now are two wins away from clinching the Division I Sunrise League title.

Jack Wold hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fourth inning, and host Basic inched closer to its second-straight league championship with a 7-2 victory over rival Green Valley.

Basic (27-4, 15-3 Sunrise League) remained a game ahead of Silverado in the win column with two games remaining in the regular season. The fourth-ranked Gators (18-9, 13-4) dropped into third place.

“Both sides knew what was at stake here,” Baker said. “This was the first step in possibly determining the outcome of the league. We’ve played some really good games, so we knew the emotions were going to be high on both sides.”

Wold finished 2-for-2 and drove in three runs for the Wolves, who scored four times in the fourth.

Winning pitcher Ryne Nelson went 2-for-3 and scored two runs, and teammate Roger Riley also was 2-for-3 with a run-scoring double in the second inning.

Basic trailed 2-1 before Nelson led off the fourth with a single and Wold followed with a deep drive to right for his team-leading fourth home run of the season.

“A game like this is going to be back and forth,” Baker said. “Jack’s been swinging really great lately, so obviously it was a huge momentum changer for us. And after that, everything kind of went our way.”

Nick Thompson, Basic’s No. 9 hitter, added a two-run double to right-center later in the fourth to put the Wolves on top 5-2.

“Two-out knocks are backbreakers,” Baker said. “That gave us some breathing room a little bit, and from there, we had a couple other guys execute in big spots. It was nice to see.”

Nelson overcame early wildness on the mound before settling down. He allowed only three hits and struck out six while walking five and hitting a batter.

Nelson’s defense picked him up by turning double plays in the first and second innings.

Drake Maningo hit a two-run homer in the fourth to give Green Valley a 2-1 advantage.

“Nelly didn’t have his best stuff today, and we played outstanding defense,” Baker said. “The defense got us out of some key spots there. He was in and out of trouble for the first couple innings, and defensively, that was the game for us. It gave us a chance to have a big inning like we did.”

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