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Third consecutive shutout sends Basic to 18th straight baseball victory

The scoreless innings streak was started by Ryne Nelson and Justin Caputo last week, and Trever Berg kept it going Tuesday.

So when Josh McLean took the mound for Basic’s baseball team Thursday, the senior pitcher didn’t want to be the one responsible for seeing it end.

“We’ve been throwing well lately,” Wolves coach Scott Baker said, “and I know that they’re trying to keep up with each other, for sure.”

McLean spun a four-hitter and added a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and visiting Basic blanked Green Valley 3-0 for its third consecutive shutout and 18th straight victory.

The third-ranked Wolves (21-3, 6-0 Southeast League), who own a two-game lead over Coronado with four league games remaining, have not allowed a run since Foothill scored in the fourth inning of a 7-2 Basic victory on April 8, a span of more than 24 innings.

Cory Wills went 2-for-3 with a triple, and Jack Wold had a double for Basic.

The Wolves broke the scoreless tie in the sixth inning after loading the bases on three straight walks. Wold hit into a 4-6-3 double play that scored David Hudleson, then McLean smacked a two-run shot to left off reliever Thomas Rivera.

“I was looking for something down,” McLean said. “The ball he throws runs away from right-handed hitters, and it ran right where I was looking for it, and I jumped on it like we talk about with our hitting coach.”

The pitcher’s duel was interrupted for 20 minutes with two outs in the top of the fourth, as the umpires sorted out the correct ruling after Green Valley’s Christian Straub stopped his delivery on a pitch to Wold and tossed the ball into the ground on his follow-through. (It was eventually called a no pitch since the ball didn’t cross one of the foul lines.)

The No. 5 Gators (17-6, 3-3) threatened in the bottom of the inning, as a walk, hit batsman and single by Ty Burger loaded the bases with one out. But McLean snared A.J. Amelburu’s liner and doubled off pinch runner Brandon Bayne at first base to end the inning.

“It’s a huge momentum swing when something like that happens,” McLean said. “As a pitcher, it relaxes you when everything seems like it’s going bad and it just starts to get easier.”

McLean allowed two base runners in the final three innings and finished with two strikeouts, three walks and a hit batter.

Burger was 2-for-4 for Green Valley, which stranded five runners.

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

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