Basha's formula for winning was followed to the letter Tuesday afternoon and needed to be as the Bears locked up with Chandler-rival Hamilton and its long-standing baseball pedigree.

It took a long ball from diminutive Michael Scott, a squeeze bunt from Seth Beckstead and a sterling pitching performance by Jack Schneider for Basha to defeat Hamilton, 3-1, in a Divsiion I battle of baseball titans at Basha High.

"i've said it before, for us to win it's going to take pitching, defense and timely hitting," Basha coach Jim Schilling said. "We got all of that today."

The surprise of the season for Basha-- although not to Schilling - has been the pitching prowess of Schneider. Schneider, a senior lefty, got the lead courtesy of Scott and ran with it. Scott drilled a two-run homer to left in the bottom of the third (his 4th of the year) to break a scoreless tie. It came off Hamilton ace Zane Strand, who pitched a solid game as well in losing for the first time this season. in six decisions.

Schneider went the distance with little resistance. He gave up three hits, walked three and struck out 10, including the final two batters who represented the tying run. Mixing pitches and changing speeds is Schneider's MO and its been quite effective. Basha will need to rely on Schneider more the rest of the season since one of its big two -- senior Casey Legumina -- will not pitch again this season due to an elbow injury.

"At the beginning of the year Johnny (Morell) and Casey got all the love," Schilling said. "The scouts, the radar guns, all that. Jack has been outstanding pitching in their shadow. He's a workhorse, and a big-game pitcher."

Scott's contribution didn't stop with his homer. His throw from right field nailed Hamilton's Cole Bellinger at home for an inning-ending double play in the fourth. Basha turned another double play in the sixth to stifle a Hamilton threat. Leadoff hitter Drew Swift lifted an opposite-field solo homer to begin the inning and Nick Bruesser followed with a one-out single. Bellinger then rapped into a 6-4-3 DP to end the inning.

"We figured it might be a game like this," Hamilton coach Mike Woods said. "Their kid pitched a great game. In games like this you have to scratch together runs and we didn't."

Basha got the run back for Schneider in its half of the sixth. A nubber in front of the plate by Gage Workman was thrown away and allowed him to reach second. Legumina delivered a pinch single to put runners at the corners and Beckstead brought home Workman on a well-executed squeeze that Strand fielded, but could make no play at the plate.

Both teams are now 15-3 overall. They entered the contest unbeaten in power-ranking games. Basha improved to 9-0 in such games and Hamilton slipped to 7-1.