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WILTON, Iowa — A solo home run by Kyle Holmes to lead off the third inning opened the floodgates for eighth-ranked Wilton in a 10-2 district semifinal win over West Branch Tuesday.

The Beavers (28-6) led 2-0 at that point when Holmes connected off Bears’ pitcher Cale Lenten. That led to a five-run third inning and Wilton never looked back.

“The pitchers threw well and the hitters hit the ball well,” Wilton coach Jake Souhrada said. “Kyle Holmes hit the leadoff home run in the third and that opened things up for us. We hit the ball well after that.

In the fourth inning, starting pitcher Alec Crawford was hit in his throwing hand by a line drive, which started bleeding heavily. He was replaced by Kyle Paulsen, who completed the game.

“His finger was bleeding all over the place,” Souhrada said. “Kyle did a nice job of taking over.”

Before leaving the mound, Crawford struck out six and walked none. Paulsen finished up by striking out eight and yielding no walks.

Crawford stayed in the game at third base and finished with three hits for the Beavers, including a double and three RBI.

Todd Denkman and Nate Fratzke both had two hits, including a double and two RBI.

Both of West Branch’s runs were unearned.

Wilton next plays host to North Cedar, 6-5 winners over Northeast, Goose Lake on Tuesday. The Beavers will take on North Cedar at

7 p.m. Saturday.

They have already beaten the Knights three times during the Cedar Valley Conference season. Wilton topped North Cedar 12-0 on May 25 and swept the Knights 14-6 and 11-1 in six innings in a doubleheader on May 28.

Wilton 10, West Branch 2

Wilton    205 110 1 – 10 14 2

W. Branch    000 200 0 –   2   4 2

Alec Crawford, Kyle Paulsen (4) and Ryan Waack; Cale Lenten and Dean. W – Crawford. L – Lenten. Hits (two or more) – Wil (Crawford 3, Drew Freie, Jared Howell, Todd Denkman, Nate Fratzke). 2B – Wil (Crawford, Howell, Denkman, Fratzke); WB (Murray). HR – Wil (Holmes). RBI – Wil (Crawford 3, Denkman 2, Fratzke 2, Holmes, Paulsen).

Record – Wilton 28-6.

Next game – North Cedar at Wilton, 7 p.m., Saturday.