WEST BRANCH — The 5th ranked team in class 2A, Wilton Beavers began their 2018 season with two road wins to start the season 2-0. Wilton beat River Valley Conference South foe West Branch 8-3 in game one and took the nightcap 11-7. The Beavers were one of three River Valley Conference baseball teams ranked in the first preseason Iowa Baseball Coaches Association rankings. Iowa City Regina was second and Cascade 7th.
Game 1 - Wilton 8, West Branch 3
Wilton junior Jared Townsend got his first victory of the season pitching 5 2/3 innings in the season opener. Townsend was on his game, striking out 12 Bear batters and allowing only four hits. Cory Anderson pitched the final 1 1/3 innings in relief. He did not allow a run on one hit.
The Beavers had 11 hits in the game with four players getting multi-hit games. Townsend led at the plate, going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI’s. Anderson, Tyler Hartman, and Brock Hartley each had two hits. Garrett Bohnsack, Brayton Wade each had hits. Hartley had 2 RBI’s while Wade, Chantz Stevens, and Austin Pleggenkuhle each had RBI’s.
Wilton broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning, scoring three runs. Wilton sends seven batters to the plate in the inning. Townsend led off the inning with a single while Tyler Hartman followed with a walk. Both scored later on RBI hits from Brock Hartley and Brayton Wade. The final run came on an RBI groundout by Austin Pleggenkuhle.
Wilton added a single run in the fifth for a 4-0 lead and doubled their score in the sixth, pushing four runs home to take an 8-0 lead. West Branch scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Game 2 - Wilton 11, West Branch 7
The Beavers scored in double digits for the first time in 2018 with an 11-7 win in game two. Wilton led from start to finish to improve to 2-0.
Wilton led 1-0 after the first and extended their lead to 4-0 after a three-run second inning. West Branch got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the score at 5-1 after four innings.
Wilton scored three runs in the top of the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead to 11-1. West Branch scored six runs combined, in the bottom of the last two innings to make the score closer.
Colin McCrabb was the winning pitcher. McCrabb pitched five innings and struck out six Bears. He gave up one run on four hits. Anderson pitched the final two innings in relief, giving up six runs on five hits.
Wilton had nine hits in the game. Four Beavers had multi-hit games. McCrabb, Anderson, Tyler Hartman, and Ashton Stoelk each had two hits. McCrabb and Jared Townsend each had 2 RBI’s while Anderson and Stoelk each had 1 RBI. Wilton had three doubles in the game with McCrabb collecting two and Brayton Wade the other. The Beavers drew 13 walks from West Branch pitching in the game.
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