CEDAR RAPIDS - Devon Schewe made it sound so easy.

The Iowa Central ace pitched seven innings of one-hit baseball here Saturday, striking out seven without issuing a walk to lead the Tritons past Kirkwood and one step closer to claiming the Region XI Tournament, 9-1.

Schewe parted after the seventh as Matthew Wilkinson closed the door, striking out six over two innings with just one hit allowed.

"It felt good out there," Schewe said. "All my pitches were working, With the lead, all I had to do was throw strikes and let the offense work."

Work they did.

Led by Ryan Wickman 2-for-3 effort that included a pair of home runs, Iowa Central scored three runs in the first to again take early control of the contest. Wickman also had a stolen base with Devin Hurdle and Ben Gallaher each driving in two runs.

"I was seeing the ball well all day," Wickman said. "I swung at the pitches that were in my shorts and not above my hands. I just wanted to hit the ball hard.

"It feels really good to be in the finals but we still have to stay focused and win one more."

Gallaher had three hits, Derek Kay two with an RBI and a steal, and Max Holy scored twice with a stolen base. 

Thanks to convincing back-to-back wins over Northeast and the top-seed Kirkwood, Iowa Central must now win just once to advance to districts. The Tritons will face Kirkwood for a second time on Sunday at noon after the Eagles eliminated Northeast, 10-2. 

"We're playing really good baseball right now," Iowa Central head coach Eric Stein said. "Devon was just dominant and Wilkinson came on and did his thing again. At the plate, we jumped on them early and this time, we continued to apply pressure. 

"I thought it was really important to get those runs late in the game just to make sure we sealed the deal."

Schewe, a freshman from Minnesota, missed several weeks of the season. He returned in late April, but threw just nine innings total. On the year, he is 6-1 with 51 strikeouts in 37 innings.

"Devon's the kind of pitcher that you can put out there and feel confident he is going to put up a lot of zeros," Stein said. "When he is pitching with the lead, he is even more controlling."

Gavin Baker, Jack Sievers and Hurdle all scored a run. 

For Kirkwood, Luke Llewellyn lasted just one inning, allowing one unearned run on four walks with a pair of strikeouts. Trevor Burkhart had a hit and scored a run.

-By Dana Becker