Baseball Panthers Sweep Grinnell;
Sets Up Big Showdown With Oskaloosa On Friday
Knoxville Journal Express photo by Steve Woodhouse |
The Knoxville Baseball Squad pulled the brooms out against Grinnell last night as the Panthers won 8-4 in game one and held off the Tigers in the nightcap 3-2. Knoxville broke the first game open with four runs in the second inning, and made sure of no Grinnell comeback in the fifth with three more runs to cross. Kaden Loscher for the second time in a week got the win in relief pitching five solid innings allowing just one run on two hits, one strikeout and two walks. In the nightcap, the Panthers got a solid performance from Ross Shelford on the mound and what Coach Joel Johnson called “winning plays” to get a 3-2 win. With the score 3-2 in the sixth, Grinnell had the tying run coming home, but Nolan Wallace threw a perfect strike from centerfield to catcher Tony Salato to gun down the Tiger runner for the third out.
Shelford came out in the seventh to strike out the side to preserve the win. Coach Joel Johnson said the guys are starting to make the plays that are needed to win ball games. Shelford went the distance giving up two runs while allowing seven hits on six strikeouts and no walks. Knoxville is 7-5 on the season and 5-2 in the Little Hawkeye Conference, which puts the Panthers in second place and what now becomes a big game tomorrow at Oskaloosa. from KNIA?KRLS
Shelford came out in the seventh to strike out the side to preserve the win. Coach Joel Johnson said the guys are starting to make the plays that are needed to win ball games. Shelford went the distance giving up two runs while allowing seven hits on six strikeouts and no walks. Knoxville is 7-5 on the season and 5-2 in the Little Hawkeye Conference, which puts the Panthers in second place and what now becomes a big game tomorrow at Oskaloosa. from KNIA?KRLS
Kevin Woodhouse was spectacular on the mound for Knoxville on Tuesday evening, using a killer breaking ball to keep visiting Pella Christian guessing all night in a 4 – 3 Panthers victory. Knoxville tallied the first two runs of the game on a two-run, two-out single from Ross Shelford. The Eagles knotted it up in the third with RBI’s from Spencer Fynaardt and Jason Holwerda, but Knoxville came back in the bottom of the inning with two of their own off the bat of Jake Kendall, just enough to hold off Pella Christian. Knoxville Coach Joel Johnson said that there were several kids that played phenomenally last night. Eagles’ head coach, Nate Johnson said that pitcher, Dillon Branderhorst battled throughout the contest and gave his team a chance to win late. The win improves the Panthers’ conference record to 3 – 2 and they are 5 – 5 overall, while the loss drops the Eagles to 2 – 6 in the conference and 7 – 9 overall. The Panthers will host Grinnell tonight for a doubleheader, and Pella Christian is off until tomorrow when they head to A-D-M for a game. You can catch game two of tonight’s varsity doubleheader live on AM 1320 KNIA and streamed live at KNIAKRLS.com with Derek Cardwell and Marcus Johnson calling the action. Pregame is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. with first pitch at 7:30. - from KNIA/KRLS Sports news