Knoxville 10 Chariton 0

Tuesday June 9, 2009

by Don French

Tuesday evening saw the Knoxville Panthers cruise to an easy victory for the second straight night. One night after a 17-0 shellacking of South Tama, the Panthers dispatched the Chariton Chargers by a final score of 10-0 in a game which ended in the sixth inning.

Knoxville was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when the Panthers bunched three hits, two walks and a Chariton error to take a 4-0 lead. Mike Jacks, Blake McWilliams and Nathan Hegwood delivered RBI's, with McWilliams later scoring on a wild pitch.

The lead grew to 7-0 after a fifth inning which started with an Eric Jones walk and a Hegwood single. Zach Lenger drove in Jones on a fielder's choice grounder just before Danny Lee's two-run double just inside the right-field line. Three more Panther runs in the sixth ended the contest, with the final run coming on a wild pitch which allowed Tyler Worrall to scamper home. The Panthers' nine-hit attack was aided by a Charger pitching staff which gave up ten walks for the game.

The offensive support was more than plenty for Jacks, who pitched the first five innings to get the win. The junior righty allowed just one hit, walked three and struck out four. Kellen Glover threw one inning of relief, striking out two Chargers.

Knoxville improves to 6-7 overall with the win, and returns to LHC play Wednesday with a varsity doubleheader in Pella against the Pella Christian Eagles.