Knoxville 0  Indianola 9

Wednesday May 27, 2009

by Don French

The 2009 version of Knoxville Panther baseball opened play Wednesday night in Indianola in rough fashion. The Panthers struggled both at the plate and in the field, and the result was a 9-0 loss at the hand of the Indians.

Knoxville was limited to three base hits for the evening, with those hits coming from Eric Jones, Adam Thiel and Danny Lee. The Panthers' had their best scoring opportunity in the sixth inning, when Lee's bunt single was followed by a walk to Zach Lenger with one out. But the next two Panther hitters both were strikeout victims, ending the threat.

Meanwhile, five KHS errors greatly assisted the Indianola scoring effort. Three Panther pitchers -- Eric Jones, Kellen Glover and Blake McWilliams -- allowed a total of just seven hits while striking out ten. But the five fielding miscues all occured within the first four innings, and allowed the Indians to build a hefty 8-0 lead that would never be challenged.

Knoxville (0-1) will play its home opener of 2009 Thursday evening, when the Panthers play host to the Centerville Big Red in varsity double-header action.