Knoxville 5 Newton 11

Friday June 11, 2010

by Don French

Knoxville was able to come from behind once against Newton Friday night, but a second comeback was not to be as the Panthers dropped an 11-5 setback to the Cardinals in Newton.

The Panther hitters were stymied through the first four innings, but managed to scratch across one unearned run in that time for a 1-0 lead. Newton put up three runs on a pair of hits and a Knoxville error before the black and golds' bats awoke in the fifth. The Panthers scored four in that frame to take a 5-3 lead. Mike Jacks laced a long RBI double to left, which was immediately followed by Lance Daugherty's 2-run homer.

But Knoxville was unable to hold the lead, allowing eight runs over the final two innings to fall to 4-2 in Little Hawkeye Conference play and 10-4 overall.

Justin Katich pitched the first four innings for Knoxville, allowing four runs (two earned) in four innings of work. Freshman Colton Spaur took the loss in relief.

The Panthers were to host the annual Knoxville Invitational on Saturday, but that has been cancelled due to rain. Knoxville hits the road next week, traveling to Norwalk for a JV/Varsity game on Wednesday and Pella for a varsity twinbill on Friday.