Knoxville 2  Newton 6

Tuesday July 1, 2008

by Don French

For four innings, the Knoxville Panthers clung to a slim lead over the Newton Cardinals in the first game of Tuesday evening's double-header in Knoxville. But the visitors erupted for four runs in the fifth inning to take the lead, then held off KHS for a 6-2 win.

The Panthers staked themselves to a 2-0 lead after three innings of play. Danny Lee singled and later scored on Jesse Swanson's sacrifice fly to center field. Ben Myers tripled with one out in the third and raced home on a suicide squeeze bunt by Mike Jacks. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Josh Russell limited the Cards to two runs and no hits during those first three frames.

A Newton home run sliced the Panther lead to 2-1 in the fourth and followed that with their fifth-inning outburst to put Knoxville in a 5-2 hole. The boys in black and gold put two runners on base in the seventh inning, but were unable to score.

Russell was the losing pitcher for Knoxville, allowing six runs on ten hitts in his six innings of work. Myers pitched a perfect inning in relief.