Knoxville 17  Oskaloosa 4

Friday May 30, 2008

by Don French

Seven runs in the first three innings put Knoxville in charge and eight runs in the sixth put the game away as the Panthers beat Oskaloosa 17-4 in six innings to complete Friday night's double-header sweep. Knoxville remains unbeaten in conference play in three games and improved to 3-4 overall.

Knoxville rolled four runs on the board in the top of the first as Danny Lee reached on a bunt single, Chad Ball laced a double to right field and Josh Russell chipped in a sacrifice fly for an RBI. The Panther cause was aided by two Osky errors. Russell added an RBI single in the second inning, driving in Zach Lenger and padding the lead to 5-0. Third baseman Ben Myers slammed his first home run of the season over the center-field fence in the third for a 7-0 lead.

Freshman pitcher Eric Jones was perfect through the first three innings, but the Indians finally touched him for four runs and five hits in the fourth. But Jones would settle down after that to post his first varsity win, allowing only seven hits for the game and striking out eight.

Coach Mott substituted liberally, but the KHS scoring barrage continued with many Panther reserves contributing to the eight- run sixth inning. Tyler Worrall had two hits in the inning, and Jon Young and Jake Owen also added hits. Russell drove in two more runs with a single, giving him 5 RBI's for the night. Jesse Swanson put the exclamation point on the inning with a three-run blast over the left-field wall, his second home run of the season.

The Panthers return home Monday evening to face the challenge of the Boone Toreadors in a JV/Varsity tilt beginning at 5:30 PM.