Knoxville 4 Pella Christian 2

Wednesday July 1, 2009

by Don French

Eric Jones held the Pella Christian Eagles to one hit through six innings Wednesday evening before settling for a complete-game three-hitter in a 4-2 Panther win which extended Knoxville's winning streak to seven games. Jones walked only one and struck out eight.

PC did threaten to score in each of the first two innings because of a pair of Panther errors, but the Knoxville defense stepped up and made the plays when they needed them to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard.

Knoxville took the lead for good in the third inning. Zach Lenger beat out an infield hit and was sacrificed to second. He then scored on Danny Lee's single. The Panthers held onto the 1-0 lead until a key rally in the fifth.

Lenger walked to lead off that fifth inning, then scored on an Eagle error which allowed Lee to reach first base. Adam Thiel's double put Panthers on second and third, setting the table for third baseman Blake McWilliams. “McBill” came through with the big hit when it was needed, driving in both baserunners by slapping a single into right-center field. The three insurance runs increased Knoxville's lead to 4-0, and those were runs the Panthers would need. Pella Christian tried to rally in the seventh, combing two hits, a walk and a Knoxville error to score twice. But the rally ended when Jones got the final Eagle hitter to fly out to Lee in center field.

Knoxville improves to 16-12 overall and 11-6 in LHC play, and has risen to second place in the conference race. The Panthers enjoy a day off on Thursday, then travel to Newton for a double-header with the Cardinals Friday evening.