Knoxville 16 Pella 7

Friday July 10, 2009

by Don French

Sophomore first baseman Lance Daugherty spearheaded a 20-hit Panther attack Friday night in Pella. Two of Daugherty's four hits were home runs and he totaled 5 RBI's for the night as Knoxville romped over the Little Dutch, 16-7. Danny Lee and Zach Stuart each added three hits to the Panther effort.

The first of Daugherty's blasts gave the Panthers a 2-0 edge in the first inning. Pella would hang tough, however, scoring six runs of their own in the first three innings as Knoxville clung to a 7-6 lead.

Adam Thiel sliced a two-run single through the middle in the fourth inning to increase the Panthers' lead to 9-6. Stuart drove in Mike Jacks for Knoxville's tenth run in the following inning.

The black and gold pulled away late in the game, scoring a combined seven runs in the sixth and seventh. Lee and Zach Lenger had back-to-back infield hits in the sixth, followed by RBI's from Daugherty and Stuart. Four extra-base hits in the seventh -- a Mike Jacks double, triples from Lee and Blake McWilliams and Daugherty's second homer -- resulted in three more runs.

As Knoxville continued to score at will, Lee came on to pitch and shut down the Dutch over the final three innings, allowing only one hit and no runs. The Panthers' pitching trio of Mike Jacks, Eric Jones and Lee allowed Pella only six hits for the game.

The Panthers improved to 18-14 overall. Knoxville clinched a winning conference record with this win, improving to 13-8 in LHC action. The Panthers travel to Newton on Saturday before observing Senior Night during a home double-header with Oskaloosa on Monday.