Pella Christian took a doubleheader from Knoxville last night in baseball. The Eagles won the first game 10-5 and broke the game open in the fourth with nine runs to go up 10-1. In fact, Pella Christian had an opportunity to end the game early with runners at second and third but were unable to get them home. That allowed Knoxville to rally for four runs in the top half of the sixth to close the gap to five; but the Panthers could not get any closer.
The second game was an old-fashioned pitchers dual, with both Pella Christian’s Tom Bouwkamp and Knoxville’s Kellen Glover only allowing a combined seven hits. However, it was Pella Christian who was better at manufacturing runs and took the nightcap 2-1.
The Eagles scored in the top of the first Zach Zylstra was hit by the pitch. He stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, and was brought home on an RBI ground-out by Curtis Rozenboom.
It stayed 1-0 with Knoxville’s Glover carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning when Pella Christian finally got its first hit on a Jordan Rossler single, and scored two batters later on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.
Knoxville finally got on the board in the seventh when Glover singled and courtesy runner Lane Colwell scored on an Eagle error. Bouwkamp would close the door, though, striking out the last batter to end the game.
Pella Christian Coach Brad Rolffs was pleased with the patience his team showed at the plate. Bouwkamp went the distance giving one run on five hits, no walks, and four strikeouts.
In the other dugout, Knoxville Coach Steve Mott said just a couple of plays likely decided the outcome. Glover took the hard-luck loss going the distance giving up two runs on just two hits, one walk, and six strikeouts.
The sweep gives Pella Christian a good boost for the second slot in the Little Hawkeye Conference, as the Eagles are 8-3 in league play and improve to 13-7 overall. The losses drop Knoxville to 6-8 overall and 4-6 in the conference.
The Panthers will travel to South Tama on Monday, while the Eagles are also on the road to take on Grinnell