It wasn’t perfect, but few things in the game of baseball are. Knoxville clinched the 2015 South Central Conference championship on Thursday night with a 12-2 win in game two of a doubleheader with Albia. The game clinching win came a few hours later than planned as the Blue Demons won the opener 6-4 to hand Knoxville their first SCC loss of the season.

According to Head Coach Joel Johnson, winning the conference title was the number one goal since the beginning of the season. The conference title is the 12th in program history, with six in the Little Hawkeye Conference and now six in the South Central, but the first since 2007.

Kevin Woodhouse took the loss on the mound in game one. Knoxville trailed 6-0 in the game after three, but would cut into the lead with a four run 4th inning. After Kevin Woodhouse walked with the bases loaded, Jake Kendall plated two with a single, and Jared McClung drove in one with a sacrifice fly. However, that is as close as Knoxville would get in a game they were limited to six total hits.

Tony Salato earned the win on the mound in game two, allowing one earned run on five hits in six innings of work. Jared McClung and Kevin Woodhouse each had three hits in game two, with Woodhouse extending his hitting streak to an incredible 32 straight games. A five run 4th inning, where Knoxville collected four straight hits to knock out the Albia starting pitcher, broke the game open for good. The game ended with Nolan Wallace crossing the plate in the bottom of the 6th inning to give Knoxville a ten run lead when Austin Little blasted a base hit to right field.

#5 (3A) Knoxville is now 24-5 overall and 16-1 in the league. They are next in action on Monday night in their conference finale against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. Monday night will be Senior Night at the Knoxville Baseball Field where the nine seniors and their parents will be honored before the game.

Game 1

Albia 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 – 6 6 0
Kville 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 – 4 6 3

WP – Michael Terrell (2-1), SV – Cobi Thomas (1)
LP – Kevin Woodhouse (5-2)

HR – {Albia} Bryce Leshen (4)

Game 2

Albia 0 0 1 1 0 0 – 2 5 3
Kville 1 3 1 5 1 1 – 12 11 2

WP – Tony Salato (3-1)
LP – Nate Haveman (4-2)

#5 Knoxville (24-5, 16-1)

Albia (13-13, 10-4)