Two evenly matched teams and it came down to the final at bat. Knoxville advanced to the district final on Friday with a single to right by R.J. Roberts that brought Justin Little home to seal the win for Knoxville over Pella in round one of the class 3A district 8-7 last night. Pella got the game going in the second inning as Tyler Hillman cracked a solo home run to give Pella the early advantage. The Panthers would tie the game at one in the third before Hillman hit his second homer in the fourth. Both teams had big innings. Knoxville’s was in the fourth plating four runs on four hits to take a 6-2 lead. Pella erased that in the fifth getting three runs to draw within one at 6-5. The Little Dutch were down to their final out and final strike when Avery Van Zee brought home two runs in the top of the seventh to give Pella a 7-6 lead. Knoxville had the last at bat and after Rylan Cox was hit, Justin Little doubled to get Cox home and Roberts got Little home the next at bat. Knoxville Coach Matt Miller told KNIA/KRLS Sports Roberts in the number nine position is paying off. Pella Coach Jesse Jablonski told KNIA/KRLS Sports afterwards that it was one of the best ballgames that he’s ever been a part of it, which made it one of the toughest losses he’s had to take as a coach. Ben Wallace got the win in relief for Knoxville while Landon Vander Leest took the loss. Knoxville is now 28-7 on the season and will play Oskaloosa who broke open a close game to beat Chariton 13-3 last night. Pella will finish up 22-16.

Photo submitted by Marcus Johnson