Pella scored five runs in the first inning and never trailed in a 13-6 win over Knoxville last night in a baseball game heard live on both KNIA and www.kniakrls.com.
Little Dutch coach Jesse Jablonski said afterwards that it was a total team effort.
“We had good at bats up and down the lineup and the defense played very well.  We were a little thin on pitching after having doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday, so we didn’t have the depth we were used to having, but Noah (Van Vark) gutted out four innings and probably went higher on his pitch count than he’s seen anytime this year.  That was an encouraging outing from him to see him step up and battle against a really good Knoxville team.”
Van Vark was also a big part of the Pella offense, going 2-2 with two walks and four runs scored by his courtesy runner Nick Grandia.  Jaden Rolffs was 3-4 with three RBI, and his runner, Colby Van Gorp, scored three runs. Gabe Thomas and Avery Van Zee each added two hits, with one of Van Zee’s being a solo home run.
Patrick Crawford and Carter Bailey were each 2-4 for Knoxville with an RBI.
The Panthers fall to 20-11 on the season, while the Little Dutch improve to 15-12.  Each team is back in action tonight, with Knoxville travelling to Chariton and Pella hosting Ballard.