Knoxville and Centerville will be battling on both sides of Panther Drive tonight. On the baseball side, the Panthers are trying to pull off an upset and a matter of revenge against the league leading Big Reds who beat the Panthers 15-7 earlier in the season. Senior player Jaxon Zuck tells KNIA/KRLS Sports playing with younger teammates gives him a chance to lay the groundwork when they become the team leaders.

Zuck:
“Keep your head in the game and stay focused, but have fun staying hot on the bats. I’ve had so much fun playing with these younger guys and showing them how to play and getting them ready for the future.”

The Panthers and Big Reds will play a varsity double header starting with game one at 5:30. On the softball side of Panther Drive, Knoxville will take on a struggling Centerville squad that was rolled by the Panthers earlier in the season 16-1. Coach Carla Smith tells KNIA/KRLS Sports her team’s turnaround from a struggling…low on confidence squad changed when they went to Creston a few weeks ago, and they have not looked back since.

Smith:
“When we went to Creston and I’ll come back to this all year, we were not playing great softball and we were down on confidence, and we played those ranked team well and close and we just took that and ran with it.”

One reason for the resurgence is the pitching staff. The Panthers have the fourth best team ERA in class 3A at 1.49 with Ashlyn Finarty ninth individually in class 3A sporting a 1.29 ERA. A win by the Panthers would also get them closer to once again contending for the South Central Conference title. After a 1-3 start the Panthers have won their last three conference games and sit two games out of 1st place. Listen for the softball game on 95.3 KNIA starting with pregame at 7:15.