The Knoxville Softball Squad will begin its regional journey tonight by hosting Fort Madison. The Panthers have had an up and down second half of the season going 4-9 after getting off to a 10-4 start. The Panthers hopefully have got some much needed rest and hope to be at full strength with a few injuries to important players. Regardless, Coach Carla Smith tells KNIA Sports she expects her girls to be ready for the new season.

Smith: “They played Davis County close, and got a couple of wins under their belt against some good teams. It’s no different just like our conference, if we come ready to play, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”

The Bloodhounds finished 4th in the Southeast Conference with a 7-8 record and 16-12 overall. Neeley Rehm has had the most innings in the circle with 113 and has struck out 67 with a 3.84 ERA. Fort Madison also hit .346 as a team which was tops in the Southeast Conference with 288 hits, which was 2nd in the conference and 14th in class 4A. You can hear the action live on 95.3 KNIA starting at 6:45 with the pregame and first pitch at 7:00.