For the second year in a row, the Pella and Knoxville baseball teams will have a chance to end the other’s season as the Red Rock Rivalry renews tonight on Panther Drive.

The Dutch travel to the #7 ranked Panthers as the two local schools aim to move on to the round of 16. Knoxville won the regular season matchup on May 18th by a 6-1 margin, but Pella has hopes of repeating the 2022 pattern — while the Panthers earned the regular season win last year, it was the Dutch who ultimately made it to Iowa City after knocking out their in-county rivals to begin that run.

Knoxville opened the 3A playoffs with a 5-2 win over Oskaloosa and Pella defeated Grinnell at home 8-3. Knoxville Head Coach Turner Devore knows what this game means and what the rivalry is all about, but he also wants his guys not to be over hyped about what’s at stake.

“Everything stays the same, everything will be the same and that’s got us to that point. We’re 33-3 for a reason. We have to hit better, field better, and do everything better than Pella if we’re going to advance.”

Pella Head Coach Jesse Jablonski says if they can replicate what they did so well against the Tigers, they feel they can compete well and have a legitimate chance to get back to the substate round.

“We just have to stay within ourselves and our gameplan, and don’t let some of the external factors start to creep into our minds and take over, and if we can just stay in our dugout and keep things internal to our team and do the things we are good at doing, we’ll see where the game plays out.”

Coverage of the Red Rock Rivalry: Baseball Playoff Edition begins at approximately 6:40 this evening on both 92.1 KRLS and 95.3 KNIA.