The Knoxville Boys and Girls of Summer came away with just one win in Albia on Monday night as the baseball squad split a doubleheader with the Blue Demons, while the softball squad lost a critical game to Albia. Knoxville won the first of the varsity double header 9-6. The Panthers jumped out to a 9-2 lead and looked to be in complete control after four innings, but Albia plated four runs in the 5th to draw closer but Knoxville slammed the door shut as Lincoln Norris got the two inning save. Kyler Gifford got the win going four innings and striking out four. Gifford, Carson Cecil, Brady Roozeboom, Norris and Luke Roozeboom had RBIs, while Seth Eilbert knocked in two. It was all Albia in the nightcap as the Panthers got up early with two runs in the first, but Albia would use small ball on four suicide squeeze plays to score several of its runs. Norris, Gifford, and Brady Roozeboom all had RBIs. Roston McCarty took the loss in game two, going three complete. Knoxville is now 11-15 and 6-6 in the South Central Conference.
On the softball diamond, Knoxville could not make a lead hold up and nearly came back from a deficit to Albia only to lose 7-6 on Monday. Ciara Heffron put Knoxville on the board first with a solo home run, the Panthers tacked on another run to make it 2-0. But Albia scored four in the 2nd inning and three more in the 3rd as both teams brought their bats. Knoxville outhit Albia 12-7, but three Panthers errors also made a difference. Heffron hit another homer in the 7th when Knoxville was bidding for the comeback. Heffron took the loss, scattering seven hits, and striking out 11, and added three RBI on the night. Anna Anderson went 3/3. The loss drops Knoxville to 9-10 on the season and 8-3 in the South Central Conference. The Panthers play PCM tonight at home, something that Coach Chris Peden is looking forward to.
Peden: “This late in the season put a lot more on that, we get to see unfamiliar opponents, someone we haven’t already seen a couple of times and I am excited to see them.”
Listen to the game live on 95.3 KNIA tonight starting at 7:15.