The Knoxville boys and girls of summer will be back on their respective diamonds on Panther Drive tonight to face Pella Christian. The baseball Panthers come in with the #4 ranking in the latest Iowa Baseball Coaches class 3A poll and coming off a less than stellar performance against Newton, where they won coming from behind 10-8. Coach Turner Devore tells KNIA/KRLS Sports he is trying to get his team to control what they can be in control of.

Devore: “We have to make sure we’re worried about the number 1 thing and not worry about what’s outside the foul line and not be worried about someone who’s 0/4 and has their head down. Let’s worry about getting better at baseball, because that’s what everyone else in the State is doing right now.”

On the other side of Panther Drive, the class 4A #15 Knoxville Softball Squad is still smarting from a loss to Pella on Tuesday where the Panthers had control of the game, and allowed Pella to score the final four runs of the contest. Junior Catcher Brittany Bacorn and Junior Pitcher Ciara Heffron tell KNIA/KRLS Sports it is all about resetting the focus, especially at the plate.

Brittany: “Softball is a very mental sport, we just have to keep our heads in it, and we’re a really good hitting team, we just have to keep our heads in it and have confidence.”
Ciara: “We struggle with energy and that was a big part of it tonight, and if we can keep our energy up then we’re a really good team.”

Live coverage of both games can be heard tonight. Baseball will air on 95.3 KNIA and softball will air on 92.1 KRLS with both pregames starting at 7:15.