In his first career varsity start, Kyler Gifford dominated Cardinal on the mound with 11 strikeouts as the Knoxville Baseball Squad shut out the Comets 5-0 on Friday. The game was supposed to be played in Eldon, but afternoon rain on top of what that area got in the early morning hours caused Cardinal’s field to be rendered unplayable so it was moved to Knoxville. Gifford allowed just three hits going the distance. Offensively for the Panthers, Luke Roozeboom went 2/4 on the night while RBIs came from Brady Roozeboom with two, Trey Wight, and Lincoln Norris with one each. Coach Turner Devore tells KNIA/KRLS Sports with a long stretch of road games coming up, his team will need to focus even more on doing the right things.

Devore: “They’re not easy games, and tough places to play, we’re going to Ballard, and Eddyville. Sometimes playing on the road is a good thing, you can focus on working on some things before you leave. We’re going to focus on things we can get better at.”

Knoxville is now 3-2 and improves to 3-0 in the South Central Conference and off until Wednesday when the Panthers head to Ballard. The softball contest between Knoxville and Cardinal was postponed after Cardinal was unable to get its field ready in time for the game.