Pella High managed to dig their way out of an eight-run hole, but allowed Saydel the deciding run in the final inning of a 9-8 loss on the baseball diamond Thursday night in Des Moines. A six-run second inning gave the Eagles an early 8-0 lead, but the Little Dutch battled back with four runs in the sixth and four more in the top of the seventh to nearly complete the comeback.

Brett Kingery started on the mound for Pella, with Ryan Shull providing a few innings of relief and Jacob Gleason coming on to try and close the game, but ultimately taking the loss. At the plate, Aaron Tysseling went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and Schyler Kane was 3-for-4 with a double to lead the Little Dutch. Trevor Wood and Gleason also brought some pop to the plate, each going 2-for-4 with an extra-base hit apiece.

The Pella High baseball team is now 15-12 overall, entering tonight’s Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader at Knoxville. Head coach Al Vasher says while games with Knoxville are always significant, the team is most focused on preparing for the postseason.

“Knoxville, obviously is a big rivalry, and not only that, but it’s our last conference games of the season,” said Vasher. “We just want to keep playing good baseball. We want to play our best baseball at the end of the season, so as long as we’re doing that, it really doesn’t matter who we’re playing.”

Coverage of the late game of the double-dip between the Panthers and Little Dutch will be broadcast live on 92.1 fm KRLS with Eric Gotschall and Chad Whitten providing the play-by-play; starting at approximately 7:30 p.m.

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