In a back-and-forth round of late innings that saw both teams with big swings, it was the Lady Dutch who came out a walk-off winner over Knoxville in the Red Rock Rivalry, winning 6-5 in a game heard live on 95.3 KNIA and 92.1 KRLS.

The Lady Dutch earned the walk-off with Elly Cairney driving a deep fly ball to centerfield and Maddy Rempe scoring. Pella opened the game in the first with a run after the first of four Knoxville errors, and kept a 2-0 advantage until the top of the fifth, when three Panther hits and two Lady Dutch errors had Knoxville take the lead. Pella answered and grabbed the lead back in the bottom frame and added a run heading into the 7th. After a lead off error, Knoxville’s Emery Neer, Emma Dunkin, Maddy Findley, and Alex Griggs all found base hits to tie the game at 5. Pella pitcher Maddie Parks and the defense wriggled out of the bases-loaded, no-out jam, and got the first two runners on in the bottom of the 7th until Cairney unloaded and sent a deep fly ball to Neer.

Cairney finished 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, Ally Almond was also 2-for-4 with a pair of runs driven in, and Parks earned the win with seven strikeouts in seven innings. Knoxville’s Neer and Olivia Masdaam each scored twice for Knoxville, and Finley drove in two runs with two hits.

Pella moves to 6-6 and heads to Oskaloosa for varsity action this evening; Knoxville, now 7-6, is off until the Pella Christian Eagles come to town Thursday, in a game that can be heard live on both 95.3 KNIA and 92.1 KRLS.