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The road to Iowa City begins for the five seeded Knoxville Baseball Squad as the Panthers travel to four seed Carlisle for the class 3A substate opener tonight. The young Panthers have played far better in the second half of the season going 14-8 since June 14th and sporting an 18-18 record. Much of the improvement has been due to the Panthers hitting. Knoxville currently has a .282 team batting average, which is 3rd in the South Central Conference, led individually by Mike Hudson at .458.

Hudson’s 49 hits and 30 RBIs also lead the Panthers with his 49 hits leading the conference and 7th in class 3A. Knoxville will send Beau Leisure to the mound tonight. Leisure has had a solid season with a 2.35 ERA with 84 strikeouts, which leads the conference and is 4th in class 3A. The Wildcats sport a 19-15 record and finished 6th in the Raccoon River Conference. The Wildcats are 30th in the state in class 3A with a 5.65 ERA, but have the 6th best batting average at .328 and lead the state in 3A with 26 home runs, which is 3rd overall in all classes. Knoxville Coach Turner Devore tells KNIA/KRLS Sports the Wildcats are very aggressive offensively, so his team will have to be aware at all times.

Tonight’s winner gets either top seeded Solon or 8th seeded Newton on Monday. Listen to the game live on 95.3 KNIA beginning at 6:45.

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