Baseball Game Preview: Knox Central Panthers vs. Barbourville Tigers

Knox Central has gone a perfect 10-0 against Barbourville recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the Tigers at 6:00 p.m. Knox Central has given up an average of 7.2 runs per game this season, but Tuesday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

It was a proper cat-fight when Knox Central challenged North Laurel on Saturday. The Panthers came up short against the Jaguars, falling 11-1. The contest marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Knox Central saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brady Engle, who went 2-for-3 with one double and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Barbourville waltzed into their match on Friday with eight straight wins... but they left with nine. They came out on top against the Yellow Jackets by a score of 15-10.

The team relied heavily on Conor West, who got on base in five of his six plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. Tyler Carr was another key player, earning two runs and two stolen bases.

Barbourville's win was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-4. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.9 runs over those games. As for Knox Central, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-11.

Everything went Knox Central's way against Barbourville in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, as Knox Central made off with a 10-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.