Knoxville welcomes Hounds then ends their season

KNOXVILLE — The future of Fort Madison’s baseball program was set in motion after Monday’s 16-5 loss to Knoxville in Monday’s Class 3A Substate 6 semifinal.
The Bloodhounds finished 10-22, but there was something to build on with who was on the field for a crucial postseason game.
Of the 12 players who appeared in the game, nine will be returning next season — one junior, six sophomores and two eighth-graders.
A team that knocked off No. 2 Marion in last Friday’s quarterfinal and struck for a five-run inning that made this game close for a while has a lot coming back for next season.
“You know, there's a lot of heart there,” coach Albert Schinstock said. “We lose five seniors off the team, two of them that were pretty regular starters. Tonight we have eight sophomores/ eighth graders in the lineup on the field, so I think they're pretty excited for next year.”
Friday’s win put some life into the Bloodhounds, something Schinstock saw in preparing for this game.
“You could see it already during practice over the weekend and stuff like that — it was like a switch was flipped,” Schinstock said.
Knoxville (21-8), which plays Bondurant-Farrar (21-13) in Wednesday’s substate final, took a 6-0 lead in the first two innings while the Bloodhounds had runners on base in the first three innings and couldn’t score.

That all changed in the fourth, when Fort Madison sent nine men to the plate and scored five runs. Sophomore Reece Huey had a two-run single, and eighth-grader Brae Hill and sophomore Owen Huffman each drove in a run with singles.
“We gave them a few runs in the first and second innings, and we could have easily given up,” Schinstock said. “Then we got five runs and made it a game and put some pressure on them.”
But Knoxville came back with six runs in the bottom of the fourth, added two runs in the fifth, then ended the game with Lincoln Norris’ two-run home run in the sixth.
“We needed to shut them down in the bottom of the (fourth) inning and we didn’t do that,” Schinstock said.
The middle of the Panthers’ lineup did most of the damage. Norris, hitting third, had two home runs and two doubles while driving in four runs. Kyler Gifford, hitting fourth, had three doubles and a home run while driving in four runs.
Fort Madison had baserunners in every inning with the exception of the final inning.
The next season was already beginning in Schinstock’s mind.
“It’s on them to get better in the offseason,” he said. “Obviously a lot of them are multi-sport athletes, but that doesn't mean they still can't go to the cage and hit and stuff like that, and they know that. I think, coming into next year, we just want to hit the ground running and be ready.”