Grant Sadler of CHS baseball

The Red Raider baseball team completed play in the King of the Mountain tournament in Grundy County on Saturday with a win and a loss.  The Red Raiders ended the weekend with a record of 3 and 1 heading into a busy week of non-district games.   Coffee County opened Saturday with an 11 to 3 win over South Pittsburg before dropping a 12 to 4 decision to Marshall County.

Opening the day against South Pittsburg, Coffee County built a 4 to 0 lead before the Pirates battled back to make it a 4 to 3 game entering the 5^th inning.  The Raiders sent 12 batters to the plate in the 5^th inning to blow the game open.  The inning was highlighted by back to back home runs from Nathaniel Tate and Grant Sadler.  Tate finished with a double and a single to go with the home run and 4 RBI.  Sadler had a single to go with his home run and Cade Giles finished with a double, a single, 2 walks and 3 runs scored.

The Raiders scored 2 runs in the first inning of their game with Marshall County to take an early lead.  Marshall County rallied to score 4 runs in the 2^nd inning and never gave up the lead.  Coffee County was held to 5 hits in the game.  Garrett Eldridge finished with a double and a single as the only Red Raider with 2 hits.  Nathaniel Tate had a home run for the third game in a row.

The Red Raiders will travel to Chapel Hill on Monday to take on Forrest in the first game of a 2 game series.  Forrest will visit Powers Field on Tuesday for game #2 in the series.  Both games will begin at 5 PM.

One year ago, former Predators captain Shea Weber surveyed the team’s 2-0 first-round series lead against the Anaheim Ducks, the first such advantage in franchise history.

Two road wins to open the playoffs had to mean something, right?

“Nothing yet, to be honest,” said Weber when asked.

Weber is gone, but his former teammates, who celebrated Nashville’s 5-0 Game 2 victory against the bewildered Blackhawks on Saturday, are in the same position to the surprise of practically everybody.

So let’s ask the same question. What does this mean?

It means that the Predators return to Nashville with history on their side. NHL teams with 2-0 leads in best-of-seven series win them more than 86 percent of the time.

Then again, it won’t mean anything unless the Predators use Bridgestone Arena to their advantage Monday and Thursday. To Weber’s point, the Predators wasted their two-game advantage last season by losing three consecutive games to the Ducks.

Here’s what we do know — Nashville’s execution of its game plan Saturday, combining aggressive offense and smothering defense, was the team’s finest this season.

“The toughest game of the year” is what Predators coach Peter Laviolette prepped his team for. Beware and weather the Blackhawks’ first-period ferocity, he told his players.

Chicago took three shots and hit one post in the opening three minutes, then Nashville jabbed back on defenseman Ryan Ellis’ long-range goal, aided by forward Viktor Arvidsson’s Matrix-like screen.

There would be no repeat of Thursday’s second-period fire drill Saturday. The Predators surged, adding a pair of first-time playoff goals to Ellis’ from the first period.

Blackhawks fans spelled Predators forward Harry Zolnierczyk’s tongue-twisting last name with four-letter unprintable words after his top-corner breakaway tally, then groaned when forward Colton Sissons poked a rebound through Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford.

Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne, apparently figuring that the NHL’s first consecutive shutouts to open a playoff series in seven years weren’t enough, threw in two assists.

Predators lead series 2-0

Game 1: Nashville 1, Chicago 0

Game 2: Nashville 5, Chicago 0

Monday: at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.

Thursday: at Nashville, 7 p.m.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

Bartolo Colon surrendered one hit over seven dominant innings and the Braves erased Trevor Cahill’s no-hit bid with a middle-inning offensive flurry that propelled them to Sunday afternoon’s 9-2 win over the Padres at SunTrust Park.

On the way to winning their fourth straight game and remaining undefeated in their new stadium, the Braves saw Colon surrender Ryan Schimpf’s solo homer in the second inning and then retire 16 of the final 17 batters he faced. The 43-year-old right-hander gained his first lead of the day courtesy of Tyler Flowers’ go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth inning.
“Trevor wasn’t making any mistakes the first few innings,” said Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman. “We got a couple guys on and Tyler was able to knock it through. It was a big hit for us, and once he did that, the floodgates opened for us. It took us a bit, but better late than never.”
Cahill, who allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings while striking out eight, kept the Braves hitless until Brandon Phillips laced a single to left field with one out in the fifth inning. San Diego’s right-hander exited after Phillips extended Atlanta’s lead with a two-run single in the sixth inning. Phillips finished the day with three hits and three RBIs.
“He had the stuff to pitch seven scoreless today,” said Padres manager Andy Green. “His stuff was plenty good enough to continue to mow through the order. Two, in my opinion, really bad pitch selections [to Flowers and Phillips]. Those two pitches came back and honestly bit us.”
The Braves bulllpen’s streak of 13 consecutive scoreless innings was snapped in the eighth inning when Ian Krol issued two walks, surrendered a single to Hunter Renfroe and allowed Schimpf to score on a passed ball.
But the Braves added three more runs in the bottom half of the eighth and further distanced themselves from the 1-6 record they sported before this four-game win streak, which includes victories in each of the three games played thus far in their new stadium.
“The road trip wasn’t good, but we hurt ourselves,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We’re playing better baseball right now.”
After facing the minimum through four, Cahill ran into trouble from the stretch in the fifth. The right-hander bounced three pitches in the dirt, none of which could be handled by catcher Hector Sanchez. Two of the three wild pitches set up Braves runs, as both Phillips and Adonis Garcia reached scoring position on balls in the dirt. Flowers would promptly knock them home with a two-run single.
“I felt like I was one pitch away,” Cahill said. “I made some decent pitches, and they did a good job fouling them off. They kept battling me. I got to two strikes on Adonis and Flowers and was maybe trying too hard to put them away and not give any runs instead of just making a good pitch.”
Ender Inciarte extended Atlanta’s lead in the seventh inning with a solo homer, but the center fielder’s most influential contribution was a sixth-inning leadoff single after his liner deflected off shortstop Erick Aybar’s glove. Dansby Swanson moved Inciarte to second base with a grounder to the right side on a hit-and-run. After Freddie Freeman was intentionally walked, Phillips delivered his decisive two-run single, just his second hit through his first 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
“Right now, everybody just wants to win as many games as we can because it will be fun to see us play in October here,” Inciarte said of the atmosphere at SunTrust Park.
In a weekend of firsts at SunTrust Park, Travis Jankowski became the first player to successfully rob a home run at the Braves’ new ballpark. With no outs in the seventh, the Padres left fielder made a brilliant catch at the short wall in front of the Padres’ bullpen, skying to prevent Jace Peterson’s opposite-field smash from clearing the fence.
Jaime Garcia will take the mound when Atlanta and San Diego conclude this four-game set on Monday night. Garcia will be aiming for his first win and looking to rebound after surrendering a pair of home runs to his nemesis Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton his last time out.

The Nashville Sounds managed just four hits as the offensive funk continued in a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in front of 6,324 fans at First Tennessee Park on Easter Sunday.

In six games on the current homestand, Nashville (3-8) has scored a total of eight runs as their home record fell to 1-5 with the setback. After topping Oklahoma City in the home opener, the Sounds have lost five straight games.

Sky Sox (7-3) starter Josh Hader was sharp from the start as he retired the first six batters he faced. The 23-year-old allowed one run over six-plus innings and earned his second win of the season.

Veteran Chris Smith tried to match the youngster but was touched up in the fifth for a pair of runs. Back-to-back run-scoring singles by Garrett Cooper and Brett Phillips gave the Sky Sox a 2-0 lead.

Hader walked Chris Parmelee to start the bottom of the seventh and the free passed came back to bite the lefty. Reliever Stephen Kohlscheen got the first two outs in the inning, but consecutive two-out singles from Ryan Lavarnway and Kenny Wilson put the first run on the board for Nashville.

Colorado Springs tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth to push their lead to 4-1. Kyle Wren pitched in with an RBI single, and Nate Orf stole home after a botched pickoff at first base.

Nashville’s Mark Canha doubled to start the home half of the eighth, but Tyler Cravy retired the next three batters he faced to hold the lead.

Rob Scahill worked the ninth and retired the side in order to guarantee the Sky Sox a series win.

The series and homestand finale is scheduled for Monday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Daniel Gossett (0-1, 4.00) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Hiram Burgos (0-1, 9.82) for the Sky Sox. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

R.A. Dickey overcame back-to-back home runs and benefited from those Brandon Phillips and Adonis Garcia produced as the Braves recorded their third straight victory with Saturday night’s 4-2 win over the Padres at SunTrust Park.

Phillips and Garcia opened the sixth inning with back-to-back homers off Clayton Richard to provide sufficient support to Dickey. The Braves starter surrendered consecutive one-out homers to Hunter Renfroe and Austin Hedges in the second inning before blanking the Padres over the remainder of his six-inning stint.

“There’s a lot of great things going on right now for us,” Dickey said after the Braves improved to 4-6. “We just have to keep the momentum. It’s all about us finding the rhythm early on. Now that we have a little more of a routine and not so many days off to navigate around, our guys are getting in a little bit of a groove and we’re seeing more of what they’re capable of.”

After receiving the early advantage courtesy of the home runs by Renfroe and Hedges, Richard allowed four singles and committed a costly balk during the game-tying two-run third inning produced by the Braves, who have now won the first two games played in their new stadium.

It was a vintage outing from Richard, who recorded 14 groundouts without a single flyout. After he allowed four runs in six innings Saturday, Richard has now picked up 36 outs on the ground this season — and just four in the air.
“His stuff was good, got a ton of ground balls,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “Even the hits, for the most part, until the home runs, were on the ground.”
While keeping the Padres scoreless over the final three innings, the Braves bullpen extended its scoreless streak to 10 consecutive innings. The relievers have allowed just two hits within this span.
Before Nick Markakis delivered the game-tying, two-out single in the third inning, Dansby Swanson put the Braves on the board with an opposite-field single that scored Chase d’Arnaud, who had singled and advanced to second on a potential pickoff that was erased when Richard was charged with a balk. Swanson is batting .159 (7-for-44).

“The kid has confidence, and it wasn’t like he’s been out there striking out a lot,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s had some good at-bats and made solid contact. There’s going to be a learning curve. He’s fine. That was just a really nice stroke he put on it for that RBI.”
After squandering doubles hit by Wil Myers in the fifth inning and Hedges in the sixth inning, the Padres chased Dickey with two on and none out in the seventh. But the potential rally ended when Jose Ramirez induced a Myers grounder that Swanson fielded in front of second base before flipping to Phillips, who made a barehanded grab before bouncing a throw that Freddie Freeman picked just before Myers reached the bag. The Padres challenged the call, but the double play stood after a replay review.
“We’re having fun,” Phillips said. “The [double play] we turned today was very beautiful, and Freddie made a nice pick. That was like a game-changer. So, I’m glad Freddie made us look good.”

Each of the first four starting pitchers within SunTrust Park’s history have recorded a hit. Following the lead Julio Teheran and Jhoulys Chacin provided as they marked in the hit column Friday, Dickey singled in the fourth inning and Richard produced a single in the fifth inning.

Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte’s unexpected homer streak was snapped at two games, but the Gold Glover added yet another defensive gem to his portfolio as he covered 54 feet in 3.6 seconds to make a diving catch of Renfroe’s sinking liner in the fourth inning. Per Statcast™, it was a four-star play that had only a 32 percent catch probability.

Bartolo Colon will make his first home start of the season as he opposes Trevor Cahill when this series resumes Sunday at 12:35 p.m. cT. Colon cruised through his season debut against the Mets, but lasted just four innings in Miami on Tuesday.