Coffee County Middle School Red Raider soccer team – 2017 Red Raider Invitational Bronze Cup winners[Photo By Robert Harper]

Coffee County opened up play on Saturday morning taking on a physical Lincoln County team.  The Raiders got a pair of goals in the first 6 minutes to capture an early lead and Adam Petty was clean in goal as Coffee County won 3 to 0.  Emilio Contrez got a goal in the 4^th minute from 30 yards out on a pretty volley over the keeper’s head.  Hayden Hargrove found the back of the net in the 6^th minute to give the Raiders a 2 to 0 lead at the half.  In the second half, Isaiah Campbell netted a goal in the final minute.  Petty finished the game with 9 saves.

In the finals, Coffee County was matched up against Upperman and it turned out that the Bees were no match for the Raider offensive onslaught.  Coffee County scored 10 goals in the first 40 minutes of the match to run away with a 10 to 2 win.  The Raiders got goals from Contrez, Hargrove, Dyllan Toledo, Blake Young and Jamie Norris in the title game win.  The win improves the Raiders record to 3 and 4 on the season.   Coffee County is back at home on Tuesday when they welcome White County to the CCMS Pitch.  Opening kick is set for 5 PM.

Angel Gonzalez(#7 on right) battles with a Harris midfielder for possession of the ball on Saturday.

Looking for tougher and more physical competition for his Rocket soccer team, Coach Jonathan Graf always circles the Red Raider Invitational Tournament on his calendar.  “It gives us a chance to see the kind of good competition we need to see to get us ready for the conference tournament” said Graf on Saturday as his team finished the tournament with a record of 2 and 2.

Opening up on Friday, Westwood pummeled Whitworth-Buchanan 9 to 0.  Westwood got 4 goals and an assist from Angel Gonzalez to lead the attack.  John Martinez scored twice and had 3 assists.  Lucas Workman had a pair of goals and a pair of assists while Jonathan Sherrill added a goal and Elliot Sain notched an assist.  In game #2, Westwood was blanked 3 to 0 by Algood which put them in the Silver Pool for Saturday’s bracket play.

The Rockets opened up Saturday afternoon against Harris and grabbed an early lead when Workman found the back of the net in the 5th minute.  Harris turned up the offensive pressure in the 18th minute forcing Westwood keeper Brody Todd to make 3 great saves in a 90 second span.  The Eagles finally broke through on an apparent missed off-sides call to tie the game at 1 in the 20th minute.  The Eagles added a goal 2 minutes later to take a 2 to 1 lead into the half.  In the second half, the deeper Harris squad used multiple substitutions to notch goals in the 52nd and 56th minutes against a tired Rocket squad.

In the silver bracket consolation game, Westwood rallied from an early Blackman goal to claim a 6 to 2 win.  The Flames scored in the 2nd minute to take an early lead before Westwood rallied for 5 goals in an 11 minute span to take a 5 to 1 lead in the half.  Each team netted 2nd half goals as Westwood claimed the win.  John Martinez had the hat trick for Westwood scoring 3 goals.  Angel Gonzalez added 2 goals and an assist while Lucas Workman had a goal and 2 assists.

Westwood returns to the pitch on Tuesday when they play host to North Franklin.  That match gets underway at 5:30 PM.

Braden Brown of CCMS baseball

After struggling the first time through the batting order on Saturday against Whitworth-Buchanan, the Coffee County Middle School baseball team needed a spark.  That spark came in the 3^rd inning with 4 straight hits, a walk and a hit batter as the Raiders claimed a 3 to 1 lead on their way to a 5 to 2 win in Murfreesboro.

Braden Brown and Curtis Tudor combined on the mound to pitch a 4 hitter for Coffee County’s 7^th win of the year.  Brown and Griffin Meeker each had a pair of hits to lead the Red Raiders.  Kyle Farless added a double and Lane Spry drew 3 walks for Coffee County.

The Raiders return home on Monday when they play host to Westwood at CCMS.  That battle of cross town rivals is set to get underway at 4:30 PM.

The Coffee County Middle School track team held their first meet of the year on Friday at Carden-Jarrell Field as they welcomed Warren County, Harris and East Tullahoma. Despite a wet spring and a pair of early cancellations, the Raider thinclads showed no rust as they swept the meet. The Lady Raiders outdistanced 2nd place Warren County 60 to 57 while the Red Raiders got past 2nd place Harris 55 ½ to 45 ½ .

Individual Results for the Lady Raiders:
Discus – Lexie Hosea 3rd (59’ 6.5”), Emma Singleton 5th (46’ 1”)
High Jump – Macy Tabor 1st (4’ 4”), Livy Rayfield 3rd (4 ‘ on 1 attempt), Ryan Green 4th (4’ on 2 attempts)
4 x 100m Relay – 3rd (58.69) Maddie Husted, Mady Gravitt, Alyssa Gipson, Livy Rayfield
1600m – Holli Hancock 3rd (7:21), Shelby Watkins 5th (7:28)
100m – Macy Tabor 2nd (14.15)
4 x 200m Relay – 1st (2:09) Maddie Husted, Mady Gravitt, Claire Bryant, Livy Rayfield
400m – Ryan Green 2nd (1:13), Emma Singleton 3rd (1:14), Arianna Hansen 4th (1:15)
800m – Madison Rooker 2nd (3:00), Hannah Young 5th (3:18)
200m – Macy Tabor 1 (30.63), Maddie Husted 3rd (31.12), Claire Bryant 4th (32.17)
4 x 400m – 2nd (5:12) Alyssa Gipson, Anna Takeo, Mady Gravit, Ryan Green

Individual Results for the Red Raiders:
Shot Put – Zach Speegle 3rd (32 ‘ 3”), Hunter Good 4th (32’ 1.5”)
Discus – Ethan Welch 3rd (87’ 9”), Trenton Scrivnor 4th (77’ 7”)
High Jump – Andrew Hite 5th (4’ 8”)
1600m – Ethan Welch 1st (5:38), Jacob Rutledge 2nd (5:39)
100m – Zach Speegle 4th (12.87)
4 x 200m – 2nd (1:59) Kelby Walker, Andrew Hite, Elijah Clemmons, Hunter Good
400m – Ethan Beaty 1st – tie – (1:04), Braison Yancer 3rd – tie – (1:07)
800m – Jacob Rutledge 1st (2:40), Andrew Gibson 3rd (2:58), Cole Posch 4th (3:01)
200m – Trenton Scrivnor 2nd (28.82), Landon Crabtree 4th (30.95)
4 x 400m Relay – 1st (4:36) Ethan Beaty, Braison Yancer, Jacob Rutledge, Ethan Welch

The CCMS runners will be back on the track on Wednesday when they travel to McMinnville for a three way meet with Warren County and North Franklin. Field events are set to get underway at 4 PM.

Starling Marte took one swing and watched the ball fly. He rounded first base, raising his right hand and pointing the other toward the Pirates’ dugout. His teammates rushed toward him at home plate, celebrating a game they did not lead until Marte finished his trip around the bases. Marte’s walk-off blast in the 10th inning completed the second of the Bucs’ two late-inning comebacks as they beat the Braves, 6-5, on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park.

The Pirates forced extra innings by stringing together a rally in the ninth against closer Jim Johnson — a single, two walks and a savvy slide by David Freese. Then Nick Markakis and Brandon Phillips hit back-to-back singles to begin the 10th against left-hander Felipe Rivero, and Markakis scored on a groundout by catcher Tyler Flowers. Third baseman Adam Frazier had a chance to throw home but bobbled the ball, giving Markakis time to cross the plate and give the Braves a 5-4 lead. Frazier then led off the 10th with a double against reliever Jose Ramirez, and Marte crushed the first pitch he saw, a 97.9-mph fastball. The ball came off his bat at 104.8 mph, according to Statcast™, and landed a projected 410 feet away in the Braves’ bullpen.

“I know I got the barrel,” Marte said. “The wind was hard out, which helped me. I knew I got that one.”
Julio Teheran cruised through seven innings, allowing only two unearned runs on six hits and a walk while striking out four as he outdueled the Pirates’ Opening Day starter, Gerrit Cole. He was supported mostly by Freddie Freeman, who finished 4-for-5 with two homers, a double, three runs scored and a stolen base. Freeman went deep against Cole in the fifth inning and blasted a slider from Antonio Bastardo onto the concourse in right-center field in the seventh.
“Freeman had a day,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Fortunately for us, we had a better day.”

Cole gave up two runs in the first, one of them on a homer by Dansby Swanson, but settled down after that. He exited after allowing three runs over six innings in his second start of the season. Glad to see Teheran out of the game, the Pirates pulled within a run in the eighth inning, scoring on a single by Marte — one of his four hits on the day — and an error by left fielder Jace Peterson. They rallied again to tie it in the ninth, then again to win in the 10th.

“You can’t give away that many runs and that many extra outs and expect to win games,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s as simple as that. You’ve got to make plays better than we do.
With two outs and a man on second base in the fourth inning, Pirates first baseman Josh Bell pulled a line drive that glanced off Freeman’s glove and bounced into foul territory for an RBI double that made it a 2-1 game. Bell came around to score quickly as shortstop Jordy Mercer swatted a game-tying single to center field. The rally may not have started if Freeman had caught Bell’s hard liner, but Freeman quickly put the Braves back on top. In the fifth, Freeman jumped on a first-pitch curveball from Cole and crushed it over the left-field wall.
“We’re giving them extra outs. It started with me,” Freeman said. “I need to catch that ball and it’s a pickoff there. They ended up scoring two runs that inning. We’re just not catching the ball and fielding the ball right now.”
The most important play in the Pirates’ ninth-inning rally may not have been a hit or a walk, but rather the hard slide Freese took into second base to break up a potential game-ending double play. Freese walked to load the bases for pinch-hitter Francisco Cervelli, who hit a ground ball to third base. Adonis Garcia threw to Phillips at second, forcing out Freese, but Freese’s slide — a “good, old-fashioned baseball play,” as Hurdle called it — prevented Phillips from making the turn and allowed Gregory Polanco to score from third. The Braves challenged the play, asking for a review to see if Freese violated the slide rule, but the call on the field was confirmed.
“In that moment, that late in the game, you’ve got to get it done,” Freese said. “It’s not really on the scorecard or anything, but you hustle and you just try to help the team.”

Freeman joined Marcus Giles (July 28, 2003) and Chipper Jones (Aug. 20, 2000) as the only players in Braves history to have four hits, two home runs and a stolen base in one game. He became the franchise’s first player to homer twice in a four-hit game since his good friend Dan Uggla did it on June 5, 2012.

The Pirates swept the Braves in Pittsburgh for the first time since April 29-May 1, 1994, when the Bucs reeled off three straight wins at Three Rivers Stadium against Steve Avery, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.
After enjoying an off-day in Miami on Monday, Atlanta will begin a three-game series against the Marlins on Tuesday at 6:10 p.m. CT.  Bartolo Colon will get the start in what will be the third home opener the Braves have experienced this year.

The Nashville Sounds managed just five hits in a 7-1 setback to the Round Rock Express Sunday afternoon at Dell Diamond.
Nashville (2-2) missed early opportunities in the first and second innings when they left a combined five runners on base, and the offense went stale for the rest of the day until the ninth inning.
The quiet offense wasted a solid effort from Nashville starter Paul Blackburn. The right-hander made a quality start in his first career Triple-A outing. The 23-year-old allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits in six innings. He was tagged with the tough-luck loss.
Round Rock’s (2-2) two runs against Blackburn came in the third when Jared Hoying lined a two-out, two-run single up the middle. Blackburn promptly picked off Hoying to end the inning.
It remained 2-0 as both teams didn’t produce much offense in the middle innings. Nashville reliever Josh Smith was summoned to pitch the seventh and found immediate trouble.
Cesar Puello and Ronald Guzman started the inning with back-to-back singles. A ground ball past short that went for a double plated Puello to make it a 3-0 game.
Smith bounced back to get Luis Marte and Doug Bernier for the first two out in the inning. The Sounds intentionally walked Preston Beck to load the bases, but the move backfired when Will Middlebrooks launched a grand slam to deep left to break open the game at 7-0.
Four runners reached for the Sounds in the ninth, but just one crossed the plate when Jaff Decker rifled a base hit down the right field line to score Matt Olson.
After going 10-for-29 with runners in scoring position the previous two games, the Sounds went 1-for-8 Sunday and left 12 runners on base.
The series finale is scheduled for Monday night in Round Rock. Right-hander Chris Smith starts for the Sounds against right-hander Eddie Gamboa for the Express. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
The 2017 season is the Sounds’ 40th in franchise history and their third as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Opening Day is scheduled for Tuesday, April 11 as the Sounds host the Oklahoma City Dodgers at 6:35 p.m. at First Tennessee Park. Season ticket memberships are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Gregory Polanco racked up four hits, and R.A. Dickey was marred by costly defensive miscues as the Pirates made the most of their opportunities and turned four double plays while claiming a 6-4 win over the Pirates on Saturday night at PNC Park.

Polanco singled to begin a two-run second inning, doubled during a two-run third inning and capped a two-run sixth inning with a RBI single off Ian Krol. The Pirates took advantage of two errors and the three passed balls charged against Kurt Suzuki, who had trouble handling the knuckleball in his first official game as Dickey’s catcher.

Dickey gave the Braves an early lead when he blooped a two-out, two-run single to shallow right field off Pirates starter Chad Kuhl, who also surrendered Jace Peterson’s third-inning RBI triple during his five-inning effort.

Making his Braves debut, Dickey allowed six runs — three earned — and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings. The 42-year-old former Cy Young Award winner endured a frustrating sixth inning when Alen Hanson reached on an infield single that hit off Dickey’s right foot and then scored with the assistance of a wild pitch and two passed balls.
Dansby Swanson doubled in the first inning and then got caught too far off the bag when Adonis Garcia lined into a double play. Brandon Phillips grounded into a double play after the Braves put two on with none out in the third inning, and Peterson killed another potential rally in the fifth inning when he grounded into a double play after Atlanta had put two on with one out.
“The double plays were huge,” Hurdle said. “I can’t speak enough about the double plays. There were a lot of challenges to be met off the mound for him through five innings, and the double plays played big. You give [Kuhl] credit. He was in a corner. He got the best double play when he needed one. It was the last one, to clean out the fifth inning. He did what he needed to do to give us a chance to win the game.”

The Pirates capped a two-run second inning when Freddie Freeman was unable to secure the throw Garcia made after fielding Kuhl’s two-out grounder. The visitors’ defense woes extended into the two-run third when catcher Suzuki whiffed on a knuckleball, allowing Polanco to advance to third base. Second baseman Phillips then booted a grounder off the bat of John Jaso, who scored on Josh Harrison’s two-out single.

The Braves made a successful challenge in the fourth inning, when a replay review resulted in a double play. First base umpire originally ruled Starling Marte beat Swanson’s throw to first base.
Polanco was called out when he attempted to stretch his sixth-inning single into a double. The Pirates challenged Swanson never tagged Polanco, but the call stood after a 1:58 review.
A crew chief challenge in the ninth inning confirmed Nick Markakis was hit on the hand by Tony Watson’s pitch.
Julio Teheran will make his second start when Atlanta and Pittsburgh conclude this three-game series Sunday at 12:35 p.m ET. Teheran tossed six scoreless innings during Monday’s Opening Day loss to the Mets.