Katie Rutledge of CHS softball (Photo by John St. Clair, stclair-sports.com)

The Coffee County CHS softball team welcomed Macon East Academy of Montgomery, Alabama to Terry Floyd Field on Thursday night.  Thursday’s game was a rematch of a 4 to 2 win by the Lady Raiders last Friday in Montgomery.   In a game you heard here on Thunder Radio, Coffee County took an early lead then rallied from behind to get the 10 to 4 win.

After jumping out to a 3 to nothing lead, Coffee County saw the visiting Knights score 4 runs in the 3^rd to take the lead and the momentum.  Not to be deterred, the Lady Raiders knotted the game in the bottom of the 3rd before scoring 5 runs in the 5^th inning to march away with the win.  Haley Richardson got the start for Coffee County and gave way to Kaylee Skipper in the 4^th inning.  Skipper threw 4 scoreless innings with 2 strikeouts to get the win.

Offensively, Katie Rutledge had a single and a game tying RBI triple in the 3^rd inning and scored 2 runs to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Freshman Ashley Evans had 2 singles and scored 3 runs while freshman Sarah West had a single, a double and 2 RBI.  Tori Bell had a pair of singles and drove in 2 runs as the Lady Raiders banged out 11 hits against the defending Class 2A state champions from Alabama.  The win lifts Coffee County’s record to 12 and 6 on the season.

The Lady Raiders are back in action on Friday when they welcome Baylor to Terry Floyd Field for Special Needs Kids Night.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as first pitch is set for 5 PM.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

Kayla Wright(2016 file photo)

The Coffee County CHS tennis teams traveled to Fayetteville to take on district rival Lincoln County on Thursday night.  The Lady Raiders got their first win of the year 4 to 3.  The Red Raiders came up short 6 to 1.

For the Lady Raiders, Kayla Wright(score of 8 to 2), Jessica Barrera(8-0) and Rachel Henley(8-1) got wins in singles play.  The doubles team of Wright and Baylee Nester captured an 8 to 5 win for the deciding game of the match.  The win improves the Lady Raiders district record to 1 and 2 on the season.

The Red Raiders got a singles win from Grey Riddle(8 to 4) for their lone win on the afternoon.  Jonah Rollman lost his singles match in a tiebreaker(7 to 2) and the doubles team of Riddle and Reid Lawrence fell 8 to 6 in a pair of near misses for the Raiders. The loss is the first loss of the year for the Red Raiders as they fall to 3 and 1 overall and 2 and 1 in district play.

The CHS netters return to the court on Monday when they welcome Shelbyville to their home courts at the Raider Academy.  First serve is set for 4 PM.

Haidyn Campbell of Westwood softball

The Westwood softball team welcomed the Lady Tigers of Fayetteville to Manchester on Thursday night.  Originally scheduled to be played at Westwood, the game was moved to Dave King Park to make use of a drier field and lights.  The Lady Rockets clubbed 12 hits to capture a 17 to 9 win.

After trading scores in the first 2 innings, Westwood trailed 7 to 6 entering the 3^rd inning.  Haidyn Campbell struck out the side in the top of the 3^rd and Westwood plated 5 runs in the bottom of that inning to seize control of the contest.  Campbell went the distance in the circle striking out 14 to get the win.  At the plate, Campbell was 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI.  Faith Willoughby and Madison Wakefield each had a triple and a single.  Hallie Wimberley finished with a  double and a single and scored 3 times while Allie Roberts had 2 hits and 3 RBI.

The Lady Rockets will return to the diamond on Friday when they travel across town to take on Coffee County Middle School at CCMS.  First pitch is set for 5 PM.

The Nashville Predators remain in contention for third place in the Central Division after a 7-3 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

Viktor Arvidsson had an NHL career-high four points (two goals, two assists), and Craig Smith had two goals and an assist for Nashville (41-28-12), which trails the St. Louis Blues by one point for third place in the division. The Blues, who defeated the Florida Panthers 6-3, would have secured third if the Predators lost.

Nashville has a two-point lead for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference on the Calgary Flames, who are playing the Los Angeles.

Jason Spezza, Radek Faksa and Jason Dickinson scored in the second period for the Stars (33-37-11).

The Predators scored four goals on 12 shots in the first period.

Arvidsson scored 1:06 into the game when he beat goalie Antti Niemi through the five-hole off a pass from Smith, who made it 2-0 at 13:02 when he beat Niemi on the rush.

Niemi was replaced by Kari Lehtonen after he made six saves on eight shots.

Kevin Fiala made it 3-0 at 18:16 on a wrist shot, and Arvidsson pushed the lead to 4-0 at 18:52 when his shot banked in off Jamie Oleksiak’s skate for his 31st goal.

Harry Zolniercyzk gave Nashville a 5-0 lead 1:06 into the second period.

The Stars scored the next three goals.

Spezza beat goalie Juuse Saros with a wrist shot at 2:47 to make it 5-1, and Faksa deflected a Dan Hamhuis shot to make it 5-2 at 10:30.

Dickinson scored on a rebound of a Faksa shot at 12:51 to get Dallas within 5-3.

Defenseman Roman Josi scored on a 5-on-3 power play with 2:33 left in the second to give Nashville a 6-3 lead, and Smith scored his second of the game at 13:52 of the third to make it 7-3.

Saros made 30 saves, and Lehtonen had 21 on 26 shots.

Pete Weber’s Post Game Report

Heading into the season, more uncertainty swirled around Matt Harvey than any other Mets pitcher. The rarity of Harvey’s recent surgery, combined with his uneven Spring Training results, made the Mets unsure how he might fare once the lights flicked on at Citi Field.

They apparently needn’t have worried. Throwing more than two-thirds of his pitches for strikes, Harvey delivered 6 2/3 strong innings on Thursday, departing to a standing ovation before the Mets scored a 6-2 win over the Braves.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve gone into the seventh inning,” Harvey said. “I think the struggles in Spring Training definitely were there, obviously, in the back of my mind. The biggest thing for me was … really trying to pound the zone and go as deep as I can into the game.”
Travis d’Arnaud and Wilmer Flores each backed Harvey with two-run hits — d’Arnaud’s a double, Flores’ a homer — against Braves starter Jaime Garcia, who is nearly three years removed from his own surgery to repair Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. That is the condition that affected Harvey last summer, causing numbness in his pitching hand and undermining his results.

Harvey experienced no such issues on Thursday, retiring 11 of the first 12 batters he faced and reaching 95 mph on the radar gun. Only Matt Kemp had an answer for Harvey, hitting two solo homers to account for two of the Braves’ three hits off him.
“It’s good to see Matt swing the bat like he is,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Hopefully, we can join him here shortly.”

The Mets were clinging to a one-run lead when Flores, who ranked third in the Majors in OPS against left-handed pitchers last season, curled his two-run homer around the left-field foul pole to triple the Mets’ margin in the fifth. Eleven of Flores’ 16 homers last season came against left-handed pitchers, which is why the Mets batted him cleanup against Garcia.
“It’s not easy,” Flores said of adapting to a platoon role. “But it’s your role. It’s what you have to do. It’s like starting and relieving. You’ve got to make the adjustment. You’ve got to get used to it. And that’s what I’m doing.”
After Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera notched singles during a two-run seventh inning against Atlanta right-hander Chaz Roe, the Braves loaded the bases with three singles in the eighth inning. But Fernando Salas killed the threat by recording a four-pitch strikeout of Dansby Swanson.
“We battled way back and were just a hit away from getting back in that game, but it didn’t happen,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker, who saw Kemp drive in four of the five runs his team scored in this series.
Kemp’s 11th career two-homer game (and fourth since the start of 2016) gave him six extra-base hits through this season’s first 13 at-bats. Per Statcast™, his second homer off Harvey, a solo shot to left field in the seventh inning, had an exit velocity of 111.9 mph. The top exit velo of his 35 home runs last year was 110.4 mph.
“I hit it hard,” Kemp said. “I don’t care how far it goes. I just want it to scrape over the fence. It doesn’t matter how far it goes.”
The Braves will experience a quick turnaround, as they are scheduled to play the Pirates at PNC Park on Friday at 12:05 p.m. CT. Mike Foltynewicz will start instead of R.A. Dickey, whose season debut was pushed back one day because of the cold and wet conditions predicted in Pittsburgh on Friday.

The Nashville Sounds faced a 5-0 deficit after the first inning but got several clutch hits in a come-from-behind 8-6 win over the Round Rock Express in 11 innings at Dell Diamond Friday night.

Trailing 5-4 in the ninth, Jaff Decker’s two-out, run-scoring double sent the game into extra innings for the second consecutive night. Decker went a perfect 4-for-4 with a two walks, two run, and two stolen bases.

Chris Parmelee hit a solo home run to lead off the top of the tenth to give the Sounds a 6-5 lead, but it didn’t last. Aaron Kurcz, who pitched a scoreless ninth to send the game to extras, surrendered a solo homer to Round Rock’s Jared Hoying to even the game at 6-6.

The Sounds’ explosive offense was at it again in the 11th when Andrew Lambo started a rally with a single. Franklin Barreto’s successful sacrifice put Lambo in scoring position for Decker who drew a walk. Renato Nunez delivered Lambo with the eventual game-winning run when he bounced a ball up the middle to make it 7-6. For good measure, Parmelee lofted a base hit into right-center field to score Decker for a two-run lead.

Round Rock put a pair of runners on in the bottom of the 11th, but Sounds closer Bobby Wahl slammed the door to lock in the first win of the season.

The Sounds faced an immediate hole when Round Rock roughed up Nashville starter Michael Brady in the first inning. Will Middlebrooks hit a two-run homer and Preston Beck doubled in a pair of runs in the five run frame.

Nashville slowly chipped away over the next few innings as Barreto launched a two-run homer in the fifth. It was one of 18 hits for the Sounds in the second game of the season. Decker, Barreto, Parmelee, Lambo, Chad Pinder and Ryan Lavarnway all had multi-hit games. The 18 hits masked 19 strikeouts by Round Rock pitching.

Led by Zach Neal’s four scoreless frames, Nashville’s bullpen allowed just one run over eight innings of work. Ross Detwiler tossed a scoreless eighth, Kurcz allowed one run in the 10th, and Bobby Wahl’s scoreless 11th finished the job.

Game three of the five-game series is scheduled for Saturday night in Round Rock. Right-hander Cesar Valdez starts for the Sounds against right-hander Dillon Gee for the Express. First pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m.

The Round Rock Express outlasted the Nashville Sounds in 11 innings and grabbed a 2-1 win in walk-off fashion at Dell Diamond Thursday night.
With two outs in the bottom of the 11th, Round Rock designated hitter Preston Beck lined Tucker Healy’s 2-0 pitch into the right-center gap to score Ronald Guzman from second with the winning run.
It was a game of missed opportunities for the Sounds (0-1) who struck out 16 times and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Nashville left multiple runners on base in the 8th, 9th and 11th innings.
Trailing 1-0 going into the eighth, Nashville catcher Bruce Maxwell doubled to the left-center gap to spark a rally. A sacrifice bunt by Andrew Lambo put Maxwell at third for Franklin Barreto who evened the game at 1-1 with a booming triple to center-field.
With just one out in the inning, Round Rock (1-0) intentionally walked Jaff Decker to put runners at the corners. The moved paid dividends when pitcher Austin Bibens-Dirkx struck out Renato Nuñez and Kenny Wilson to end the threat.
Nashville’s bullpen trio of Josh Smith, Simon Castro, and Bobby Wahl kept the game close. The three combined to toss five shutout innings, recording eight strikeouts in the process.
Round Rock jumped on the board with a single tally in the second inning. Cesar Puello singled and swiped second base before coming around to score on a run-scoring base hit by Jason Martinson.
Express starter Tyler Wagner kept the Sounds off the board for five innings. The right-hander yielded four hits but Nashville didn’t push a run across until Round Rock went to the bullpen.
Sounds starter Daniel Gossett was solid in his second career Opening Day start. He went five innings and allowed one run on three hits. He walked five and struck out three in the no-decision.
Reliever Jaye Chapman (1-0) picked up the win for the Express and Healy (0-1) was saddled with the loss. Barreto and Maxwell had multi-hit games for the Sounds.
Game two of the five-game series is scheduled for Friday night in Round Rock. Right-hander Michael Brady starts for the Sounds against right-hander Allen Webster for the Express. First pitch is set 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.