Kaylee Skipper tossed a complete game 1 hitter and Raven Rogers hit a solo home run in the 6^th inning to lift the Coffee County Lady Raider softball team to a 1 to 0 win over Lawrence County on Thursday night at Terry Floyd Field.  In the season opener for both teams, pitching was dominant in the matchup of a pair of teams expected to compete for the district title.  Skipper allowed a 1^st inning, 2 out double as the only hit of the night as she pitched to contact striking out 5 while walking 1 for the win.

Entering the bottom of the 6^th inning, each team had been held to a single hit.  In a game you heard here on Thunder Radio, Katie Rutledge led off the frame with a single and was thrown out trying to steal 2^nd base.  Raven Rogers hit the next pitch over the right field fence to give Coffee County their 3^rd hit and their 1^st win of the year.  Lucky Knott had the call of the home run and it sounded like this

 

Skipper and Rogers were named the Crazy Daisies Co-Players of the game.  The Lady Raiders travel to Shelbyville on Friday night for a district contest with the Eaglettes.  First pitch is set for 5:30 PM.

DOWNLOAD a Podcast of the game at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

The CHS Baseball team opened the season at home on Thursday night with a doubleheader against Shelbyville.  After suffering a heart-breaking 4 to 2 loss in 11 innings in the opening game, Coffee County rallied in the second game to crush the Eagles 11 to 1.

A pair of unearned runs in the top of the 11^th allowed Shelbyville to capture the first game as the Red Raiders left the bases loaded in the 9^th inning and 2 runners on in the 10^th inning without getting the winning run across.  Coffee County had 7 singles in the game led by Noah Anerson who finished with 2 hits and scored a run.

In the second game, Coffee County entered the 4^th inning trailing 1 to 0 as they were designated the visitor for Game #2.  The Red Raiders erupted for 11 hits in the final 4 innings to earn the doubleheader split.  Anderson again swung a hot bat finishing with a double and single and 2 runs scored and 2 RBI.  Jacob Langham added 2 hits and 3 RBI.  Grant Sadler pitched 6 innings of 3 hit ball to get the win on the mound for the Raiders.

The Red Raiders are back at home on Tuesday for a district contest with Lincoln County.  First pitch is set for 6 PM.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the action as Lucky Knott will bring you the pregame show at 5:50.

The Westwood softball team got a huge conference win on Thursday night as they blasted Community 15 to 2 in Unionville.  Westwood scored in every inning in the decisive win.  The Lady Rockets banged out 12 hits as they ended the game in 6 innings due to the mercy rule.

Haidyn Campbell had another stellar night as she had 3 hits including a double and a triple with 3 RBI.  Campbell was also the winning pitcher as she went the distance allowing only 5 hits while striking out 13 and walking none.  Allie Roberts had a single and a triple and 4 RBI.  Kara Beth Patton had a double and a single and 4 RBI while Emma Kidder added 2 singles.

The Lady Rockets will host their first home game of the year on Friday when they welcome Cascade to Lady Rocket Field.  First pitch is set for 5:30 PM.

The Coffee County Lady Raider tennis team traveled to Columbia on Thursday to open their season against Columbia.  The Lady Raiders fell in a close match by a final score of 5 to 4.  Columbia did not field a boys’ team so the Red Raiders were able to claim a forfeit win over the Lions.

The Lady Raiders got singles wins from Natalie Elzeer(by a score of 8 to 5), Rachel Henley(8 to 3) and Baylee Nester(8 to 1).  The doubles team of Cara Roper and Elzeer  also got a win 9 to 7 while the doubles team of Henley and Nester fell in a tiebreaker in what proved to be the pivotal match of the day.

The tennis teams travel to McMinnville for a match on Tuesday with Warren County.  First serve is set for 2 PM.

The Coffee County Middle School softball team ran their record to 5 and 0 on Thursday night with a 9 to 6 win over Harris.  Taking on the Eaglettes in a game cancelled earlier this week, the Lady Raiders had to rally from behind to get the win.  A 4 run 4^th inning capped off the hard fought comeback win.

Trailing by scores of 3 to 0 and 6 to 3 after the first 2 innings, the Lady Raiders rallied to get the score to 6 to 5 after the second inning.  The Lady Raiders finally shut down the Harris offense before claiming the win with the 4^th inning rally.

Katie Crosslin led the Lady Raiders in hitting as she was 3 for 3 on the day with 3 singles and 2 runs scored.  Kiya Ferrell had a triple and a single and Jayden Scheller added a double and a single as Coffee County finished with 10 hits.

The Lady Raiders will travel to Harris on Friday for the second game in the series.  First pitch is set for 5 PM.

The Westwood soccer team kept their perfect conference record in tact on Thursday night with a 5 to 2 win over Cascade.  The Rockets were led in scoring by Eliiot Sain who notched a pair of goals.  John Martinez, Lucas Workman and Conner Cravens all added goals as Westwood improved to 3 and 0 in conference play.  John Martinez, Lucas Workman and Louie Frazier all had assists for Westwood.

The Rockets travel to Fayetteville on Monday to take on Riverside Christian.  That match is set to kick off at 5 PM.

The Westwood tennis teams traveled to Shelbyville on Thursday night and came home with a split on the afternoon.  The Lady Rockets won their match 5 to 2.  The Rockets fell in their contest 5 to 2.

For the Lady Rockets, Lauren Perry, Luz Maria Basurto and Callie Roper got singles wins.  Perry teamed up with Patricia Barrera for a doubles win while Basurto and Roper won their singles match.

The Rockets got a singles win from J.C. Crouch.  In doubles play, Crouch teamed up with Jonathan Welch to get Westwood’s other win.

Westwood’s next match is scheduled for April 5^th in Sewanee as the Rockets and Lady Rockets take on St. Andrews-Sewanee.  First serve is set for 4 PM.

Pekka Rinne’s 500th game was one to remember.

The goaltender made 22 saves and Viktor Arvidsson scored the winner in overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night at Verizon Center. The victory is Nashville third consecutive in the win column – and second straight in overtime – and gives them the season sweep over Washington. The Preds now possess 35 wins and 81 points overall on the season.

Rinne starred throughout the night, and after a slow start from the Preds, they regrouped to shut down one of the League’s top teams in their own building and collect a solid road win.

“There weren’t a lot of chances and just a tight hockey game,” Rinne said. “You could tell that it meant a lot to us, and we needed these points. There’s been a lot of games the last couple years that haven’t gone our way in OT, and winning that game in OT, Arvi putting that in the back of the net. It was a huge one.”

“They were a little bit quicker than us in the first, and we were able to find a gear halfway through the second for the rest of the game,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought we started to push the pace and control it a little bit better, but it was pretty solid game once we got going.”

Washington took a 1-0 lead at 11:41 of the first with a goal from Brett Connolly, but with just over a minute left to play in the second period, James Neal struck for the third time in his last three games, taking a Kevin Fiala pass and snapping his 21st of the season past Braden Holtby to even the score before the intermission.

The final frame solved nothing, leading to a 2-on-1 in overtime with Viktor Arvidsson picking his spot and beating Holtby for his 25th goal of the season and sending the visitors away with two more points on the ledger.

On the road, at this point in the season, to put forth an effort against a team such as Washington, it certainly builds self-assurance in the Nashville dressing room – and the Preds will take all they can get.

“It meant a lot, definitely gives us confidence going forward,” defenseman Roman Josi said. “One of the toughest buildings to play in this year on the road, and we really executed, especially from the second period on. We really executed our game plan, played really well defensively and capitalized on our chances. It was a great road win for us.”

500 Club:

When Pekka Rinne took up position in his crease to start Thursday’s contest in Washington, he became just the 67th goaltender in NHL history to appear in 500 career games.

And while he’s certainly had nights when he’s had to make more saves or play a larger role, it was still classic Rinne, doing what he’s done for the past nine seasons in the Nashville net, stopping shot after shot to lead his club.

“He was great,” Laviolette said of Rinne. “If you have a milestone game like that, it’s always good to be really sharp the way he was. It makes you feel good about it, so I’m happy for him.”

“He played a great game,” Josi said. “They’re a dangerous team and especially in the first they had a lot of chances. He made a lot of big saves and really deserved that win.”

Working Overtime:

An area of Nashville’s game that has been less than perfect over the past two seasons, the Predators have now won consecutive games in overtime. And even when the Preds have lost in the extra session as of late, they’ve noticed a change in their game when things go past regulation time.

It’s clearly working now.

“You get more comfortable and you learn from your mistakes,” Arvidsson said of OT play. “I think we’ve done that, and we play it safer and take advantage of their mistakes, but you learn every game, every time you get the chances to play 3-on-3.”

“We’ve been playing a lot of high-scoring games, scoring a lot of goals and giving up a lot of goals,” Rinne said. “Tonight, we showed that we can play against one of the top teams in the League and be really solid defensively and didn’t give them a lot. That gives us confidence moving forward.”

Notes:

Forward Colin Wilson missed Thursday’s game in Washington with a lower-body injury. Kevin Fiala entered the lineup in Wilson’s place, and defenseman Matt Irwin also skated for Nashville, taking the place of Anthony Bitetto.

Wilson, Bitetto, Brad Hunt, Harry Zolnierczyk and Vernon Fiddler (upper-body) were scratched for the Preds on Thursday.

James Neal has now scored at least 21 goals in each of his nine NHL seasons.

Nashville will now jet down to Carolina to face the Hurricanes on Saturday and finish off their two-game road trip.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report