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Westwood Spring Sports Update
Eliot Sain of Westwood soccer takes a shot at practice on Monday
With the spring sports season just around the corner for middle school teams, Thunder Radio sports checked in with the coaches and teams at Westwood Middle School this week to get an update on their 2 plus weeks of preseason workouts.
The two-time defending conference champion Rocket soccer team faces their biggest rebuilding effort in recent memory. Coach Jonathan Graf is excited about his young talent. “Most of the team are 7th graders, but I have a few 8th graders in their 3rd year with me that provide some stability on the pitch” said Graf. The Rockets will take part in a scrimmage play day at St Andrews-Sewanee on Saturday. The Rockets have games scheduled against South Franklin(9 AM), Fayetteville(9:40 AM) and North Franklin(11 AM). The Rockets open the regular season on February 28th when they host Cascade at Dyer-Bouldin Field.
Members of the Westwood pitching staff work on a throwing drill at practice on Monday
The Westwood softball team has a new head coach as Amanda Stout Sullivan takes over the helm of the Rocket program. Pitching appears to be the early bright spot for the Lady Rockets as last year’s returning starter Haidyn Campbell returns bolstered by a young crop of 6th grade arms. Coach Sullivan has not scheduled any scrimmages this spring as her team works toward opening day of March 2nd. The Lady Rockets will open the 2017 season on the road at Fayetteville.
Members of the Westwood Baseball team get loose before practice on Monday
The Westwood baseball team returns a pair of coaches this season with Dusty Hereford and Herb Nugent taking over as co-head coaches this season after serving as assistant coaches last year. Wet field conditions and cold weather have curtailed some of the work they have been able to accomplish on the field thus far this spring. The Rockets have a pair of scrimmage games set up for Saturday in Tullahoma at Waggoner Park. Westwood will take on Tullahoma at 1 PM and Cascade at 5 in a JV game. Westwood opens the regular season on March 6th at home against Cornersville.
Members of the Westwood tennis team work on a drill at practice on Monday
The Westwood tennis team is seeing outstanding numbers in their 3rd year of the program. Coach Justin Winton has several players returning for their 2nd and 3rd seasons. “We have a solid starting lineup, and we have several 6th graders learning to play that will help us in the next year or two” said Coach Winton. This year’s Rocket tennis teams will be forced to play their home matches at the Coffee County Raider Academy this spring with repairs underway at the city courts at Fred Deadman Park. The Westwood tennis team opens their season on March 10th when they play host to Tullahoma
The Westwood golf team is still a few days away from getting preseason practice underway as Coach Doug Roorda will return several key contributors from last spring. The Westwood golf season will get underway on April 3rd at Willowbrook as Westwood will square off against Coffee County and Fayetteville.
Schools Close because of Illnesses
Due to illnesses among students and teachers Coffee County Schools and Manchester City Schools are closed Thursday and Friday. ESP closed in both systems.
Manchester City School system teachers will need to report Thursday only from 8am – 11am.
Schools are also closed on Monday, February 21 for Presidents Day.
Dr Ladonna McFall Director of Coffee County Schools said her system had 10% of students out at the beginning of the day on Wednesday and 12% by the end of the day. She said because of illnesses among teachers, it is difficult to find enough substitutes.
Old Scam back in Action
It has come to the attention of Duck River Electric Member Corporation that one of their members has been contacted by someone claiming to be a representative of the cooperative requesting payment. The member was threatened with disconnection if payment wasn’t made. Fortunately, the member became suspicious and hung up.
Do not share identity information with callers. Do not give them credit card numbers or bank account information. If they threaten disconnection of electric service unless you pay over the phone, immediately hang up and call DREMC.
Man that ran from Police Arrested in Shelbyville
Joshua Brown
The Shelbyville Police Department received a tip this week that Joshua N. Brown was inside Burger King on North Main. Detective Cody Swift spotted Brown sitting at a table and approached Brown with the intent to take him into custody. As Detective Swift placed one handcuff on Brown he began to actively resist arrest. Detective Swift noticed during the struggle that Brown had a semiautomatic handgun in his back pocket. After a brief struggle Brown was taken into custody.
A further search of the contents of his pocket revealed he also possessed 49 Xanax pills packaged in a manner consistent with possession with the intent to sell or deliver a schedule IV drug.
Brown is currently held at the Bedford County jail on the charges of Evading Arrest by Motor Vehicle and driving on a revoked license stemming from the incidents on January 31st. He was also booked on the charges of Felon in Possession of a Weapon, Possession of Schedule IV for resale, and Possession of a Weapon during the commission of Dangerous Felony.
The Shelbyville Police Department would like to thank all of the citizens that called in tips regarding Brown’s whereabouts.
Free Legal Clinics coming to Tennessee
The Tennessee Supreme Court has announced that free legal clinics will be held around the state to help citizens who find themselves in need of a lawyer’s advice on matters outside criminal law. It’s all part of the court’s initiative known as Access to Justice, a program aimed at helping a growing number of people find assistance when they can’t afford an attorney.
Tennesseans can log on to www.help4tn.org to learn more about the clinics. The program will kick off in mid-March with press conferences in Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, Jackson and Chattanooga and run into April.
Court officials say more than 1.2 million in the state are indigent and struggle to get legal assistance. The top legal issues facing Tennesseans include health care, family law, landlord-tenant disputes and debt.
Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network Offers More Help
The Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network is working to reach more people who might be in the middle of a crisis and thinking of hurting themselves.
They’re partnering with the crisis text line to offer a free text-messaging support line, which would be available 24 hours a day.
Anyone who needs help can text TN to 741-741 and they will be connected to a counselor.
Not everyone is comfortable voicing their problems, so everyone with the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network is hoping this will help them reach more people.
An estimated 950 Tennesseans die from suicide every year. Suicide is the leading cause of violent deaths in the state and around the world, according to the organization. It is the second-leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15-24 in the state. More people die by suicide each year than from homicide, AIDS, or drunk driving.
2/15/17 — Birthdays
Birthdays:
Alexis Lowe, 15 — Pizza Winner!
Trisha Smith
Roy Anderson
Former CHS Pitcher Brianna Jones Throws No-Hitter in SIU Win
Southern Illinois pitcher Brianna Jones. [Photo courtesy of: SIUSalukis.com]
The Southern Illinois University softball team picked up its second win of the season, after Brianna Jones threw a no-hit shutout against Mississippi Valley State on Saturday night. Jones pitched seven innings, had 10 strikeouts, and was one error and walk away from a perfect game.
“I thought she [Brianna Jones] threw really well tonight,” head coach Kerri Blaylock. “She was hitting on all her pitches and connecting on all her spots. She just had total command of the game.”
Southern started its day with a 3-1 loss to Nicholls State. Saluki sophomore Nicole Doyle got her first start of the season and made the most of it. She set the tone in the first inning by recording two strikeouts, then picked up two more in the second. She finished the game with six strikeouts and only allowed two hits. NSU picked up those hits in a timely manner in the fifth inning. After a lead off walk, Nicholls found three open gaps for three singles against Doyle and Brianna Jones, who came in relief, to score two runs and take the lead.
“I felt like Nicole threw five very good innings,” Blaylock said. “It was her first start since March of last year and she did very well. Nicole is going to be very good for us this year, no doubt.”
NSU tacked on another run in the top of the seventh inning to extend its lead to three before being retired by Jones. The bottom of the seventh began with two quick outs on two pitches for NSU before Merri Anne Patterson belted a 3-1 pitch over the left center field wall to give SIU its first run of the game. It was Patterson’s 16th home run of her Saluki career.
“Nicholls is coming off a 39-win season…they are a very good team,” Blaylock said. “We out-hit them, but they were able to string hits together. We came up in few RBI situations and just didn’t produce.”
After a few hours off the Salukis were back in action to take on Mississippi Valley State. SIU got on MVSU early, scoring two runs off a Shaye Harre double. That proved to be all Jones needed on the mound to finish the game. The sophomore set MVSU down in order the first four innings and picked up five strikeouts in the process.
SIU added three more runs between the third and seventh inning to make it 5-0. One of those three runs was provided by Savannah Fisher, who hit her third home run of the season.
The bottom of the seventh was more Jones in the circle, as she silenced any thought of comeback from MVSU by striking out the side. In her two starts this season she has struck out 13 batters and held hitters to a .150 batting average.
2/16/17–Mary Elizabeth Henley Niederhauser
Mary Elizabeth Henley Niederhauser, prominent business woman in Coffee County, died peacefully Feb. 12 at the age of 86. She was preceded in death by her parents E E Henley and Louise Henley. She is survived by three children, Edward Henley “Butch” Niederhauser (Tina) of Manchester, George Michael “Mike” Niederhauser of Estill Springs, Mary Reece Campbell (David) of Milton, Ga.; five grandchildren, Holly Niederhauser Vaughn, Brian Niederhauser (Carrie), Micah Campbell Porter (Corey), Meghan Campbell Murray (Tim), Melissa Campbell Porter (Chris) and seven great-grandchildren. Mary is also survived by one brother, Ed Henley (Vivian) and sister-in-law Mary Joyce Burrus Lynch as well as three nieces and one nephew. Mary was born in Sewanee. She later attended Ward-Belmont Junior College, the University of Tennessee where she was a Delta Delta Delta sorority member and graduated from George Peabody College with a major in Home Economics. In the early sixties, she was a buyer for Cain-Sloan Company in Nashville and later followed in her father’s footsteps moving to Manchester and opening Henley’s Department Store. Mary made many contributions to the Manchester community. She was a member of the Chamber of Commerce where she served as Treasurer and Board member. Mary was also awarded the esteemed Wayne Bramblett Award. Mary was deeply involved with The Forward March Community Revitalization, Retail Affairs Committee, Downtown Merchant Association, Small Business Committee, Coffee County Republican Committee, and many more. She also had a very active social life including leadership positions in local garden clubs, Bridge Clubs, Centennial Club and was a founding member of the “Bonnagrannies.” Mary was a member of the Manchester First United Methodist Church. A Celebration of Life service will be held 
on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 3 p.m. at Manchester First United Methodist Church, 105 Church Street, Manchester, Tennessee 37355. Visitation with the family will be held from 1-3 p.m. Mrs. Niederhauser donated her body to the Vanderbilt University Medical School. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Manchester First United Methodist Church, Alive Hospice, 1718 Patterson Street, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, Anatomical Donations Program at Vanderbilt or Ward Belmont Endowed Scholarship Fund at Belmont University.
2/16/17–Donna Louise Branch
Donna Louise Branch of Tullahoma passed away Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at
Tennova Healthcare – Harton at the age of 61 years. Funeral services are
scheduled for Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 2 PM at Daves-Culbertson
Funeral Home Chapel with burial to follow at Rose Hill Memorial
Gardens. Visitation
with the family will be from 12 PM until the service time.
A native of Harrosdsburg, KY, she was the daughter of the late Donald Fuell
and Mattie Nichols Eldridge of Winchester. Donna loved to cook and always
enjoyed helping people.
In addition to her mother, Mattie Nichols Eldridge and her husband, Arnold
of Winchester, Donna is survived by her husband, Greg Branch of Tullahoma;
step son, Brian Branch and his wife, Danielle of Franklin County;
brother-in-law, Gary Branch of Tullahoma; cousin, Connie Harshbarger of
Tullahoma and five grandchildren.
Daves-Culbertson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.