Motlow State Community College will open its 27th season of softball competition on Friday, Jan. 27, when it travels to Clearwater, Fla., where it will spend three days playing six games against some of the nation’s top junior/community college programs. The Lady Bucks will play two games Friday, three Saturday and one Sunday.
Motlow State Lady Bucks softball Head Coach Janice Morey will begin her second season leading the program when her team opens the 2017 season. Morey led the Lady Bucks to a 28-24 record her first season, including a three-day run in the conference postseason tournament. Motlow’s first home game is March 3, when TCCAA rival Chattanooga State visits the Moore County campus.
Motlow is coached by Janice Morey, set to begin her second season at the helm. Morey, who played for the Lady Bucks in the program’s early years, compiled a 28-24 record in 2016. She is assisted by her husband Randy, a full-time employee at Motlow.

The Lady Bucks will play a pair of road doubleheaders in February before opening Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) play on Friday, Mar. 3, when Chattanooga State comes to the remodeled Lady Bucks Field for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The two teams will play another twin bill the following day at noon.

Motlow will travel to Decatur, Ala., on Thursday, Feb. 16, for a doubleheader against Calhoun Community College, with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. On Wednesday, Feb. 22, the Lady Bucks will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader against the Martin Methodist College JV in Pulaski.

Once TCCAA play opens, the Lady Buck will only have one non-conference date the remainder of the season when they host the Martin Methodist College JV on Apr. 11 for a 2 p.m. doubleheader. All softball schedule play dates are doubleheaders.

Softball conference series are each four games, with weekend doubleheaders played on back-to-back days. All Motlow series are on Friday and Saturday except the weekend of Apr. 13-14, when the Lady Bucks will host Volunteer State.

Due to there being 10 teams in the TCCAA, the Lady Bucks play an uneven number of home and away conference series each year. For 2017, Motlow will host four conference series and travel for five. The three longest road trips for Motlow are Dyersburg State, Walters State and Southwest Tennessee, and the Lady Bucks will make all three trips this year.

Home series will be against Chattanooga State on Mar. 3-4, Roane State on Mar. 17-18, Jackson State on Apr. 7-8, and Volunteer State on Apr. 13-14.

The TCCAA began fast-pitch softball as an official sport in 1994, and Motlow has been a championship contender since its inception. The Lady Bucks won the conference title in 2009, advancing to the national tournament for the only time in school history.

The Tennessee Turfgrass Association (TTA) has named First Tennessee Park and Nashville Sounds Head Groundskeeper Thomas Trotter as the recipient of the 2016 TTA Professional Sports Field of the Year Award.
Trotter accepted the award at the 51st Annual Tennessee Turfgrass Conference and Tradeshow Tuesday night in Murfreesboro. Trotter recognized Sounds Assistant Groundskeeper Shay Adams and seasonal employees during the ceremony.
First Tennessee Park was chosen as the winner among all professional sports fields in the state of Tennessee with a natural grass playing surface which was nominated by industry peers.
“Thomas Trotter and his crew are deserving of this award and we were pleased to present it to them,” said TTA President Theo Lankford.
In an effort of distinguishing fields across the state and gaining professional acknowledgment of its members, this award is based on special challenges faced and innovative solutions to playing surface problems, while also providing outstanding contributions to the turfgrass industry.
“This award is very special to our entire grounds crew and a tribute to the effort put in on a daily basis,” said Trotter. “We’re grateful to the Tennessee Turfgrass Association for recognizing First Tennessee Park as one of the premier fields in baseball.”
Under Trotter’s guidance, Greer Stadium won the same accolade in 2010. The 2016 season was Trotter’s eighth as the Sounds Head Groundskeeper.
The TTA serves its members in the industry through education, promotion and representation. The association supports ongoing programs in research, education, and extension in the areas of turfgrass management that will benefit all individuals who manage turfgrasses or derive pleasure from the results of such management.
The 2017 season will be the Sounds’ 40th in franchise history and their third as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Season ticket memberships are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Hitting the road for the first time in 2017, the Coffee County Central High School basketball teams visited Winchester on Tuesday night to take on Franklin County. In a gym that has been incredibly tough to get a victory, both Raider teams broke losing streaks to Franklin County to get the crucial district road sweep. The Lady Raiders won 59 to 47 while the Red Raiders got a dramatic 46 to 43 win on a Garrett Booth buzzer beater.
An impressive 15 to 3 run in the final 4 minutes of the game lifted the Lady Raiders to the huge district win. Tied at 44 with 4 minutes left, Coffee County used clutch free throw shooting and superior conditioning to power to the win. The Lady Raiders hit 14 free throws in the 4th quarter and were an amazing 22 of 25 at the free throw line for the game. The win levels the Lady Raiders district record at 2 and 2 as Coffee County improved to 11 and 3 overall on the season. The win also broke a 5 game winning streak for Franklin County in this rivalry.
The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Holli Smithson who finished with 19 points, including 10 free throws in the 4th quarter to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game. Alliyah Williams added 14 points and Abby Morgan finished with 9.

In a nip and tuck game from start to finish, the Red Raiders got an improbable fall away three point basket from Garrett Booth with 2 seconds on the clock to capture the dramatic win. A tenacious Franklin County team tied the game at 43 with 23 seconds remaining. After a Coffee County timeout, the Raiders appeared to be unable to get an open look as time was about to expire. Not to be deterred, Booth caught the ball on the left wing, fired off the jump shot with a hand in his face and capped off another incredible win for Coffee County. For his game winning shot, Garrett Booth earned the Crazy Daisies player of the game honor.
The Red Raiders were led in scoring by Garrett Eldridge who finished with 10 points as Booth added 8. Grant Sadler poured in 7 points while Tyrese McGee and Stephen Sullivan each finished with 6. The win improves the Red Raiders to 14 and 3 on the year and 3 and 1 in district play. The win also snapped a 7 game losing streak by Coffee County to the Rebels.
Coffee County returns home on Thursday to welcome Fayetteville to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you all the action. Our live coverage begins at 5:50 with the Char-El Apartments and Home Rental Pregame Show.

After a layoff of 26 days due to weather and the holiday break, the Coffee County Middle School basketball teams returned to the hardwood on Tuesday. The Raiders and Lady Raiders welcomed Warren County to CCMS gym in a rematch of their November 14th doubleheader. Neither team showed signs of rust as each team pulled out to 1st quarter leads. The Lady Raiders closed the game strong in a 45 to 26 win while the Red Raiders came up short in the upset bid falling 39 to 38 to the unbeaten Pioneers.
Defensively, the Lady Raiders shut down Warren County holding them to single digits in the first half to head to the locker room leading 14 to 9. In the second half, Coffee County got the offense rolling as they poured in 31 points to race away for the 19 point win and a season sweep of the Lady Pioneers. Bella Vinson was the leading scorer for Coffee County as she had 19 points while Kylie Phillips added 11.
After taking a 15 to 10 lead after one quarter, the Red Raiders were held to a

single point in the second quarter to fall behind 19 to 16 at intermission. Coffee County recaptured the lead in the 3rd quarter but missed opportunities in the 4th quarter derailed the upset bid. Jaxon Vaughn led the Red Raiders in scoring with 11 points. Trevor Horne and Trenton Scrivnor each added 8 points for Coffee County.
Coffee Middle will welcome East Tullahoma to the CCMS gym on Thursday night in the final regular season home game of the year. The 8th grade players for both Coffee County teams will be honored as part of the 8th grade night festivities. Tip off for the girls’ game is set for 6 PM.

Calle Jarnkrok scored a short-handed goal with 1.5 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Nashville Predators to a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.

With time ticking down in the extra frame, Roman Josi blocked a shot from Troy Stecher just outside the crease of Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne. Josi immediately took possession of the puck and went up ice on a 2-on-1 with Jarnkrok. In the low slot, Josi slid a pass to his right, where Jarnkrok was there to one-time the puck past Vancouver goalie Ryan Miller.

Austin Watson had the other Nashville goal and Rinne finished with 29 saves for the Predators, which snapped a two-game losing streak.

Brandon Sutter had the lone goal for Vancouver, losers of two-straight following their season-high six-game winning streak. Miller made 24 saves.

With under a minute left in the third and Miller pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Nashville’s Colton Sissons carried the puck up ice, but Vancouver’s Sven Baertschi knocked it loose, sending Sutter the other way. At the right faceoff dot, Sutter snapped a wrist shot between Rinne’s pads.

Watson scored the game’s first goal 35 seconds into the second period. From the left point, Mike Fisher’s shot ricocheted off of the end boards and came to Watson in the lower part of the right faceoff circle. With Miller on the other side as a result of Fisher’s chance, Watson corralled the puck and put it into the vacated net for his third goal of the season.

Watson has scored in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

The loss snapped Miller’s five-game winning streak.

Rinne was tested early in the first period when Jack Skille had an open look at the Nashville net from the low slot. The Finn, normally known for his spectacular glove saves, denied Skille’s chance with the crown of his goalie mask to keep the game scoreless.

NOTES: Nashville LW Viktor Arvidisson returned to the lineup after missing two games with an upper-body injury. … Tuesday’s game was the 100th of Watson’s NHL career. … Vancouver is 6-2-2 against the Central Division this season. … Canucks C Bo Horvat saw his seven-game point scoring streak end.

 

The Predators host Boston on Thursday night at the Bridgestone Arena.  Faceoff is set for 7 PM.  Thunder Radio will join the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators broadcast in prgress immediately following Coffee County basketball.

Pete Weber’s Post Game Report