Aerial Williams

In what has become an annual tradition, the Coffee County Lady Raider volleyball team played host to Eagleville on Wednesday afternoon in front of the CHS student body.  Wednesday’s match also lived up to the tradition of a hard fought battle as each game went down to the wire.  In the end, the visiting Lady Eagles claimed a 3 set sweep over Coffee County with set scores of 19, 18 and 23.

All 3 sets were close from start to finish as Eagleville was able to string together enough consecutive points to escape with the win.  Coach Andrew Taylor was pleased with his team’s effort.  “We played well but did not win enough of the long rallies” said Taylor.  “Those were 3 competitive games and they were able to make the plays and put more shots away” added Taylor.

Coffee County continued their strong front line play as Aerial Williams had 3 blocks.  Baylee Nester added a block and led the team in kills with 6.  Bailey Morgan added 4 kills and led the team in assists with 8.  Tyana Fenton led Coffee County in digs with 20.

The Lady Raiders return to district action on Thursday when they welcome Shelbyville to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  First serve is set for 6 PM.

It was a good and bad news scenario on Wednesday night at Nationals Park. The good news was that the Nationals defeated the Braves, 5-4, in 11 innings and lowered their magic number to 15 to win the National League East. The bad news is, Washington lost Stephen Strasburg to an an elbow injury.

With the score tied at 4, no outs and the bases loaded in the 11th, Wilson Ramos lofted a single to left field off Braves right-hander Brandon Cunniff to score Jayson Werth with the game-winning run.
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“It was important [getting the victory],” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. “This was a team victory. We used guys that we haven’t used in the past. They came through.”
Atlanta went ahead, 4-3, in the 10th inning when with runners on first and second and two outs, Jace Peterson singled to left field off Trevor Gott, scoring Nick Markakis.
After Danny Espinosa and Chris Heisey singled with Jim Johnson on the mound in the bottom half of the frame, Anthony Rendon reached on an infield single, scoring Espinosa.
Strasburg started the game and retired six of the eight hitters he faced, but the right-hander left in the third inning after striking out Mike Foltynewicz. Strasburg felt a pinch in the back of his elbow and will undergo an MRI on Thursday.
The Nationals ended up using nine relievers, who allowed a combined three runs in 8 2/3 innings and struck out 11 batters. The winner was Mat Latos, who won his first game as a member of the Nationals.
“It’s awesome we are able to pull off a great win. It’s close to one in the morning. ” said Nationals right-hander Lucas Giolito, who pitched 3 1/3 innings. “At least we get to end on a high note.”
Foltynewicz provided the Braves another strong start, as he recorded eight strikeouts and limited the Nationals to one run over six innings. After hitting a third-inning leadoff double which positioned him to score Atlanta’s first run, Dansby Swanson homered for the second straight night to give the Braves a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning.
“Foltynewicz gave us a chance to win and I thought we played pretty well,” Swanson said. “Obviously, losing is never fun. There’s always opportunities to learn and grow from something like this.”
Foltynewicz surrendered singles to two of the first three batters he faced and loaded the bases in the first inning when he walked Ramos. But Foltynewicz escaped the first inning unscathed while striking out both Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman. The 24-year-old right-hander also pitched around Ramos’ sixth-inning leadoff double when he ended his 106-pitch night with consecutive strikeouts of Espinosa and Wilmer Difo.
“He was really good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He just competed and left everything out there. He’s believing in his stuff and he’s committed to it. He’s just coming along exactly the way we thought he would.”
In the eighth inning, Daniel Murphy tied the score at 3 with a single to left-center field off left-hander Ian Krol, scoring Stephen Drew and Trea Turner. Murphy became the fourth member of the Nationals — Zimmerman, Adam Dunn and Adam LaRoche are the others — to drive in 100 runs in this season.
In a battle of MLBPipeline.com’s top five prospects, Swanson (No. 4) got the better of Giolito (No. 3) when he began the seventh inning with a home run that landed 401 feet away from home plate with an exit velocity of 105 mph according to Statcast™. The solo shot was the Braves shortstop’s second career homer, but the first to clear an outfield wall. He produced his first when he hit one of the inside-the-park variety during Tuesday night’s game.
“I was getting too much [slack] for it around here and from back home and stuff for my first one being an inside-the-parker,” Swanson said. “So I figured this time I’d be a little bit easier on myself.”
John Gant will be on the mound when Atlanta opens a three-game series against the Mets on Friday at 6:40 p.m. CT. Gant allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings against the Mets on June 17. This will be his second start since missing nearly two months with a left oblique strain.

Renato Nunez knocked in five runs for the Nashville Sounds in a thrilling 10-7 win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers in game one of the American Conference Finals Wednesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Nashville raced out to a 6-0 lead thanks in part to a three-run homer from Nunez in the opening frame. They chased rehabbing Scott Kazmir from the game after the southpaw hit two batters, walked a pair and allowed the home run.

Colin Walsh’s two-run single made it a 5-0 lead in the second, and a Dodgers’ error extended the Sounds’ lead to 6-0 going into the bottom of the third.

That’s when things started to turn in Oklahoma City’s favor. The Dodgers used four hits and a Franklin Barreto throwing error to score three runs in the third to cut the deficit in half at 6-3.

Nunez and the Sounds had a quick answer when the third baseman followed Walsh’s walk with an RBI double to extend the lead to 7-4.

It didn’t stay that way for long as O’Koyea Dickson drilled a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth. A wild pitch and RBI single by Micah Johnson pulled the Dodgers to within a run at 7-6 through five innings.

Nashville starter Jesse Hahn allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings and did not factor into the decision. Hahn struck out seven but allowed seven hits and four walks.

Nunez tallied his fifth RBI of the night with a sacrifice fly in the sixth to extend the lead to 8-6. It didn’t last long as Corey Brown launched a lead-off homer in the home half of the sixth to make it a one-run game again.

The offense kept coming for the Sounds and the bullpen held up. Barreto’s RBI double in the eighth scored Jaycocb Brugman to extend the lead to 9-7 in the eighth, and BJ Boyd’s RBI single in the ninth scored Bryan Anderson to give the Sounds a 10-7 lead.

Relievers Aaron Kurcz, Colt Hynes and Ryan Brasier combined to put up scoreless seventh and eighth innings. Closer Tucker Healy worked around a lead-off single by Will Venable and put up a zero in the ninth to notch the save.

Kurcz got the win after tossing two innings and Kazmir was charged with the loss for Oklahoma City.

Brugman and Boyd finished with three hits each and Nunez and Barreto added a pair apiece. The five RBI for Nunez matches a single-game playoff record previously done twice for Nashville.

The three-hour, 54-minute contest saw 12 pitchers, 25 hits, 14 walks, 22 strikeouts and 4 errors. Both teams left 11 runners on base as the Sounds went 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position and the Dodgers went 2-for-12.

Game two of the best-of-five series is scheduled for Thursday night in Oklahoma City. Left-hander Dillon Overton (13-5, 3.29) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Logan Bawcom (6-5, 1.92) for the Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Tickets for the 2016 Pacific Coast League playoff dates at First Tennessee Park are now available for purchase at the Nashville Sounds box office and online at www.nashvillesounds.com. The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate.