In a potential conference tournament finals preview, the Coffee County Middle School girls’ soccer team opened the regular season on Tuesday with a 0 to 0 draw with Warren County. Coffee County did have a few scoring chances but the Lady Raider offense could not convert on a pair of crossing passes. The JV Lady Raiders captured a 5 to 1 win in their matchup.
The Lady Raiders will travel to Tullahoma on Monday for a conference tilt with the Lady Cats. Kickoff is set for 5 PM. The Lady Raiders will have their home opener on Thursday, August 35th when Harris visits the Lady Raiders home pitch. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports series.

Coach Chad Dyer(left) talks to his team following Tuesday night’s win

A huge first half lifted the Westwood football team to a 26 to 8 win over Middle Tennessee Christian School on Tuesday night at Dyer-Bouldin Field. The Rockets scored on all 4 first half possessions to build a 26 to 0 halftime lead and coasted home for the big conference win.
Westwood got a 55 yard touchdown run from Renaldo Ramirez on the first play from scrimmage to set the tone on the night. After a Gavin Taylor interception, Skylar Brather rumbled in from 5 yards out to make the score 12 to 0. Henry Garcia broke free for a 44 yard touchdown run and Bratcher added the 2 point conversion to make it 20 to 0 before Trenton Thompson raced around right end to score from 28 yards out to put the game on ice before intermission.
The win avenges a jamboree loss to the Cougars earlier this month. Coach Chad Dyer had this to say about the Rockets preparation.

The win levels the Rockets record at 1 and 1 on the season and 1 and 1 in conference play. The Rockets will be back in action on Thursday as they travel to Wartrace to take on Cascade in their second conference game of the week.

Despite his recent success on the mound, Ervin Santana entered Tuesday’s series opener vs. the Braves still looking to win three straight starts for the first time this season. Against his former team, the right-hander finally accomplished that feat, tossing seven scoreless innings in a 4-2 win at Turner Field.

“He’s efficient, he throws strikes, he changes speeds and he can bury his breaking ball when he wants to,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said about Santana. “He pitched eight innings [in Minneapolis on July 26], and we won 2-0 there. He’s just real efficient and knows what he’s doing. His command is really good, and he’s a good pitcher.”
Atlanta right-hander Joel De La Cruz allowed only one run in his sixth career start, but he was once again denied his first Major League victory, as the Braves registered only four hits against Santana. Since rejoining Atlanta’s rotation on July 31, De La Cruz has surrendered one run or less in three of his four starts.
While the Braves failed to break through against Santana, they rallied to score two runs against Taylor Rogers in the eighth inning. But after the Twins added another run in the ninth, Brandon Kintzler navigated around a one-out double by A.J. Pierzynski to convert his fourth consecutive save opportunity.
“The game took on a different look there at the end,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “Early on, it was all about getting a run on the board and watching Ervin go to work. He was on cruise control for a while. Late in the game, we had the opportunity to add on.”
The Twins jumped out to an early lead with Trevor Plouffe bringing home Joe Mauer with a two-out RBI double to left. The Twins didn’t score again until Mauer hit a solo homer in the eighth, and Plouffe added an RBI single in the ninth to give Minnesota an insurance run, although Jorge Polanco was thrown out at home on the play by center fielder Ender Inciarte. Plouffe was 3-for-5.
“He responded and had a big hit early,” Molitor said. “He also got that big hit up the middle there to get us that last insurance run.”
After being hit by a comebacker in the fourth inning and having to exit Wednesday’s game vs. the Brewers with a right knee contusion, De La Cruz struggled early on against the Twins. But after surrendering Plouffe’s RBI double and issuing a walk to the following batter, the right-hander retired 11 straight before giving up a single to Robbie Grossman in the fifth. De La Cruz ran into trouble again in the sixth with runners on first and second with no outs, but he induced a ground-ball double play before exiting the game after 5 2/3 solid innings.
“He was good. He just kind of just had to work really hard to get it done,” Snitker said. “He kept the game in check, and he gave us a chance. That’s all you can ask. I didn’t see any effects from getting hit in the knee, and it was a solid outing.”
Santana keeps it rolling: Santana has been one of the best pitchers in baseball since mid-June and turned in another impressive start with his seven scoreless innings. With the win, Santana improved to 5-2 with a 1.84 ERA over his last 10 starts. He was also fresh, as his last start on Wednesday was 2 1/3 innings before the game was ultimately postponed by rain. He proved that by striking out pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur on a 94 mph fastball to get out of a jam in the seventh.
“It was nothing but sliders until the last pitch, because I knew he was looking for it,” Santana said. “So I threw a fastball. I was just trying to make a good pitch. I wasn’t worried about velocity. I was trying to locate.”
The Twins threatened to put the game out of reach after loading the bases with no outs in the ninth. And although they tacked on an insurance run on Plouffe’s RBI single, Inciarte limited the damage when he threw out Polanco at home plate. The outfield assist marked the center fielder’s 12th of the year, which ranks second in the National League behind Starling Marte.
“Awesome play,” Snitker said. “You [didn’t] think he [had] a chance. That’s some kind of arm strength right there to put it right on the money. It’s big in that game, too. It keeps that game doable. We’re getting in the ninth inning and a hit away from tying the game. That was big at that point in time.”
Atlanta will turn to Mike Foltynewicz to start Wednesday’s series finale at Turner Field, with first pitch set for 6:10 p.m. CT. The 24-year-old earned the win against the Twins on July 27 despite enduring his worst start of the season, allowing seven runs (six earned) on 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Since then, the right-hander has posted a 5.29 ERA over three starts. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. CT and Thunder Radio will join the Braves Network broadcast immediately following the Ryan Sulkoski Show.

The Nashville Sounds lowered their magic number to 11 with a 2-1 win over the Tacoma Rainiers in front of 5,005 fans Tuesday night at First Tennessee Park.

All the scoring between the two teams who lead their respective divisions came early as two first-inning runs held up for the Sounds.

Jesse Hahn started for Nashville and got the game off to a nice start with a pair of strikeouts in a 1-2-3 top of the first inning.

In the home half, Arismendy Alcantara started the frame with a walk and promptly swiped second base. Jaycob Brugman singled to put runners at the corners before Forrest Snow struck out Renato Nunez for the first out.

Matt Olson drew a walk to load the bases for Matt McBride who lined a base hit to left field. The knock scored Alcantara to give the Sounds an early 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Rangel Ravelo was hit by a pitch, forcing in Brugman with the second run of the inning.

Tacoma bounced back with a run in the top of the second to cut the deficit to 2-1. James Ramsey collected a one-out double and scored when Tyler Smith rifled a ball down the first base line for another two-bagger.

Hahn avoided more damage by getting Mike Freeman to bounce out to second with the bases loaded.

That was all the scoring there would be on the night. Snow pitched 5 2/3 innings for the Rainiers and was saddled with the loss. Hahn allowed one run on two hits in four innings of work and got a no decision.

The trio of Angel Castro, Ryan Brasier and Tucker Healy kept Tacoma off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Castro went 2 2/3 innings and earned his first win of the season.

Brasier worked around a one-out walk in the eighth and put up a zero before Healy retired the side in order in the ninth to pick up his eighth save of the season.

The Sounds improved to 71-53 and will hold at least a nine-game lead entering play on Wednesday with 20 games to play in the regular season.

Game two of the four-game series is set for tomorrow afternoon at First Tennessee Park. Left-hander Dillon Overton (10-5, 3.51) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Jarrett Grube (1-2, 3.97) for the Rainiers. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 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.