2016 Westwood soccer 8th graders and coaches

Coaches Jonathan Graf and Brian McLean presided over the Westwood Middle School soccer banquet on Thursday night at the Coffee Café. The team celebrated their 2nd straight Central Tennessee Soccer Conference title and the 5th straight run to the finals for the Rockets.
Coach Graf also celebrated a season that was free of serious injury as he looked ahead to the future. “My tradition has always been to treat the banquet as a graduation” said Graf. “I want to look ahead to what we are going do next” Graf told his team.
He did take time to recognize the work of his Booster Club and the work of his longtime assistant coach Brian McLean who will be leaving the Rocket sideline after this season. Each of the players was presented a championship t-shirt and the 8th graders were sent off with a soccer ball. The Westwood 8th graders who will be moving on to high school are:
Renato Ayala
Leo Basurto
Andres Cavalie
Nick Johnson
Cailan McLean
Eric Randolph
Felix Salinas
Aiden Stowe
Leo Saurez
Corey Walker
Samuel Workman

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

The Nashville Predators saw their postseason run come to an end on Thursday night, as they fell 5-0 to the San Jose Sharks in Game Seven of their Second Round series.

After winning three elimination games in these playoffs, the Preds weren’t able to overcome their second Game Seven of the postseason, leading to the end of their journey.

“You have to give [the Sharks] credit for the way they played,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “It’s disappointing for us, coming off a game like we did in Game Six. We know we’re capable of playing at that level and that speed, and it wasn’t our best game.”

“They were the better team tonight for whatever reason,” Captain Shea Weber said. “We couldn’t get anything going, and it’s just tough. It’s tough to take right now.”

The first period belonged to the Sharks as they took a 2-0 lead, courtesy of goals from Joe Pavelski and Joel Ward. San Jose outshot the Preds 17-3 in the opening frame as Pekka Rinne made a number of stops to keep his team in things after one.

Logan Couture’s goal early in the second gave San Jose a 3-0 lead, a score that held steady after the middle stanza. Nashville began to get more chances in the period, but the Sharks thwarted them, with 19 blocked shots through 40 minutes of play.

The Sharks added two more in the third to finish off the series and advance to the Western Conference Final.

For the Preds, there were plenty of magical moments in this postseason. But that doesn’t make the ending any easier to take.

“We worked so hard to get to this point, and you realize that you’re one step from [somewhere] that we haven’t been [before],” Rinne said. “You never know how many chances you’re going to get, and that’s the worst feeling. You get older and older and you try to take advantage of these opportunities. Right now, it’s a pretty empty feeling.”

It’s difficult to think of the future in the present, but Rinne also shed some light as the locker room cleared out for the final time in 2015-16.

“I felt the whole season was filled with ups and downs,” Rinne said. “You have to realize we have a ton of talent in this team and a lot of future in this team, but I think the moments like this, it’s hard to think of the future and hard to think next season. I don’t know if it’s selfish or not, but you always think that maybe it’s your year, your season right now and our opportunity and our season, but it makes it difficult. But there’s obviously…light at the end of the tunnel, a bright future.”

Cameron Rupp’s three-run double proved to be the decisive blow the Phillies needed to fight off a Braves comeback attempt and claim a 7-4, 10-inning win on Thursday night at Turner Field.

“They’re better than their record, and I’m glad we kind of got them while they’re down right now, because they’re going to be better than their record right now,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said of the 8-25 Braves.
Odubel Herrera capped his four-hit night by leading off the 10th inning with a triple against Braves reliever Jason Grilli, who exited with runners at the corners and one out. Ian Krol entered the game and struck out Darin Ruf before walking Freddy Galvis to load the bases ahead of Rupp’s three-run double.
The Phillies chased Aaron Blair during a three-run fourth inning and seemed to be in prime position with Vince Velasquez entering the seventh with a 4-0 lead. But after surrendering just two hits through the first six innings, Velasquez surrendered three hits and a walk, including a three-run double by Gordon Beckham, before exiting the game with no outs in Atlanta’s game-tying four-run inning.
Atlanta has now lost 17 of its first 19 home games. The Phillies went 13-6 while playing 16 of their past 19 games on the road.
“It would be great if we’d win the game,” Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “Comebacks are great, but if you don’t win the game, it doesn’t much matter.”
Jeff Francoeur resurrected his career last year in Philadelphia, and he took advantage of the chance to damage his former team when he capped the Braves’ four-run seventh with a game-tying single off right-hander David Hernandez, who replaced Velasquez. Freddie Freeman and Pierzynski notched singles ahead of Beckham’s three-run double, while Kelly Johnson walked in between them.
With his leadoff triple to start the Phillies’ 10th-inning rally, Herrera tied his career high with four hits. He also drew a walk in his first plate appearance. Herrera scored what would be the decisive run on Rupp’s bases-clearing double in the 10th, and he scored on Maikel Franco’s first-inning sacrifice fly. The center fielder also produced a two-out fourth-inning infield single that enabled Velasquez to score from second base when Johnson made an errant flip over Freeman.
“I’m gonna go out on a limb: He’s a good hitter,” Mackanin said. “This guy, he’s a potential batting champion at some point. He just has a knack for it.”
Blair’s first career hit — a looping single to right field in the third inning — accounted for the only hit Velasquez surrendered through the first five innings. The Braves did not advance past first base until Mallex Smith singled and stole second base in the sixth inning. But the Phillies right-hander, who had completed more than six innings in just one of his first six starts of the season, simply was not the same in the seventh, as he did not retire any of the four batters he faced.
After enduring a 28-pitch first inning that saw him give up one run, Blair entered the fourth inning having retired eight of the previous 10 batters. But the rookie hurler was not nearly as sharp as he’d been while completing at least five innings in each of his previous three career starts. He surrendered Galvis’ two-run homer in the third and then exited four batters later after Velasquez and Peter Bourjos extended Philadelphia’s three-run fourth with consecutive two-out singles.
“[Blair] was just behind in the count a lot tonight, which is very uncharacteristic of what he does,” Pierzynski said. “He usually pounds the strike zone. Tonight, he had a hard time, especially with his offspeed [pitches], and they took advantage of it. Our bullpen did an amazing job, and we came back and tied the game. Unfortunately, they got one big hit and we didn’t.”
Julio Teheran will take the mound when Atlanta opens a three-game series in Kansas City on Friday night. Teheran has posted a 7.52 ERA over his past six starts against American League teams. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. CT.

An inside-the-park grand slam by Renato Nunez in the top of the sixth pushed the Nashville Sounds past the Iowa Cubs 7-2 at Principal Park Thursday afternoon.

Matt Olson, Joey Wendle and Max Muncy drew walks in the sixth to set up Nunez with the bases loaded and two outs. On a 2-0 pitch from Jean Machi, Nunez hit a fly ball that ricocheted off the left field fence and was lodged under the wall. Cubs left fielder John Andreoli put his hands up to signal a dead ball, but the umpire ruled the ball was not stuck. Nunez never stopped running and was credited with an inside-the-park grand slam.

The play extended Nashville’s lead to 7-1 after taking an early lead in the opening innings.

They wasted no time scoring as Jake Smolinski grounded out to score Max Muncy to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead in the first.

In the third, they pushed the lead to 3-0 thanks to a wild pitch that scored Andrew Lambo, and a run-scoring base hit from Chad Pinder. Nunez scored on Pinder’s hit but Lambo was thrown out at home trying to score from second.

Iowa plated a run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Dan Vogelbach singled home Albert Almora Jr. from second to trim the lead to 3-1.

Starter Jesse Hahn pitched 5 2/3 strong innings, allowing just one run on seven hits. The right-hander struck out five and surrendered one walk as he picked up his first win with the Sounds this season.

Ryan Brasier relieved Hahn in the sixth inning and responded by getting a one-pitch groundout to end the inning. Brasier then struck out the side in the seventh and punched out two in the eighth to keep the Cubs’ bats in check.

J.B. Wendelken came in to pitch the ninth and was met by Dan Vogelbach who homered to right on an 0-2 pitch to make the score 7-2. The right-hander worked out of a jam to close out the win and push Nashville’s record to 16-18.

Nunez’s inside-the-park grand slam in the sixth was the first inside-the-park home run for the Sounds since Chad Hermansen in 1998.

The series concludes Friday night at Principal Park. Right-hander Daniel Mengden (1-0, 0.00) starts for the Sounds while the Cubs counter with right-hander Ryan Williams (4-1, 3.86). First pitch is scheduled for 7:08 p.m.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Motlow State freshman Camron Harper lines a base hit during a contest earlier this season at the Driver Baseball Complex on Motlow’s Moore County campus. 

The Motlow Bucks made a strong showing at the TCCAA/Region VII baseball tournament this week, advancing from the play-in game to the third round before falling to Jackson State 9-1 Wednesday morning at Columbia State Community College in Columbia.

The Bucks finished the season with a 20-37 record, the seventh time they have won 20 or more games in the previous eight seasons. Despite the loss to Jackson State, which leads the nation in runs scored this season, the Bucks played their best baseball of the year at the tournament.

After entering the tournament as the No. 10 seed and forced into Sunday’s play-in game, the Bucks took care of business when they out-slugged Volunteer State 15-13 Sunday. Motlow built a 10-2 lead, then held off a furious charge by the desperate Pioneers.

The win propelled the Bucks into Monday’s opening round, where they fell to No. 2 Dyersburg State 9-5, forcing Motlow into the elimination bracket, where they faced a difficult task against No. 3 Cleveland State.

The Bucks were up to the challenge though, beating the Cougars 7-4 behind the pitching of RJ Moore, JR Gilmer, Bryce Bub and Connor Boyd. The win advanced the Bucks to day three, where the Generals ended Motlow’s season by scoring six runs in the second inning.

Head Coach Dan McShea completed his tenth year at the helm of the Bucks’ program with an overall record of 229-280-1. Recruiting for the 2017 season is already in full swing, and McShea has signed a number of impressive prospects that should help lead the Bucks back into conference title contention in 2017.

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