Kaylee Skipper

Trailing 1 to 0 entering the bottom of the 4th inning, the Lady Raiders mounted a 2 out rally to tie the game before beating Franklin County on Tuesday night 3 to 1 in the elimination bracket of the District 8AAA softball tournament in Winchester.

Cleaning up the defense after Monday night’s upset; the Lady Raiders did give up an unearned run on their lone error of the game. Offensively, Coffee County scored the tying run on a Lauren Tomberlin double in the 4th with 2 outs and scored their final 2 runs on a 2 strike single from Tori Bell.

Kaylee Skipper scattered 4 hits from the pitching circle to get the win for Coffee County and advance the Lady Raiders to Wednesday night’’s quarterfinal matchup with Lincoln County. “Kaylee pitched really well tonight as she mixed in her dropball and riseball to keep Franklin County off balance” said Lady Raider head coach Steve Wilder. “Defensively, we made the plays today and when Kaylee has the lead going into the 7th inning, she will close it out” added Wilder after the game.

Tori Bell’s 2 RBI single in the 5th plated her team-leading 20th and 21st RBI for the season and could not have come at a better time for the Lady Raiders. “We had to have her right then and she came through for us with 2 strikes” said Wilder. Haley Hinshaw was 2 for 3 at the plate with a pair of singles and a run scored while Abby Woods twice reached base on an error. For her dominant pitching performance, Skipper earned the Ascend Federal Credit Union player of the game award.

Coffee County will be back in action on Wednesday afternoon when they take on Lincoln County in an elimination game at Franklin County High School. The winner will move on the Thursday’s semifinals with a chance to earn a region berth while the loser’s season is over. Thunder Radio will once again bring you all the action as Lucky Knott will bring you the pregame show at 4:50 with first pitch scheduled for 5 PM.

You can download a copy of Tuesday’s broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

CCMS varsity baseball award winners

The Coffee County Middle School baseball team held their end of the season banquet on Tuesday night as they recognized their varsity and junior varsity players for their contributions throughout the season. Head coach Rodney Meeker along with assistant coaches Baxter White, Todd Watkins and Reed Wolfe presided over the festivities and local celebrity and inspirational speaker Nick Trail was the guest speaker.
Varsity award winners were:
Academic Award – Hayden Skipper, Griffin Meeker, Trey Rogers and Braxton White
Long Ball Award – Hayden Skipper and Brandon Jernigan
Most Improved – Jalen Morris and Nick Watkins
Offensive MVP – Hayden Skipper
Defensive MVP – Blanton Brown
King of the Hill – Garrett Davis and Brandon Jernigan
Team MVP – Garrett Davis
Coffee Coaches Show MVP – Hayden Skipper
Most “Christlike” – Hayden Skipper
Red Raider Award(voted on by teammates) – Blanton Brown and Noah Bradshaw

CCMS JV baseball award winners

JV award winners were:
Most Improved – Bryson Clanton & Tristan Grissom
Offensive MVP – Trey Rogers
Defensive MVP – Braxton White
King of the Hill – Griffin Meeker & Braden Brown
JV All-Conference Tournament – Nick Watkins and Tanner Kistler
Most “Christlike” – Nick Watkins
Red Raider Award(voted on by teammates) – Griffin Meeker

Suburban Atlanta resident Adam Morgan extended his hometown team’s woes and helped the Phillies add to their surprising early season success as he completed seven strong innings in Tuesday night’s 3-2 win over the Braves at Turner Field.

Morgan scattered three hits while matching the career-high seven-inning total he had also posted in one of his three previous career starts against the Braves. The Phillies notched their third straight win with some assistance from Maikel Franco, who highlighted his three-hit performance with an eighth-inning home run.
Each of the Phillies’ last seven wins have been by one run.
“You need luck,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. “You need to be good. I think we’re good. I’m not saying we’re the best. I’m just saying we’re doing things right.”
Franco’s home run soured the second straight eight-inning performance provided by Matt Wisler, who surrendered a season-high eight hits. Wisler was not as sharp as he was when he limited the Mets to one hit over eight scoreless last week, but he received little offensive assistance from the Braves, who inched closer with a ninth-inning home run from Freddie Freeman before falling to 1-16 at home this year.
“Wisler pitched great,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “That’s where we’re at. He pitches eight innings and gives up three [runs]. On most nights, that gives you a [great] chance to win a ballgame.”
The Phillies’ righty escaped a third-inning jam and found himself in another in the fourth with runners at first and third and no out. He traded a run for two outs when he induced Tyler Flowers to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, which tied the game 1-1. Morgan threw 90 pitches in seven strong innings.
Wisler paid the price for the slider Franco hit into the left-field seats, and he surrendered Peter Bourjos’ near wall-clearing double before allowing Cesar Hernandez to hit a 2-2 slider for a two-out RBI single in the fifth. But the Braves’ right-hander remained steady throughout his 104-pitch outing, which began with him retiring nine of the first 11 batters he faced.
“I felt good for the most part,” Wisler said. “I think the biggest thing today was I left a couple sliders up in the zone, and I didn’t finish a couple pitches.”
Ender Inciarte notched the first of his two singles to begin the fourth inning and scored on Flower’s double-play groundout. But the center fielder, who was activated from the disabled list on Saturday, also showed off his powerful arm in the sixth when he caught Freddy Galvis’ fly ball in right-center field and then made an accurate throw to double up Carlos Ruiz, who had strayed too far from first base.
“That was awesome,” Braves left fielder Jeff Francoeur said. “I was actually yelling at [right fielder Nick Markakis] because I didn’t think [Inciarte] knew where he was going. If I ever play against him, I’ll have to remember that one.”
Jhoulys Chacin will take the mound when this three-game series resumes on Wednesday at 6:1- PM CT. Chacin surrendered his first four homers of the season while completing just 4 2/3 innings against the Mets in his most recent start. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast immediately following Coffee County softball.

The Nashville Sounds used two big innings to score a series-opening 8-5 win over the Iowa Cubs at Principal Park Tuesday night.

Trailing 3-0, Nashville exploded for five runs in the fourth inning, and then another three runs in the sixth.

Max Muncy started the scoring for the Sounds with a bang when he launched a solo homer off Iowa starter Stephen Perakslis to start the fourth.

The right-handed Parakslis turned around and retired the next two batters, but then allowed the next four Sounds to reach and ultimately score.

Andrew Lambo and Matt McBride collected back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners for Matt Olson. Mired in a deep slump, Olson lined a double to the wall in center field to score both runners and even the game at 3-3.

It didn’t stay tied for long as Rangel Ravelo blasted a go-ahead, two-run home run off Perakslis to give the Sounds a 5-3 lead.

Henderson Alvarez, working in another MLB rehab start, worked around a one-out single in the fourth to retire the side. He was finished after the fourth and allowed three runs on four hits in a no decision.

Lambo and McBride sparked another rally in the sixth when Lambo singled and McBride doubled off the wall in left-center to score Lambo and boost the lead to 6-3.

Moments later, Ravelo knocked in his third run of the game with a double, and Joey Wendle got in on the act with a run-scoring base hit up the middle.

Pitching with a slim bullpen, the Sounds needed all arms on deck to close it out. Aaron Kurcz worked the fifth and sixth innings and allowed two runs to allow Iowa to pull within 8-5.

Patrick Schuster fired a scoreless seventh, Ryan Brasier did the same in the eighth, and Tucker Healy followed suit in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.

Game two of the four-game series is set for Wednesday afternoon in Iowa. Left-hander Dillon Overton (1-3, 4.68) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Drew Rucinski (1-3, 6.89) for the Cubs. First pitch is scheduled for 12:08 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.