Kasarah Scheller

It took extra innings on Friday, but the Lady Raider softball team of Coffee County Central High School put away the Lady Pioneers of Warren County 5 to 2 in McMinnville. The Lady Raiders built a 2 run lead through 5 innings only to see Warren County tie the game in the 6th inning. Kaylee Skipper came on in relief in the 6th and pitched 3 innings of relief for Coffee County to earn the win. Haley Richardson got the start for the Lady Raiders going 3 innings and allowing only 1 hit. Abby Woods started the 1 out rally in the 8th when she reached on an error and moved to 3rd base on a wild pitch and a single by Tori Bell. Haley Hishaw doubled home Woods and Richardson finished the scoring with a 2 RBI single. Skipper set Warren County down in order in the bottom of the 8th to raise the Lady Raiders record to 11 and 7 on the season. Kasarah Scheller led the Lady Raiders in hitting as she finished the game with a pair of doubles and a single with 2 runs scored. Scheller and Richardson were named the Thunder Radio Co-Players of the game. Coffee County returns home on Monday night when they play host to Davidson Academy for a 7 PM varsity game. The game will also be “Special Needs Night” as several students with special needs at CHS will be recognized before the game. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of the contest beginning with the pregame show at 6:50.
Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

Keelie Hillis

A 5 to 2 loss to Oakland in the title game spoiled the championship run of the Coffee County Middle School softball team as they finished as runner-up in the Greenbrier Invitational on Saturday. The Lady Raiders marched through the first 3 games of the day displaying a knock for timely hitting, strong defense and effective pitching. In the title game, Oakland held the Lady Raiders to 2 hits. Keelie Hillis and Gracie Pippenger each had a single and also reached base via a walk. Kiya Ferrell had a pair of walks and scored one of the Lady Raider runs. In Saturday’s opener, Coffee County spanked Moore County 8 to 2 as Ashley Evans was 3 for 3 and Pippenger had 2 RBI for the Lady Raiders. In game #2, Keelie Hillis had a walk-off sacrifice bunt to score Pippenger from 3rd base and give the Lady Raiders a 4 to 3 win over West Wilson Middle School. Hillis also added a single and a walk for a perfect game at the plate. And in their next to last game, Coffee County scored 3 runs in the final inning to collect a 3 to 0 win over Hartselle, AL. Maci Head got the shut-out win in the circle for Coffee County as she pitched a complete game 4 hitter. Jayden Scheller had a double and a single and Gracie Pippenger finished with a triple and a single to lead the hitting attack for the Lady Raiders. Coffee County returns home on Monday night for a 5 PM game with Tullahoma. That game will be the final regular season home game of the year for Coffee County. .

Ali Shelton

A clean sweep of all 7 girls’ matches and a thrilling come from behind win by the boys lifted the Coffee County Central High School tennis team to a crucial district sweep in Lawrence County on Friday.  Trailing 3 to 2 after the singles matches, the Red Raiders got doubles wins from the teams of Shlip Patel/Trevor Ivy-Bodman(8-5) and Grey Riddle/Jared Hu(8-5) to grab the 4-3 match win.  Hu and Riddle also had singles wins.  The win improves the Red Raiders to 4 and 4 overall and 2 and 3 in District 8AAA play.  Coffee County can qualify for the boys’ district tournament with a win on Wednesday at Tullahoma.  The Lady Raiders clinched a district tournament bid with their 7 to 0 sweep of Lawrence County.  Maddie Taylor, Ali Shelton, Kayla Wright, Makayla Morgan and Anna Harrell all captured singles wins.  The doubles teams of Shelton/Taylor and Wright/Morgan also had decisive doubles victories.  Both Raider tennis teams travel to Tullahoma on Wednesday for a 4 PM match with the Wildcats.

Deandre Wakefield

A pair of 7th inning rallies by their opponents were enough to hand the Red Raider baseball team a pair of losses on Saturday at Powers Field in the Franklin County Rebel Classic. Coffee County built a 6 to 2 lead in the opener against McMinn County only to see the visiting Cherokees rally for 2 runs in the 4th inning and 3 in the 7th to drop Coffee County 8 to 7. The Raiders banged out 9 hits including a 2 run home run from Deandre Wakefield and a 3 for 5 performance from Jacob Langham. Noah Anderson finished with a pair of hits for Coffee County as well. In the second game, a run in the top of the 7th inning proved to be the deciding margin as Coffee County fell 4 to 3 to White County. The Raiders had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th inning after scoring 2 runs but could not get the equalizer across the plate. Langham, Wyatt Day and Gavin Husted each had 2 hits for the Raiders in the losing effort. Coffee County returns to district action on Tuesday when they play host to Columbia at Powers Field for a 6 PM contest. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as we begin our coverage with the pregame show at 5:50.

Felix Salinas

A 3 to 1 win over Lincoln County on Sunday gave the Westwood Rockets soccer team a 3rd place finish in the silver bracket at this weekend’s Red Raider Invitational. Westwood got a first half goal from Lukas Workman on an assist from Eric Randolph as they went to the half tied at 1. Eliot Sain and Felix Salinas netted second half goals as Salinas also got an assist. The Rockets missed out of competing in the Gold bracket when they had both of their pool play matches on Saturday end in draws. In Saturday’s opener, a controversial “hand ball” call gave Algood a penalty kick which they converted to draw with Westwood at 2. In the 2nd game, Mt. Juliet and Westwood each tallied a first half goal as that match ended drawn at 1. In a rematch with Algood in the Silver Bracket semi’s the Rockets were only able to manage a goal from Felix Salinas as they fell 2 to 1. Westwood opened tournament play on Friday night as Felix Salinas scored 4 goals in a 4 to nil dismantling of Upperman. Sain, Andres Cavalie and Leo Basurto all added assists. Westwood is off until the semi-final round of the Central Tennessee Soccer Conference Tournament which will be held at Westwood on Friday, April 22nd. The opponent and time will be announced soon.

Gilberto Infante

Leading 3 to 2 in the 2^nd half, it appeared that the Coffee County Middle School soccer team would open up the Red Raider Invitational with a win over Whitworth-Buchanan.  The Yellow Jackets from Rutherford County had other ideas as they roared back with a pair of late goals to steal the win.  Coach Kenny Lockhart called the game “our most complete performance of the year.”  The Red Raiders got goals from Marcos Garcia and Aiden Abellano and also got a goal on a Yellow Jacket “own goal” caused by the pressure of Gilberto Infante.  The Raiders did not pick up a win on the weekend, but 3 of their 5 losses were one goal games.  Coach Lockhart was optimistic as his team continued to show steady improvement against a talented field of 12 teams.   The Raiders are back in action on Tuesday when they return home to take on Lincoln County.  That match kicks off at 5:30 PM.

Macy Brown

The Coffee County Middle School tennis teams came up just short in their bid to upset St. Andrew’s on Friday in Sewanee. The Lady Raiders battled to a 4 to 4 tie, while the Red Raiders dropped the final doubles match of the day to fall 4 to 3. For the Lady Raiders, Jayda Wright, Anna Amado and Macy Brown all captured singles wins while the doubles team of Lindsey Couble and Alexis Clark captured a 6-3 win.

Jaden Talley

For the Red Raiders, Luke Irwin and Jaden Talley got singles wins while Irwin teamed with Joseph Sadler for a win in doubles. The Raider tennis teams travel to Shelbyville on Monday for a match. First serve is set for 4 PM at H.V. Griffin Park.

Faith Willoughby

The Westwood Lady Rockets were held to 1 hit and 3 walks on Friday as the Viqueens of Community defeated Westwood 15 to 0 in middle school softball action. Faith Willoughby had the lone hit for the Lady Rockets. Hallie Wimberley, Talia Dillard and Madison Hershman all got on base via the walk. Hershman added a stolen base for Westwood. The Lady Rockets will host their final home game of the season on Tuesday when they welcome Cannon County to Lady Rocket Field. First pitch will take place at 4:30 PM.

Jeremy Hazelbaker and Stephen Piscotty recorded consecutive RBI singles to cap the two-out, eighth-inning rally the Cardinals produced before piling on in the ninth inning to complete a three-game sweep of the winless Braves with a 12-7 victory on Sunday afternoon at Turner Field.

Right-handed reliever Jim Johnson retired the first two batters he faced in the eighth, and then he allowed each of the next four hitters to reach safely. After Matt Carpenter was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second, Hazelbaker and Piscotty snuck their consecutive singles through the infield to extend the woes of the Braves, who have blown a lead in the seventh inning or later in four of their first five games.
En route to falling to 0-5 for the first time since 1988, the Braves did not take advantage of Nick Markakis’ three doubles or the game-tying, three-run homer Drew Stubbs hit off Adam Wainwright, who issued five walks and surrendered five runs over five innings. Stubbs’ shot to deep center erased the lead St. Louis gained with a four-run third inning that was highlighted by Brandon Moss’ three-run homer off Williams Perez.
Moss, starting in left field in place of Matt Holliday, blasted his first home run of the season to put the Cardinals ahead, 4-1, in the third. The three-run blast, which was deposited just beyond the outstretched glove of Stubbs in center, was Moss’ first career home run against Atlanta. With it, he has now homered against every Major League club.
Before looking at a questionable called third strike with runners at the corners and one out in the eighth inning, Markakis recorded three doubles for the second time in his career and each of the two-baggers proved pivotal. Markakis delivered a first-inning RBI double and began the fourth inning with a double that positioned him to score on Hector Olivera’s sacrifice fly. His third double — a sixth-inning opposite-field drive off Kevin Siegrist — gave the Braves a one-run lead until the eighth inning.
Staked to an eighth-inning lead, the Cardinals turned to Jonathan Broxton and Trevor Rosenthal to hold it. Broxton got into trouble, allowing a one-out walk to Gordon Beckham, who scooted to third on Erick Aybar’s single. But after Markakis worked the count full against him, Broxton froze Markakis with a generous strike-three call. Rosenthal then stranded that potential tying run on third by striking out pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur.
Making his first appearance in nearly two years, Chris Withrow surrendered Greg Garcia’s game-tying single and retired just two of the six batters he faced before exiting the sixth inning with the bases loaded. Daniel Winkler escaped the inherited mess unscathed and was one out away from completing a scoreless seventh before he fractured his right elbow while throwing a pitch. This prompted an earlier-than-expected entry from Johnson, who retired three of the four batters he faced before the Cardinals began their two-out, eighth-inning rally and then added five more ninth-inning runs off Jose Ramirez.
Bud Norris will take the mound and center fielder Mallex Smith is expected to be in the lineup when Atlanta opens a four-game series at Nationals Park on Monday at 67:05 p.m. CT. Norris did not allow a run until the Nationals took advantage of some defensive miscues during a three-run seventh inning on Wednesday.

Another late rally by the Nashville Sounds came up short in a 3-1 loss to the Oklahoma City Dodgers Sunday afternoon in front of 4,877 fans at First Tennessee Park.
Oklahoma City (3-1) started the scoring when a pair of infield singles turned into a run in the third inning. Drew Maggi led off the inning with a slow-rolling single past the mound and quickly moved to second on a stolen base. A bunt single by Elian Herrera moved Maggi to third, and Yasmani Grandal plated the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly.
Nashville (1-3) starter Zach Neal worked five efficient innings and kept the game within reach. On just 58 pitches, Neal allowed just the one run on four hits. He didn’t issue a walk and struck out three.
Dodgers starter Jeremy Khert kept the Sounds off the board for the first six innings. In his six frames he allowed only three Nashville hits.
Relievers Jacob Rhame, Luis Avalan and Lisalverto Bonilla pitched the final three innings and finished what Kehrt started.
Nashville made noise in the ninth when Joey Wendle started the inning with a lead-off walk and came around to score after Andrew Lambo singled and Chad Pinder knocked him in with a fielder’s choice.
Pinder stood at third and Matt Olson drew a walk to put runners at the corners but Renato Nunez flied out to center field to end the rally.
Nashville bounced into three double plays with two coming after singles by Tyler Ladendorf and Nunez.
The Sounds welcome the Colorado Springs Sky Sox for a four-game series scheduled to begin Monday night. Left-hander Sean Manaea makes his Sounds debut against right-hander Hiram Burgos for Sky Sox. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Season ticket memberships are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.