Trevor Ivy-Bodman(foreground) of the CHS Tennis Team prepares to return a shot on Monday.

Coffee County Central High School tennis opened their season against district favorite Shelbyville on Monday night at Fred Deadman Park. The Red Raiders got a pair of wins as Trevor Ivy-Bodman and Shlip Patel each won singles matches. Ivy-Bodman and Jared Hu took their doubles match to a tiebreaker before falling 7 to 4 in the tie-breaking game. On the girls side, the Lady Raiders failed to earn a match win as they look to replace 3 of their top 4 players from last season. The number 1 doubles team of Maddie Taylor and Ali Shelton pushed their Shelbyville opponent before falling 7-9 in doubles action. Coach Mike Ray was upbeat about his team’s performance saying “We opened up with the team that is a powerhouse year after year … And we played well but just not to their level this early in the season. We will build on our successes from the day and learn from our mistakes.” The CHS netters are back at home on Tuesday when they welcome Franklin County to Fred Deadman Park for a district match. 1st serve is set for 4 PM.

Marissa Douglas prepares to throw the shot for the CCMS Track team

The Coffee County Middle School girls track team got a win on Monday afternoon in a 3 team meet at Carden-Jarrell Field in their first action of the spring. The Lady Raiders scored 59 points on the afternoon to outdistance 2nd place North Franklin who finished with 38. In the field events, Marissa Douglas got a pair of wins in the shot and discus while Jenna Garretson won the high jump. In the running events, the Lady Raiders got a 1-2-3 sweep in the 800M run as Felecia Medina broke the tape first for Coffee County. The Lady Raiders also got a win in the 4×400 relay. Individual medalists for the Lady Raiders were:
High Jump: Jenna Garretson 1st, Julia Duncan 2nd
Long Jump: Macy Tabor 3rd
Shot Put: Marissa Douglass 1st, Marley Perry 3rd
Discus: Marissa Douglass 1st, Marley Perry 4th
4×100 Relay: 2nd-Macy Tabor, Karie Wooten, Mady Gravitt, Marissa Douglass
1600m: Kaytee Christian 2nd, Trava Brown 3rd
100m: Marissa Douglass 2nd, Lauren Bogard 4th
4×200 Relay: 2nd-Macy Tabor, Journey Arnold, Kayla Johnson, Willow Hobbs
400m: Ryan Green 3rd, Jade Arnold 4th
800m: Felecia Medina 1st, Jasie Willis 2nd, Lexie Hosea 3rd
200m: Reagan Ellison 2nd
4×400 Relay: 1st-Journey Arnold, Emilee Roberson, Emma Singleton, Jade Arnold

Gilberto Infante of CCMS track

The Red Raiders were missing several athletes and fell to a 3rd place finish behind North Franklin and Warren County in the boys’ competition. Gilberto Infante got a win in the shot put and Larson Meltzer won the 1600M run for the only 1st place finishes for Coffee County’s boys.
Individual medalists for the Red Raiders were:
Long Jump: Ethan Welch 3rd
Shot Put: Gilberto Infante 1st
Discus: Gilberto Infante 2nd, Ethan Welch 4th
1600m: Larson Meltzer 1st, Ethan Welch 2nd
4×200 Relay: 2nd-Landon Crabtree, Christian Alvarez, Jayden Anderson, Gilberto Infante
400m: Ethan Beaty 3rd
800m: Jake Melton 2nd
4×400 Relay: 2nd-Ethan Welch, Ethan Beaty, Jake Melton, Larson Meltzer

The Raider track teams are back in action on April 12th when they welcome South Franklin Middle to Carden-Jarrell Field. The field events will begin at 4 PM.

Hayden Skipper of CCMS Baseball

The Coffee County Middle School baseball had runners in scoring position in each of the last 4 innings, but could not get the run they needed to avoid a 4 to 3 defeat to Harris on Monday night in a 10 inning nail-biter at CCMS. Hayden Skipper had a double and a home run to go along with a walk to lead a Coffee County hitting attack which struck out 15 times on the night. Braden Brown, Brandon Jernigan and Garrett Davis each added singles for the Red Raiders. The Raiders travel to Shelbyville on Tuesday for a rematch with Harris. That conference game is set to get underway at 5 PM.

Westwood pitcher Haidyn Campbell

A 3 for 3 performance from Haidyn Campbell, including a home run, was not enough to lift the Westwood Lady Rocket softball team to a win over Cannon County on Monday evening in Woodbury. Campbell, the 6th grade pitcher for the Lady Rockets, held the Lady Lions to 1 hit on the night but errors and walks allowed Cannon County to escape with the 4 to 1 win. Westwood also got a hit and a walk out of Talia Dillard who swiped 3 bases on the night. The Lady Rockets will host their first home game on Tuesday when they welcome Huntland to Lady Rocket Field. 1st pitch is set for 4 PM.

Pete Weber Postgame Report

James Neal of the Nashville Predators

James Neal had his sixth career hat trick, scoring all three goals for the Nashville Predators in their 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night.

The Predators have earned at least a point in 15 of their last 16 games. They swept the three-game season series from Edmonton.

Jordan Eberle and Iiro Pakarinen scored for the Oilers.

Edmonton got on the board first 7 minutes in when Connor McDavid picked off a pass at the blue line and sent it in front to Eberle for a tap-in past Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne. The Oilers had failed to score in their previous two home games.

Just more than a minute later, the Predators responded as Neal came in on a breakaway and calmly sent his 24th goal of the season through the legs of Laurent Brossoit.

Edmonton regained the lead 31 seconds into the middle period when Leon Draisaitl sent a backhand pass from behind the net to set up Pakarinen. But just 20 seconds later it was knotted up again as Neal used a screen to score his second of the game.

Nashville took a 3-2 lead 4 minutes into the third period when Neal beat Brossoit cleanly on a wrist shot.

Edmonton had some chances during a late flurry with Brossoit pulled, but Nashville was able to keep the Oilers from sending the game to overtime.

The Predators return to the ice on Thursday.as they host the New York Islanders.  Face-off is set for 7 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network.