A pair of middle school scrimmage play days on Saturday highlight the prep action this weekend in Manchester. At Coffee County Middle School, the CCMS Lady Raider soccer team will host 7 varsity and 5 Junior Varsity squads in a round robin scrimmage beginning at 9:00 AM. Teams from 6 counties and 3 conferences will be represented in the all day affair to be held at the CCMS field. The CCMS varsity team will take on Dekalb County at 9:00 AM and Warren County at 1:00 PM. The CCMS junior varsity will play Siegel at 11:00 AM and Harris at 3:00 PM

The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team will participate in the CHS Middle School Volleyball play day being held at Coffee County Central High’s Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. Eight teams will make up the field representing 6 schools from 5 different counties. The Coffee County Middle School will field 2 teams in the tournament and BOTH teams open play at 9:00 AM. Each team will play 3 pool games before entering a single elimination tournament at 3:00 PM. The CCMS Team #1 will play at 9 AM, 11 AM and 1:00 PM. The CCMS Team #2 will play at 9:00 AM, 12 PM and 1 PM.

Interim Motlow Atletic Director Dan McShea

McShea will fill the position following the resignation of Tori Raby-Gentry, who served as athletic director for 18 months after a year as interim. Motlow is currently accepting applications to fill the head softball coach vacancy left by Raby-Gentry’s departure.

“I’m honored to have this opportunity,” said McShea. “When I was approached about the possibility of filling the role of interim athletic director I was eager to get to work.

“Motlow College has a rich tradition of quality athletic programs and I hope to continue and improve upon that tradition. We have great coaches and a fantastic group of talented young student-athletes so I will be excited to see how we perform on and off the field and the court. I am very excited about this new challenge.”

McShea has a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics with a minor in coaching from the University of Mississippi, where he played collegiate baseball. He is currently fifth all-time in appearances for the perennial SEC powerhouse. He earned two master’s degrees from William Carey University, one in education and one in business administration, while he served as assistant baseball coach and taught at a local high school. He has worked previously in banking and investments and has been in college coaching for over a decade.

McShea will set up his office in Nisbett Center, putting all four Motlow head coaches in the same building for the first time in a decade. He sees a lot of positives coming from just that seemingly small step.

“My main office will be in Nisbett Center,” he added. “I think that will help the communication between not only the athletic director and the coaches but between all four coaches in general. We can easily share ideas and discuss ways to improve all of our programs, facilities, and most of all our student-athletes.”

Motlow has undertaken significant improvements to its baseball and softball facilities during the summer, including adding new irrigation and drainage systems, new fencing, and new dugout upgrades. McShea is very happy about the developments and already has his sights set on additional possibilities.

“I am excited to sit down with our administration and discuss Motlow’s vision to continue to improve facilities,” he added. “Right now only three schools in our conference can host baseball and softball tournaments. Maybe there is a way Motlow could put itself in position to join them. We want to continue to excel in all sports and continue to improve our facilities as well.”

Joe Daves was head men’s basketball coach and the first athletic director at Motlow when the college opened in 1969. John Stanford, Jackie Reavis, Carr McCalla, Don Rhoton, Gary Barfield and Jerry Nichols are among those who have also worn the athletic director hat while being a head coach at Motlow.

Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics at and .

Ryan Roberts had a big day at Werner Park on Tuesday afternoon, blasting his second home run of the game to lead off the 12th inning and helping propel Nashville to an 8-6 win over Omaha.

The victory allowed the Sounds to take three of four from Omaha, marking their first series win since the end of June. The four hour and 10 minute game was Nashville’s sixth win in 13 extra-inning contests this season.

Roberts played hero for the Sounds with his solo shot to start the 12th. It was the designated hitter’s fourth home run of the series and his fourth RBI of the game. He finished 3-for-5 in the game and added his 26th double as well. Roberts joined Joey Wendle (April 12 at Colorado Springs) and Jason Pridie (July 20 at Colorado Springs) as Sounds who have posted multi-homer games this season.

The fun all started in the first two innings of the series finale, as Nashville had a 5-1 lead after two. Craig Gentry walked to open the game and stole second base two batters later. After Pridie worked a two-out walk, the runners executed a double steal to move up another base. Nate Freiman executed the next step perfectly, lining a double into the left field corner to score the pair. The first baseman extended his RBI total to 13 in the last 15 games.

Gentry collected a RBI and scored another run in the second inning as well. His double allowed Carson Blair, who walked to open the frame, to score. After Wendle grounded into a fielder’s choice in the next at-bat of the inning, Roberts smacked a double that scored Gentry from third and Wendle all the way from first. The five-run cushion came in support of Brad Mills.

The left-hander entered with a 2.02 ERA in his last three starts prior to Tuesday’s contest, but labored over 4 1/3 innings of work. Omaha scored in four consecutive innings off Mills, who allowed six runs on eight hits. The starter also walked two and struck out a pair.

Christian Colon cut into the Nashville lead with his first homer of the season in the second inning. It started the string of runs for Omaha, who evened the score after five innings. The Storm Chases put up a three spot in the fourth, capped by a two-run single from J.C. Boscan.

The Sounds got to six runs when Roberts slammed his first home run of the game. The ball landed on the grass berm in left field at Werner Park and upped the designated hitter’s season total to seven.

Pitching got better for both teams when the starters took their exit. Ryan Dull worked his way out of a couple of jams, including a bases-loaded, one out situation in the fifth. Then in the sixth, the right-hander had a runner on third with no outs, but retired the next three in a row. Pat Venditte breezed through the seventh and eighth innings, striking out a batter in front of his hometown crowd. Angel Castro entered and retired six straight over two frames, while Brock Huntzinger kept Omaha off the scoreboard in the 11th and 12th innings to bump his record to 2-2 on the season.

The Sounds head back to First Tennessee Park on Wednesday for a five-game showdown with their cross-state rivals, as Memphis currently leads The Tennessee Lottery I-40 Cup Series, 6-5. Nashville is slated to hand the ball to Nate Long (2-4, 5.89) in the series opener, while the Redbirds will go with John Gast (5-8, 5.08). Game time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.