Kiya Ferrell of CHS volleyball

Hitting the road for their first road district match of the season, the Coffee County Central High School volleyball team visited Columbia on Tuesday.  Taking on one of the top teams in the district, the Lady Raiders squared off against the Lady Lions.  Coffee County struggled with hitting errors as they fell in 4 sets.  Coffee County dropped the match 23-25, 25-23, 17-25 and 20-25.

Twenty one hitting errors and 9 service errors ended up giving Columbia almost a 3^rd of the points they would accumulate in the match.  Defensively, the Lady Raiders had an impressive 52 digs and 6 blocks.  Kiya Ferrell led the Lady Raiders in aces with 4, kills with 11 and digs with 13.  Keri Munn led the Lady Raiders in blocks with 3 while Keelie Hillis and Lexi Bryan each had 2.  Bryan also finished with 10 kills. Maddie Husted tallied 12 digs.  Amanda Mukai led Coffee County in assists with 16 and Hillis added 10.

The loss is the first of the season for Coffee County.  The Lady Raiders will be back on the road on Thursday when they travel to Fayetteville to take on Lincoln County.  First serve is set for 6:30 PM.

The Coffee County Middle School soccer team hit the road on Tuesday traveling to Winchester to take on South Franklin.  Looking for their first win of the season, the Lady Raiders fell behind in the first half.  After enduring a rain delay, Coffee County got a pair of 2^nd half goals to claim the 2 to 1 conference win.

It looked like it was going to be a long night for the Lady Raiders as South took an early lead and a rain delay sent both teams off the pitch in the first 30 minutes.  But Coffee County rallied putting 3 shots on frame as Andrea Lopez converted 2 of those found the back of the net.  Sydney Gilley stopped 9 shots, including every South shot in the 2^nd half, to give Lady Raider coach Tiffany McCormick her first career win.

The Lady Raiders are back at home on Thursday as they welcome White County to CCMS.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you that broadcast as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  Opening kick is set for 4:45 PM; we will be on the air at 4:30.

Voted as one of the top rivalries in the state of Tennessee and nationally, 94^th renewal of the Coffee Pot rivalry on the gridiron between Tullahoma and Coffee County is coming up on Friday.  Additionally, the Great American Rivalry Series will once again highlight the game and will be in attendance to present a trophy to the winning squad.   Tickets for the Coffee Pot Game are on sale through Friday at the Coffee County Central High School main office.  A capacity crowd is expected to be on hand and purchasing your ticket early is highly recommended.  Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students.  Tickets are on sale at the CHS office from 8 AM to 3 PM on Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday from 8 AM to noon.

Befitting the iconic rivalry, an old bronze pot on a wooden pedestal awaits the winner of Friday night’s Coffee Pot game at Carden-Jarrell Field in Manchester.  Originally conceived in 1937 to be awarded to the winner, the Coffee Pot symbolizes bragging rights for the winning team, fans and community for a calendar year.

In spite of the fact that Tullahoma has dominated the series in the last 32 years(winning 26 of the last 32 meetings); the Red Raiders have won 2 of the last 4 contests.  Tullahoma has won 2 straight after rallying from a 28 to 7 halftime deficit in 2017 and running away with the 2018 decision.

Friday night’s game will be heard exclusively here on Thunder Radio beginning at 6 PM with the Friday Night Thunder Pregame Show, maintained by Premier Lawn Care.  Josh Peterson and Brannon Reynolds will set you up for all the action before sending the action to the stadium at 6:30.  Dennis Weaver, Dustin Murray and Jonathan Oliver will bring you all the action from Carden-Jarrell Field.  Gates will open at 5:30 PM and kickoff is set for 7 PM.

A four-run first inning by the Omaha Storm Chasers helped them to an 8-5 win over the Nashville Sounds Tuesday night at Werner Park. The Storm Chasers collected five hits – including three triples – off Nashville starter Tim Dillard in the opening inning.

Adalberto Mondesi, Chase d’Arnaud and Erich Weiss had triples and Rudy Martin added a double as the Storm Chasers opened an early 4-0 lead.

Nashville got a run back in the second and trimmed the deficit to 4-1 when Jett Bandy lined a two-out single to right-center to score Matt Davidson.

As they did all night, Omaha had an answer to Nashville’s rally. Jorge Bonifacio started the bottom of the third with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Weiss to extend their lead to 5-1.

Dillard eventually settled in and tossed 5 2/3 innings, but the offense couldn’t erase the early deficit. Davidson’s huge night at the plate continued in the fifth when he knocked in Andy Ibanez to make it a 5-2 game.

Omaha’s lead was extended to 6-2 before Davidson clubbed his 30th home run of the season in the top of the eighth. He finished the night 3-for-3 with 3 RBI, 2 runs scored and 2 walks.

Trailing 8-3 going to the top of the ninth, the Sounds made it interesting by bringing the tying run to the plate. Ronald Guzman and Davidson drove in runs to make it a three-run game, but Omaha reliever Andres Machado got out of the jam by getting Patrick Wisdom to ground out sharply to third to end the game.

Dillard was charged with the loss, his ninth of the season. He allowed six runs on nine hits and struck out five in the setback.

Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Wednesday night in Omaha. Left-hander Wes Benjamin (6-6, 5.72) starts for Nashville. Omaha has not named a starter. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

– With Tuesday’s 8-5 loss, the Sounds dropped to 61-71 in 2019.

– Matt Davidson drilled his 30th home run of the season on Tuesday. He is the eighth player in Nashville Sounds history to hit at least 30 homers in a single season.

– Davidson drove in three runs to bring his season RBI total to 91. He is now tied with Anthony Garcia (2018) and Dan Pasqua (1984) for the 10th-most RBI in Nashville Sounds single-season history.

– The Sounds have lost back-to-back games for the first time since July 23 and 24 vs. Oklahoma City.

The 2019 season is the 42nd in Nashville Sounds franchise history and first as the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Tuesday Prep Schedule

4:30 PM – WMS Volleyball HOSTS Warren County

5:30 PM – CCMS Girls’ Soccer at South Franklin

5:30 PM – WMS Girls’ Soccer HOSTS Fayetteville – 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series broadcast on Thunder Radio

6:30 PM – CCMS Football HOSTS Harris

6:30 PM – CHS Volleyball at Columbia

Nate Luttrell of CHS football

The Coffee County Central High School JV and freshmen football teams welcomed Franklin County to Carden-Jarrell Field on Monday night.  After a day of wet weather, the rain held off long enough to get in the doubleheader.  The JV team lost 6 to 0 while the freshmen fell 27 to 7.

In the JV game, the Rebels took the opening drive down the field and scored the only touchdown of the contest.  The Raider defense gave a strong showing and got a huge stop late in the game.

The freshman squad fought hard to hold the highly regarded Rebels in check in the first half as they trailed at intermission 7 to 0.  In the second half, Franklin County used several big plays to add 3 scores.  Nate Luttrell had the Raider touchdown on a 2 yard quarterback keeper and Ian Weldon added the point after kick.

Luttrell finished the game with 58 yards passing with 47 of that coming to his favorite receiver Trevor Martin who caught 4 passes for 47 yards.  Tristan Galey was the leading rusher as he rolled up 94 yards on 10 carries.  Konor Heaton had 8 carries for 35 yards before a 1^st half injury forced him to sit out the rest of the game.

The JV and Freshmen teams will travel to Tullahoma on Monday.  The JV game will begin at 5 PM and the freshmen are set to kick off at 7 PM.

The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team made the long trip to Sparta on Monday night to take on White County.  The Lady Raiders fell in straight sets to the Warriorettes.  Coffee County fell by set scores of 16-25 and 9-25.

The Lady Raiders open home for to host Tullahoma on Thursday afternoon. The varsity game will get underway at 4:30 PM.