Blayne Myers of CCMS football

For the second week in a row, the Red Raider football team of Coffee County Middle School hit the road.  Traveling to Tullahoma on Monday night, the Red Raiders were looking for a crucial win in the rivalry tilt with the Wildcats.  In a game where 2 defensive touchdowns were scored, Coffee Middle failed to reclaim the Coffee Cup trophy as they fell 14 to 6 to Tullahoma.

Tullahoma got on the board first as they scored on an 83 yard interception return.  After getting the 2 point conversion, Tullahoma led 8 to 0 with 6:55 left in the first half.  Coffee County’s Blayne Myers returned a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown with 2:17 left in the half.  The missed point after left the score 8 to 6 heading to the half.

After a scoreless 4^th quarter, Coffee County looked poised to take the lead after an Ethan Hargrove interception gives Coffee County the ball at the 8 yard line.  After Tullahoma’s defense held, the Raiders missed a 33 yard field goal.  After each team was stopped on downs, the Wildcats broke loose on a 74 yard touchdown run.  After missing the PAT, Tullahoma was 1:05 away from the win.  The Raiders quickly moved down the field but the drive came up short at the Tullahoma 30 yard line when time expired.

Coffee Middle will host their first home game of the year next Tuesday when they welcome Baylor to Carden-Jarrell Field.  That game will have an early kick-off to accommodate the visitors from Chattanooga.  Opening kick is set for 5 PM.

The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team opened their season on Monday night in Shelbyville.  Taking on conference rival Harris, the Lady Raiders got the win in the first game of the year for first year head coach Tori Taylor.  After dropping the first set 25 to 22, the Lady Raiders rallied to capture the next 2 sets and the win by scores of 25-10 and 16-14.   The JV team won their match in straight sets.

The Lady Raiders will be on the road again on Thursday when they travel to Tullahoma to take on the Lady Wildcats.  That match is scheduled for a 4:30 PM first serve at East Middle School.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  Our live coverage will begin with the pregame show at 4:20.

Nick Solak crushed a go-ahead solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to help lead the Sounds to come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Sacramento River Cats Monday night at Raley Field.

Solak’s clutch homer was part of a huge night for the Sounds second baseman. The blast came on a 1-1 pitch off Sacramento reliever Dan Winkler. Solak went 3-for-4 with the home run and a double. His single in the fifth inning extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Nashville played from behind for most of the game after Sacramento’s Zach Green launched a two-run homer to left field off Seth Maness in the bottom of the first inning.

Maness settled in after the home run and delivered five solid innings of two-run baseball. He scattered five hits and struck out four in the no-decision.

The Sounds slowly chipped away thanks in part to a dominant performance from the bullpen. Ian Gibaut, Joe Barlow, Reed Garrett and Jake Petricka combined to throw four shutout innings in the win. Garrett struck out the side in the eighth and picked up the win while Petricka shut the River Cats down in order in the ninth to earn his fifth save of the year.

Matt Davidson delivered Nashville’s first run of the game with an RBI single up the middle in the top of the sixth inning. Two innings later they tied it when Zack Granite and Eli White teamed up for a run. Granite singled to start the eighth and sprinted from first to third when White followed with a base hit. The throw to third went in the camera well and allowed Granite to score the tying run at 2-2.

It stayed that way until the top of the ninth when Solak drilled the one-out go-ahead long ball. It was his 26th home run of the season and ninth with Nashville since the Rangers acquired him in a trade with Tampa Bay on July 13.

The series finale is scheduled for Tuesday night in Sacramento. Left-hander Brock Burke (0-0, 1.80) starts for Nashville against right-hander Enderson Franco (6-5, 5.98) for Sacramento. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

– With Monday’s 3-2 win, the Sounds improved to 52-66 in 2019.

– Nick Solak extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the fifth inning. It’s tied for the third-longest streak by a Sounds player in 2019 (Willie Calhoun – 16, Zack Granite – 14, Scott Heineman – 13).

– The Sounds extended their streak of hitting at least one home run to 14 games when Solak hit a solo in the ninth. The team has 26 home runs during the 14-game span.

– Nashville won for only the fifth time this year when trailing after seven innings.

– With the one-run win, the Sounds improved to 31-24 in one and two-run games.

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.

A trio of boats represented the Coffee County Youth Bass Club on Thursday and Friday in the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Championship on Kentucky Lake.  The teams of Jacob Garms and Colby Thurmond, Dawson and Branson Wells, and Kaden Freeze and Briley Sain represented Coffee County in the 3 day championship which featured 330 boats from across the United Sates.

The entire tournament field fished Thursday and Friday with the top 12 teams advancing to Saturday’s final.  None of the Coffee County squads advanced to Saturday’s final.   The team of Sain and Freeze was the top finisher for the Raider anglers as they netted a pair of fish totaling 7 lbs, 2 ounces to finish in 122^nd place.  Garms and Thurmond landed 1 keeper which tipped the scales at 1 lb, 14 ounces.  The Wells brothers finished the tournament with an empty live well.

2019 was the first time 3 boats from the Coffee County club qualified for the national tournament.   For more information about the Coffee County Youth Bass Club, visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/coffeecountyfishing/