Westwood’s Zowee Dillard(background) goes up for a spike of a ball set by Lilee Scott(foreground) on Saturday

The Coffee County Middle School and Westwood Middle School volleyball teams got their first competitive action of the fall on Saturday.  Hosted by the Coffee County CHS Lady Raider volleyball team, 12 teams took part in the all day scrimmage tournament.  Both the Lady Raiders and Lady Rockets experienced some success on the day as opening day looms for both programs.

A young and rebuilding Lady Rockets team struggled in pool play dropping all 3 of their matches.  Westwood bounced back to grab a straight set win(25-22, 25-23) over Harris in the Silver Bracket semifinals.  Squaring off against Tullahoma in the finals, Westwood fought hard but fell 25-19 and 25-17.   First year head coach Kinda Baxter was pleased with the growth of the team.  “(We) were a team today.  Each girl had moments where they showed they can do it.”  Baxter called out Lilee Scott for her leadership on the day.

Katie Lawrence of CCMS volleyball

The Lady Raiders of Coffee Middle have a new head coach in Tori Taylor.  Taylor, who served as an assistant coach before her promotion, returns a more experienced team.  The Lady Raiders went 2 and 1 in pool play before falling in the first round of the Gold Bracket.   The Lady Raiders fell to South Lincoln 25-18, 25-22.  “I was pleased with our attitude, effort and how much we have improved on each individual skill” said Taylor.  She called out the play of Kurry Neel, Katie Lawrence and Savannah Cooper for the tournament.

Westwood opens the season on Thursday when they play host to Tullahoma at the Joel Vinson Gym.  That match will get underway at 4:30 PM.  Coffee County will open the season on Monday, August 12^th when they travel to Shelbyville to take on Harris.  That match will get underway at 5 PM.

15 hits for the Nashville Sounds helped give them a 7-6 victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes on Sunday. Albuquerque left the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth with one out but were unable to complete a late-inning comeback.

The Sound scored first in the bottom of the first inning when Matt Davidson hit an RBI ground out that scored Andy Ibanez. The Isotopes responded with two runs in the top of the second inning on a two-run home run by Drew Weeks, taking the 2-1 lead.

Both teams would see three lead changes in from the bottom of the fourth to the bottom of the fifth inning. Patrick Wisdom hit a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth inning to put Nashville up 3-2. Albuquerque scored two runs in the top of the fifth on a two-run homer by Sam Hilliard, giving the Isotopes a 4-3 lead. The Sounds took the lead right back on a two-run double by Davidson, making it 5-4.

Two more runs crossed the plate for Nashville on two solo home runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Wisdom led the half-inning off with the first dinger, followed by Ibanez with two outs to extend Nashville’s lead 7-4.

Albuquerque scored one run in the top of the seventh. Roberto Ramos roped a single to right field to score Hilliard. The Sounds would escape further damage leaving runners on first and third, keeping a 7-5 lead.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Isotopes threatened with runners on first and second base with no outs. Jake Petricka came in relief and earned the hold, not allowing any runs to cross and kept the score at 7-5.

Petricka stayed in the game for the ninth inning and flirted with danger. The Isotopes loaded the bases with one out after scoring once on a Josh Fuentes RBI single. But Petricka struck out Brian Mundell and was able to get Noel Cuevas to ground out to seal the 7-6 win.

Nashville looks to get the series win Monday night versus Albuquerque. With first pitch at 7:05 p.m., right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx (0-3, 7.23) will start for the Sounds versus right-hander Antonio Senzatela (0-1, 4.91) will start for the Isotopes.

Post-Game Notes

– With Sunday’s 7-6 wins, the Sounds improve to 47-64 in 2019.

– Joe Palumbo made his first start since July 14 after serving a stint on the 7-day injured list. He went 2.2 innings and allowed two earned runs on two hits and one walk while striking out five batters. He threw 37 pitches, 24 for strikes.

– Wes Benjamin came in relief for Palumbo, making his fifth career relief appearance in 84 career games. He earned his fifth win of the season for the Sounds

– Matt Davidson and Patrick Wisdom each recorded three RBI in tonight’s win. They rank first and second on the Sounds in three-RBI games, with Davidson at seven and Wisdom at five.

Lebo Moloto of Nashville SC

A frustrating first half turned quickly into a celebratory evening as Nashville SC picked up its first-ever three match winning streak with a convincing 2-0 road win over Swope Park Rangers on Saturday night. A first half goal from Lebo Moloto and one in the second half from Daniel Ríos sealed the victory in Kansas City, Kan.

The story of the first half looked to be missed chances by Nashville SC as big opportunities fell by the wayside throughout the opening frame. A missed open goal, a post and a missed chip, all from Ríos, made it appear Nashville SC would come up empty handed. Then two former Swope Park Rangers flipped the script. Kharlton Belmar found Lebo Moloto in the 43’ minute and Moloto, from the top of the box, curled it past Swope keeper Adrian Zendejas to give Nashville the deserved lead.

Just after the halftime break, Nashville doubled the lead through its star forward in the 47’ minutes. Ríos took a pass from Moloto and made no mistake to score for the fourth straight match and sixth out of his last seven. Ríos now has 14 goals on the season and is tied for the USL Championship Golden Boot lead with the tally.

From there, Nashville SC saw out the victory as keeper Matt Pickens registered his third consecutive clean sheet. Pickens had little to do as the Nashville defense allowed zero shots on target.

Here are three quick takeaways from the 2-0 victory by Nashville SC.

1) Former Rangers Run Wild at Swope Park

Midfielder Lebo Moloto and forward Kharlton Belmar ran rampant throughout the first half against their former club. Belmar had a shot on target saved from close range that would have given Nashville the lead. Moloto himself had two shots before finding the net with his third. The two players have combined for two goals and three assists in the two wins against Swope Park this season. While the two Nashville attackers returned to Swope, both for the first time since leaving the club, wearing different kits, they seemed right at home at Children’s Mercy Park.

2) Another Clean Sheet

It was the third straight match for keeper Matt Pickens and the third consecutive clean sheet for the veteran keeper. Pickens and the Nashville defense are riding a 286-minute shutout streak dating back to the team’s match on July 6 at Louisville City FC. Tonight’s keeper choice by head coach Gary Smith was particularly interesting as it broke the two-on and two-off streak for Pickens and fellow keeper Connor Sparrow. The three clean sheets also coincide with the acquisitions of Jimmy Ockford and Forrest Lasso to the Nashville defense.

3) First 3-Match Win Streak

It was a third consecutive 2-0 win for Nashville in USL Championship play, and it was particularly notable in that it marked the first-ever three-match league winning streak for Nashville. It couldn’t be coming at a better time as Nashville continues to rise in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings. With the three points, Nashville SC is now in 4th place in the East, eight points behind first place Tampa Bay Rowdies, but just two points behind Indy Eleven in third.

Up Next

Nashville SC will hit the final stretch 13 matches with nine at home beginning on Wednesday night at First Tennessee Park against Hartford Athletic. Nashville beat Hartford earlier this season 3-2 on the road in a match it came from behind to win. Hartford currently sits 17th in the East, eight points behind the playoff line. Tickets to the Wednesday match are available

A stellar performance by Kolby Allard went for naught when the Nashville Sounds’ bullpen allowed eight late runs in an 8-4 loss to the Albuquerque Isotopes in front of 9,803 fans at First Tennessee Park Saturday night.

In his organizational debut, Allard started and tossed five shutout innings. The left-hander limited the Isotopes to four hits and two walks while recording eight strikeouts. He threw 101 pitches in the no-decision.

A two-out Patrick Wisdom double in the bottom of the fourth inning sparked the first rally. Adam Moore followed and chopped a ball up the third base line for an infield single. Josh Fuentes’ throw from third got away and allowed Wisdom to score the first run of the game.

The Sounds padded their lead in the fifth when Matt Davidson crushed his 25th home run of the season. Davidson’s two-run shot to the Vanderbilt Health Picnic Place gave the Sounds a 3-0 lead.

Allard departed after five innings and trouble started. The first four Albuquerque batters reached against reliever Kyle Bird and the game was quickly 3-3. Pat Valaika doubled in a run and Roberto Ramos hit a two-run homer into The Band Box to even the game.

Fuentes kept the inning going with a single and Drew Weeks drilled a two-run home run to give the Isotopes a 5-3 lead.

Shane Carle relieved Bird for the seventh inning and the first four batters reached again. Albuquerque got hits in the inning from Sam Hilliard, Valaika, Ramos and Brian Mundell and extended the lead to 8-3.

Nashville had several chances with 13 hits in the game but went 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base.

Davidson, Nick Solak, Wisdom and Moore had multi-hit games. Moore had a season-high four hits.

Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Sunday night at First Tennessee Park. Left-hander Joe Palumbo (1-0, 3.38) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Rico Garcia (0-3, 8.31) for the Isotopes. First pitch is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

– With the 8-4 loss, the Sounds dropped to 46-64 in 2019.

– Kolby Allard made his Texas Rangers organization debut after being acquired via trade on July 30. He tossed five shutout innings (ND, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K).

– Matt Davidson extended his on-base streak to 22 games with a single in the first inning.

– Patrick Wisdom became the second Sounds hitter to collect two doubles in a game this year (Carlos Tocci, June 22 at New Orleans).

Saturday’s middle school volleyball schedule

The Coffee County Middle School and Westwood Middle School volleyball teams will take part in a full day scrimmage tournament at CHS on Saturday. The scrimmage tournament, hosted by the CHS Lady Raider volleyball team, features teams from 12 schools and will begin at 9 a.m. with the final scheduled for 6:30 p.m.  Coffee County and Westwood each play three pool games before being seeded into a single-elimination championship bracket.

The Lady Rockets of Westwood will open their season on August 8th at home against Tullahoma.  First serve is set for 4:30 PM at Joel Vinson Gymnasium.  The Lady Raiders open the regular season on August 12th when they travel to Shelbyville to take on Harris.  Opening serve is set for 5 p.m.