After practicing on Monday, the Red Raiders will load the buses and travel to Ooltewah on Tuesday for a 9 AM 7 on 7 scrimmage event.  On Wednesday, Coffee County will travel to Lynchburg to take on Moore County in an 8 AM 7v7 workout with the Blue Raiders.  On Thursday, the Red Raiders will welcome Lincoln County to Manchester for a 5:30 PM 7v7 scrimmage.

Coach Doug Greene will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about the schedule for July as he prepares for is first season as head coach of the Red Raiders.  The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday morning from 10 to 11 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.  The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.

The Sounds maintained the lead for the entirety of the game, defeating the Oklahoma City Dodgers 6-4. Pacific Coast League All-Star Seth Maness earned his fifth win of the season in the contest.

Two runs were scored by Nashville in the first inning, with one run scoring on an error. With the bases loaded, Angelo Mora overthrew second base after fielding a groundball. That scored Zack Granite and Scott Heineman to put the Sounds up 2-0.

Oklahoma City scored one run in the top of the second inning when they hit back-to-back doubles by Jon Kemmer and Jake Peter. Nashville responded with a run of their own in the bottom-half of the inning when Juremi Profar led off with a single and scored when Christian Lopes followed him with an RBI double to make the score 3-1.

Matt Davidson kept the offense going with a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning to extend Nashville’s lead to 5-1. It was his 21st homer of the season.

The Dodgers would hit a two-run home run themselves in the fifth inning. With two outs, Gavin Lux walked and Connor Joe hit the homer to bring the game to 5-3.

In the bottom of the seventh, Davidson hit another RBI with a double that scored Eli White. But Oklahoma City got that run back with a run in the top of the eighth after a sacrifice fly by DJ Peters. That made the score 6-4.

David Carpenter came into the game in the ninth and struck out two-of-three hitters he faced to finalize the victory at 6-4. That tied the five-game set at 2-2 to set up a series-deciding game Wednesday night. With first pitch at 7:05 p.m., left-hander Wes Benjamin (3-5, 6.56) starts for Nashville while right-hander Brock Stewart (2-6, 6.88) starts for Oklahoma City.

Post-Game Notes

– With the 6-4 win, the Sounds improved to 37-47 on the season.

– Zack Granite extended his on-base streak to 12 games after going 3-for-5 tonight. Since the streak started on June 20, he is hitting .393 (22-for-56) with 10 runs, three doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBI and three walks.

– Pacific Coast League All-Star David Carpenter earned another save tonight, giving him a league-leading 14 saves.

– Matt Davidson’s 21st home run was his first since June 24 versus New Orleans. He is now ranked tied-for-fifth in the Pacific Coast League. It was also his 17th multi-RBI effort of the season.

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.

Daniel Rios of Nashville SC[Photo courtesy of nashvillesc.com]

Tribbett has been named one of five nominees for Midseason Defender of the Year, while Ríos is up for Midseason Most Valuable Player. Fans can vote on the USL Championship’s website until July 3 at 11 a.m. CT.

Ríos has been leading the charge among Nashville’s forwards so far this season with 10 goals, halfway to his 2018 season total with North Carolina FC. He is also firmly in the race for the USL Championship Golden Boot, sitting in a tie for second place and firmly in first place in the Eastern Conference. For comparison, the next-highest active goal scorer from the Eastern Conference is Ottawa’s Mour Samb with seven goals.

Meanwhile, on the back line, Tribbett has been an anchor for Nashville SC as a central defender. He has won 96 of his 134 duels and 58 of 79 aerial duels while leading the Boys in Gold in blocked shots and clearances. In his 13 appearances this season, Nashville has a 0.61 goals against average and six shutouts.

This is the second year in a row that Tribbett has been up for Midseason Defender of the Year, as he won the fan vote last season as a member of Penn FC.

For the second year in a row, Nashville SC has multiple nominees for Midseason Awards. In 2018, Matt Pickens was nominated for Midseason Goalkeeper of the Year, Gary Smith was up for Midseason Coach of the Year and Ropapa Mensah was nominated for Midseason Young Player of the Year.

New Preds center Matt Duchene[Photo by USA Today]

“Our objective this offseason was to bolster our offense, and signing Matt Duchene gives us another dynamic goal-scoring, playmaking center,” Poile said. “We are excited to add his skill and experience to our top-six forwards and look forward to the next seven years of Matt and his family in Smashville. Matt’s love of country music and passion for the city of Nashville make this partnership a perfect fit.”

Duchene, 28 (1/16/91), matched his career high in points last season with 70 (31g-39a) in 73 games spent with the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets. His 31 goals were a career best; his 39 assists were also his third-most in a single season. Duchene, who began the season in Ottawa, tallied 58 (27g-31a) of his 70 points in a Senators uniform before being acquired by Columbus at the trade deadline. He closed out the 2018-19 campaign by posting 12 points (4g-8a) in 23 contests with the Blue Jackets and helped lead them to a First-Round sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning, tallying five goals and 10 points in 10 playoff games.

Originally drafted in the first round (third overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft by the Avalanche, Duchene’s 547 career points (232g-315a) are the second-most among all skaters in his draft class. He is a two-time All-Star, the most recent nod coming at the 2016 NHL All-Star Game in Nashville, and has led his team in scoring in four of his 10 NHL campaigns. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound center has posted seven career seasons with at least 50 points and 20 goals and is a two-time 30-goal scorer. One of the premier face-off men in the NHL, he holds a career mark of 53.1 percent, which is the 12th-highest among players who have taken at least 10,000 faceoffs since he entered the League in 2009-10. His 62.6 face-off win percentage in 2017-18 led the NHL and is tied for the 10th-highest mark in League history. Duchene was a finalist for the Calder Trophy in 2010 after he led all rookies in points (55) and tied for the rookie lead in goals (24). Additionally, he served as an alternate captain for the Avalanche in 2016-17 and the Senators in each of the last two seasons.

Internationally, the Haliburton, Ont., native has won Gold with Canada at several events, including the 2014 Winter Olympics, 2015 and 2016 World Championships, 2016 World Cup of Hockey, and 2008 U-18 World Championship. Prior to turning pro, Duchene starred for the OHL’s Brampton Battalion, recording 129 points (61g-68a) in 121 career junior contests. He led the Battalion to the OHL’s Robertson Cup Final in 2009 before falling to Ryan Ellis and the Windsor Spitfires in five games.

Left-hander Joe Palumbo matched a season-high with 10 strikeouts and limited the Dodgers to one unearned run to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 4-3 win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers in front of 7,608 fans at First Tennessee Park Monday night.

It was Palumbo’s first start at First Tennessee Park. He joined Nashville on the recent road trip after spending most of his season with Double-A Frisco. Palumbo struck out at least one Oklahoma City batter in every inning, including three punchouts in the first and thing frames.

Nashville busted the game open with a four-run bottom of the fourth inning. Tyler Pill started the frame with a single to right field. After a walk and fielder’s choice, Carlos Tocci came to the dish with a pair of runners on base and belted a three-run homer to right-center field. Tocci’s fourth home run of the season gave the Sounds a 3-0 lead.

Adam Moore followed by reaching on a misplayed ground ball by Dodgers first baseman Cameron Perkins. It came back to hurt Oklahoma City when Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled down the left field line, scoring Moore to make it a 4-0 game.

The Dodgers got on the board in the top of the fifth inning with the help of a Nashville error. With two outs, Angelo Mora hit a fly ball to right-center that Pill misplayed. Gavin Lux followed with a run-scoring double to trim Oklahoma City’s deficit to 4-1.

Phillips Valdez relieved Palumbo and tossed two scoreless innings to get to the Sounds to the eighth. Another error helped Oklahoma put their second run on the board. Shane Peterson reached on an error by Andy Ibanez and later scored to make it 4-2.

Oklahoma City had the tying run at second base in the ninth inning when David Carpenter struck out Drew Jackson to preserve the 4-3 win.

Game four of the five-game series is scheduled for Tuesday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Seth Maness (4-2, 4.94) starts for Nashville against right-hander Dennis Santana (2-5, 6.33) for Oklahoma City. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

– With tonight’s 4-3 win, the Sounds improved to 36-47 on the season.

– Joe Palumbo struck out 10 batters – the first time a Sounds pitcher has reached double-digit strikeouts since Eric Jokisch fanned 11 batters on June 15, 2018 at El Paso.

– Zack Granite’s 10-game hitting streak was snapped with a 0-for-3 night. He did walk and was hit by a pitch to extend his on-base streak to 11 games.

– David Carpenter converted his 13th save in as many opportunities.

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.

For one low price, soccer fans in Nashville can see the three biggest soccer matches at Nissan Stadium this year. Nashville SC is offering a Club & Country ticket package that will include a ticket to see the U.S. Men’s National Team take on Jamaica in a CONCACAF Gold Cup Semifinal this Wednesday, July 3 at 8 p.m., and tickets to see Nashville SC play twice at its future home in Major League Soccer preview matches on July 27 and October 12.

With the package, fans can watch the U.S. National Team try to advance to Gold Cup Final at Nissan Stadium on Wednesday. The U.S. is the defending Gold Cup champions, taking home the trophy in 2017 with a win over Jamaica. It will be the first knockout match that any U.S. National Team will play in Nashville, as the city has previous hosted friendlies or Gold Cup Group Stage matches.

Fans will also receive tickets to Nashville SC’s two MLS preview matches at Nissan Stadium, on July 27 against Indy Eleven and October 12 against North Carolina FC. This will be a chance to see Nashville SC play at its future home when it enters MLS for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

The Club & Country package to see the U.S. National Team and Nashville SC starts at just $60 for the three matches. Click on the following LINK to get your Gold Cup tickets.  You will be able to select your seat location now for the Gold Cup match and a Nashville SC ticket representative will contact you for your seat location Nashville SC’s two matches in Nissan Stadium.