Savannah Cooper of CCMS softball

The Coffee County Middle School softball team welcomed Warren County to the CCMS field on Wednesday.  The Lady Raiders were looking to close out the regular season with a perfect record against the Lady Pioneers.  It took extra innings but Coffee Middle outlasted the Lady Pioneers 3 to 2.

Warren County jumped out to a 2 to 0 lead in the 1^st inning as a pair of singles and an error gave the Lady Pioneers a lead they held onto until the 5^th inning.  Katelyn Davis singled home a run in the 1^st and Cheyenny Vickers doubled home Savannah Cooper in the bottom of the 5^th to send the game to extra innings.  In the 6^th, Coffee County loaded the bases on an error and 2 walks before Cooper drilled the first pitch she saw to center field for the win.

Coffee Middle finished the game with 8 hits led by Cooper who finished with 3 singles.  Alivia Reel and Cheyenny Vickers each had a double.  Davis got the win in the circle as she surrendered 2 hits and 1 earned run.  Davis also struck out 8 as the Lady Raiders finish the regular season with a record of 18 and 0.

The Lady Raiders will be back in action next week when they host the CTC postseason tournament.  Coffee County’s first round game time and opponent will be announced early next week.

Caleb Cargile of Westwood soccer

The Westwood soccer team closed out their regular season on Wednesday night at Dyer-Bouldin Field.  Hosting conference rival Cascade, the Rockets had a huge 2^nd half as they rolled to a 4 to 0 win.

Westwood got on the board late in the first half as Cascade punched a ball past their own keeper for an own goal.  In the second half, Westwood got a pair of goals from Caleb Cargile and a goal from David Dolack.

The Rockets return to the pitch on Friday, April 26^th when they host the Central Tennessee Soccer Conference postseason tournament.  Westwood, with their first place conference finish, has secured the number 1 seed and will host a semifinal game on Friday.  The CTSC final will be held on Saturday, April 27^th at Dyer-Bouldin Field.

Emma Kidder of Westwood softball

The Westwood softball team traveled to Lynchburg on Wednesday night for a 1^st place battle in their conference division.  Tied in the loss column with Moore County, the Rockets need a win to solidify their position at the top of the standings.  A rash of Lady Rocket errors led to Westwood’s demise as they fell 7 to 0.

Westwood was held to 3 hits on the night and committed 8 errors.  Emma Kidder took the hard luck loss in the circle as she did not allow an earned run while striking 5

Westwood will host their final home game of the year on Thursday as they welcome Community to Lady Rocket Field.   First pitch is set for 4:30 PM weather permitting.

Blake Hillis of WMS baseball

The Westwood Middle School baseball team hosted Fayetteville on Wednesday night in their final regular season game of the season.  The Rocket bats were ice cold on the night as they managed only 2 hits.  Westwood fell by a final score of 13 to 0.

Trevor Jesse led off the game for Westwood with a single and Blake Hillis led off the 2^nd inning with a single before Westwood was retired in order in each frame.  The Rockets managed only a walk in the 6^th inning as they never got a base runner past 2^nd base.

The Rockets will now be off until next week’s conference tournament.  Westwood will open up tournament play on the road on Monday.  The location and first round opponent will be determined on Friday.

Nikki Graham of CCMS track

The Coffee County Middle School track team hosted a 4 team meet on Tuesday at Carden-Jarrell Field. The Lady Raiders finished in 1st place among the girls’ teams as they scored 52.5 points to outdistance 2nd place East Tullahoma. The Red Raiders were edged out by defending conference champion South Franklin by a final score of 76 to 74.
The Lady Raiders got a 1st place finish in the 4x400M relay and a 2nd place finish in the 4x100M relay. Individual event winners for Coffee Middle were: Holli Hancock in the shot put, Nikki Graham in the discus, Katie Cotton in the high jump and Sophie McInturff in the 800M and the 1600M,
Other top 3 finishers were:
Kenzie Givens – 2nd – high jump;
Jaylyn Case – 2nd – long jump;
Katie Cotton – 2nd – 200M;
Josie Willis – 3rd – 1600M;
Ellie Fann – 3rd – 400M;
Camry Moss – 3rd – 800M;
Holli Hancock – 3rd – discus;

Ashton Ferrell of CCMS track

The Red Raiders got a 1st place finish in the 4x400M relay, 2nd in the 4x100M relay and a 3rd place finish in the 4x200M relay. Individual winners for the Red Raiders were: Ashton Ferrell in the shot put, Travis Martin in the high jump, and Cayden Miller in the 800M. Other top 3 finishers were:
Jaden Foster – 3rd –200M;
Jacob Slabaugh – 2nd – 1600M; 3rd – 800M;
Braison Yancer – 2nd – 400M; 3rd – long jump;
Travis Martin – 2nd – discus; 3rd – 100M;
Calen Bradford – 2nd – shot put;
Cayden Miller – 3rd – 1600M;
Ashton Ferrell – 3rd – discus;

The Coffee Middle thinclads will be back in action on Thursday, May 2nd and Friday, May 3rd when they compete in the TMSAA Sectional Meet at Riverdale.

The Dallas Stars scored four goals in the first period on their way to defeating the Nashville Predators by a 5-1 final in Game 4 on Wednesday night. The result sees the Round One series now tied 2-2 with Game 5 set for Saturday in Nashville, and Game 6 now becoming a necessity in the best-of-seven set.

Three of Dallas’s four goals in the opening frame came on the power play, and although the Preds settled things down in the final 40 minutes with Roman Josi getting the Preds on the board in the third, the early returns were simply too much to overcome.

“We’re definitely angry about this one,” Josi said. “Everybody’s angry. I think it’s normal after a game like that, but that’s playoffs. At the end of the day you have to look at it, but you have to put it in the trash tomorrow and then look forward. It’s one game, but we’re definitely angry about it.”

“It’s tough to see the scoreboard go that way,” Preds center Nick Bonino said. “We came out and had four good shifts. Each line had a good shift 5-on-5, and obviously we got into penalty trouble and our kill has been so solid for a couple months now. You never want to see three go in like that.”

Roope Hintz, Alexander Radulov, Andrew Cogliano and Mats Zuccarello all tallied for the Stars in the opening 20 minutes of Game 4, and Hintz added another in the middle period.

Predators goaltender Juuse Saros relieved Pekka Rinne after Dallas’s fourth goal; Saros stopped 16 shots in relief, as Nashville eventually ended up outshooting the Stars by a 35-29 margin on the night.

Josi’s goal came at 8:11 of the third period to spoil the shutout for Ben Bishop, but that was all the visitors were able to get.

“They were definitely the better team tonight,” Josi said. “They played better than us, they deserved to win the game and there are things we can do better.”

The Predators will now have two days to review, regroup and get set for Game 5 on Saturday afternoon (at 2 p.m. CT) in Nashville.

“I’m going to give the cliche hockey answer, but we came here, we won an away game and we have home ice back for a best-of-three, so that’s our focus,” Bonino said. “We did what we wanted to do coming to Dallas. We would’ve loved to go up 3-1, but it did not happen. Everyone on this team has been in a 2-2 series before, so we’ll go home and try to get Game 5.”

“It’s a best-of-three, and we have home-ice advantage,” Preds center Ryan Johansen said. “We’ll get back home, we’ll get some rest here the next couple days and go out and do what we do.”

Notes:

Nashville kept the same lineup in Game 4 that was seen in Game 3, including Miikka Salomaki seeing his second consecutive game action after previously being out since Jan. 4.

Brian Boyle (appendix), Wayne Simmonds (lower-body), Yannick Weber, Rem Pitlick, Zac Rinaldo, Matt Irwin, Cody McLeod, Frederick Gaudreau and Niclas Westerholm were scratched for Nashville in Game 4.

With the series a best-of-three competition, Game 5 is set for Saturday afternoon in Nashville, a 2 p.m. CT start from Bridgestone Arena. Game 6 is now necessary and will take place in Dallas on Monday night, time to be determined.