Thursday Prep Results

CHS Track at Coffee County Invitational – See the Story HERE

CCMS Track at Warren County – See the Story HERE

Friday Prep Results

CHS Baseball lost to South Pittsburg – 7 to 2 – See the Story HERE

CHS Baseball beat Community – 7 to 2 – See the Story HERE

CHS Tennis split with Tullahoma – Girls lost 4 to 3, Boys won 6 to 1 – See the Story HERE

CCMS Boys’ Soccer edged Cascade – 2 to 1 – See the Story HERE

CCMS Softball beat Lincoln Co – 9 to 2 – See the Story HERE

Westwood softball lost to Moore Co – 7 to 6 – See the Story HERE

Saturday Prep Results

CHS Baseball bounced Grundy Co – 12 to 1 – See the Story HERE

CHS Baseball dropped the Huntsville Titans – 7 to 4 – See the Story HERE

Sunday Prep Results

3:00 PM – CHS Softball at Tullahoma – PPD, Make-up date is TBD

Monday Prep Schedule

4:00 PM – CCMS Golf vs. North Franklin at Willowbrook

4:00 PM – WMS Golf vs. South Franklin at Willowbrook

4:00 PM – CHS Tennis HOSTS Lincoln Co

4:00 PM – WMS Tennis at Shelbyville

5:00 PM – CCMS Baseball at Tullahoma

5:00 PM – CCMS Softball at Tullahoma

5:00 PM – WMS Baseball HOSTS MTCS

5:30 PM – WMS Boys’ Soccer at Liberty

6:00 PM – CHS Softball at Columbia

Darius Rozier signs his college scholarship surrounded by family and coaches. Front Row(left to right) Rachel Rudolf & Henry; Chris Rudolf; Darius Rozier; Sherita Rozier, mother; Micah Williams; Holly Williams & MJ. Back Row – Rebecca Koger, CHS athletic director; Winston Neal, Columia State head coach; Andrew Taylor, CHS assistant basketball coach.

Coffee County Central High School senior Darius Rozier has signed to continue his basketball career with Columbia State.  Rozier signed his college scholarship with Columbia State Community College in a ceremony at the CHS library on Friday.

Darius, who wants to be a teacher and coach in the future, could also see himself as a sports broadcaster.  “I see more opportunities (at Columbia State) and can it as a stepping stone to other places” said Rozier.  Rozier felt like Columbia was “the right distance from home” but admitted he will miss his time at Coffee County.  “I am gonna miss my teammates most of all.  I want to thank Coach Micah, Coach Rudolph and Rachel and my family and the whole community.”

When asked about what would make Darius successful at the college level, Coach Micah Williams was quick to point out his work ethic.  “The work Darius has put in since his freshman year has made him so successful.  The light switched on for Darius between his freshmen and sophomore years and he put in the work to make himself a good basketball player” added Williams.  “He has made great strides as a young man too; he has a big heart and he always puts other people first.”

Williams feels that Rozier will flourish as part of the Chargers basketball program at Columbia since they run the same offense.  Coach Winston Neal, head coach for Columbia State agreed saying Dairus has “a skill set that we can continue to develop.  He can score at all 3 levels and in a variety of ways.”  Neal also complimented Rozier’s competitive nature and intangibles.  “We love his toughness and we love how he can defend and rebound at a variety of positions.”  Neal expects to Rozier to compete for a starting position from Day #1 on campus.

Mani Gonzalez of CCMS soccer

The Coffee County Middle School soccer team welcomed Cascade to the CCMS field on Friday.  The Raiders and Champions squared off in a non-conference friendly match you heard here on Thunder Radio as part of the Gilley Crane Hometown Sports Series.  Coffee Middle dominated the time of possession for most of the game as they battled to a 2 to 1 win.

The Raider offense jumped on Cascade early as Javier Hernandez drilled a pass from Breyton Anderson to get a 1 to 0 lead.  Coffee County continued to put the pressure on the Cascade defense missing another 10 shots by intermission.  In the 2^nd half, Mani Gonzalez made a great individual effort to make the score 2 to 0 in the 38^th minute.  Cascade scored on a free kick from just outside the penalty box in the 43^rd minute to make it close, but the Raider defense pitched a shutout the rest of the match.

The Red Raiders return to the field on Wednesday when they travel to Tullahoma.  The Raiders will take on their rival Wildcats at East Tullahoma beginning at 6 PM.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

Skylar Bratcher of Coffee County CHS baseball

The Coffee County Central High School baseball team finished with a 3 and 1 record in the Grundy County Invitational Tournament this weekend.  Playing a pair of games at Sequatchie County High School on Friday, and a pair of games at Grundy County High School on Saturday, the Raiders ended the tournament on a 3 game winning streak.

Coffee County opened tournament play on Friday against South Pittsburg, the Red Raiders were held to 4 hits by the Pirate pitching staff in a 7 to 2 loss.  Skylar Bratcher had a pair of singles and scored a run for the Red Raiders.  Kael McCall had an RBI double for Coffee County.

Despite getting outhit in Friday’s nightcap, the Red Raiders grabbed a 7 to 2 win over Community.  Griffin Meeker tossed a complete game as he scattered 8 hits while surrendering only 1 earned run.  Bratcher again led the Raiders in hitting as he had a double and 2 singles while driving in 3 runs.  Lane Spry added a pair of singles while driving in 2 runs.

On Saturday, Coffee County got off to a red hot start with a 4 run 2st inning.  Kyle Farless had a 2 RBI single as they big hit in the frame as he finished with 3 singles and drove in 3 runs.  Owen Neel added a double and 2 RBI.  Braden Brown went the distance on the mound as he struck out 6 while allowing just 5 hits as Coffee County won 12 to 1.

Coffee County got off to another red hot start in the final game as they grabbed a 7 to 4 win against the Titans out of Huntsville.  Hayden Skipper led off the game with a homerun which highlighted a 3 run 1^st inning.   Skipper finished with 3 hits.  Lane Spry added 2 singles and 3 RBI.

The Red Raiders return to the diamond on Tuesday when they return to Powers Field for a district matchup with Franklin County.  First pitch is set for 6 PM.

Johnathan Welch of CHS tennis 2019[Photo courtesy of Janice Talley]

In the boys’ match, the Red Raiders swept the doubles matches and won 4 of the 5 singles matches.  Benedict Edinger and Jaden Talley won their doubles match 8 to 5.  Jonah Rollman and Johnathan Welch won 8 to 1.  In singles play, Edinger(8 to 5), Talley(9 to 8), Welch(8 to 6) and Landon Booth(8 to 1) got the Raiders 4 singles wins.

In the girls’ matches, the Lady Raiders got singles wins from Wren Lawson(8 to 3) and Emma Fulks(8 to 0).  Fulks teamed up with Lauren Perry to win 8 to 2 in doubles play.

The CHS tennis team will be back at home on Monday when they play host to Lincoln County.  The first matches will get underway at 4 PM.

Kaitlyn Davis of CCMS softball

The Coffee County Middle School softball team traveled to Lincoln County on Friday for a non-conference game with the Lady Falcons.  The Lady Raiders put 15 runners on base in the 5 inning contest to grab the convincing win.  The Lady Raiders won by a final score of 9 to 2.

The Lady Raiders plated 5 runs in the 2^nd inning and never trailed in the game.  The Lady Raiders had 9 hits on the day led by Kaitlyn Davis who had 3 singles.  Davis also got the win in the circle as she scattered 5 hits while striking out 2.  Jalie Davis had a pair of singles and drove in 4 runs.  Aleayia Barnes had a triple with 2 RBI.

The Lady Raiders will hit the road on Monday for a conference match-up with Tullahoma.  First pitch is set for 5 PM.

Paisley Campbell of WMS softball

The Westwood Middle School softball team welcomed Moore County to Lady Rocket Field on Friday for a makeup contest from Monday.  The Lady Rockets made a valiant comeback effort before falling in the conference matchup.  Westwood lost by a final score of 7 to 6.

With Moore County leading 3 to 1 entering the 6^th inning, the visiting Lynchburg ladies erupted for 4 runs to stun the Lady Rockets.  Westwood responded with 5 runs of their own in the bottom of the 6^th inning to cut the deficit to 1 run.  In the 7^th, the Rockets could not get a runner in scoring position as they dropped just their 2^nd loss of the year in conference play.  Emma Kidder led the Rockets in hitting with a double and 2 singles.  Paisley Campbell had a double and 2 RBI.

The Lady Rockets will have a rematch with Moore County on Wednesday in Lynchburg.  First pitch is set for 4 PM.

Katie Cotten of CCMS track

The Coffee County Middle School track team visited McMinnville on Thursday for a dual meet with Warren County.  The Red Raiders easily outdistanced their Pioneer rivals 77 to 19.  The Lady Raiders got a clean sweep in the throwing events to edge the lady Pioneers 49 to 47.

For the Lady Raiders, Abby Mahaffey, Kaitlyn Davis and Nikki Graham finished 1, 2, 3 respectively in the shot put and reversed that order in the discus with Graham getting the win.  That sweep in the throwing events gave the Lady Raiders an 18 to 0 win.  Katie Cotton won the 100M, Sophie McIntruff won the 1600M and the 800M for the other 1^st place finishers.

Caleb Bradford of CCMS track

The Red Raiders won first place in every event they entered.  Coffee Middle got 1^st place finishes in the 4×200 and 4×400 relays while sitting out the 4×100.  1^st place individual finishers for the Red Raiders  were: Travis Martin – high jump & 100M;  Caleb Bradford – shot put; Ashton Ferrell – discus;; Elijah Clemmons – long jump; Jacob Slabaugh – 1600M;  Braison Yancer – 400M; Caydon Miller – 800M and Payton Holliday – 200M.

The Raider track athletes will be back at home on Tuesday when they host to East Tullahoma, South Franklin and Harris.  The meet will be held at Carden-Jarrell Field beginning at 4:30 PM.

Craig Smith of Nashville Predators

The Predators needed a hero – and Craig Smith wasn’t about to let his club down.

The veteran Nashville winger deposited his first-career postseason overtime goal exactly five minutes into the extra session to give the Preds a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 2 and even the best-of-seven series at one game apiece.

After dropping Game 1 on Wednesday, the last thing the Predators wanted to do was head to Dallas down by two games. A complete, consistent effort three nights later set them up for success, and Smith put the exclamation point on the outing.

“Craig plays hard every night,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “I’ve never had a conversation with Craig Smith to say ‘We need more out of you.’ He gives everything he can every night. For me, that’s always given. We need people to step up. When you’re in a situation like that and down by a game in a series, you get into overtime, you can weigh the two results. We needed to get a win, we needed somebody, so it was really good for Craig.”

“We love the energy that Smitty brings and he brings that every night,” Preds forward Austin Watson said of Smith. “He’s always moving his feet and forechecking. Dog-on-a-bone like we talk about. To see him just continue to work like he always does and to get rewarded for us, it was a huge goal and good on him for continuing to work.”

After a scoreless opening period that saw the Preds get the better of the chances, it was Dallas who got the game’s first goal less than two minutes into the second stanza. Jamie Benn converted on a feed from Tyler Seguin to beat Preds netminder Pekka Rinne, but less than two minutes later, the Predators got on the board.

Inserted into the lineup after Brian Boyle was unable to play due to illness, Rocco Grimaldi made his the most of his Nashville postseason debut when he finished off a play set up by Watson to even the score at 1-1 through 40 minutes.

A scoreless third period led to the first overtime session of the series, and it didn’t take long for Smith to beat Ben Bishop with a shot from the bottom of the left circle to give the Predators their eighth playoff overtime win in franchise history.

“We created a lot of chances tonight which is a great sign,” Rinne said. “Our goal is obviously to keep going and build from here and gain everything we can from this win.”

The Stars were known as a stingy defensive team throughout the regular season, and they only allowed two in Game 2, but it was the Predators, who outshot Dallas by a 43-23 count and limited the quality chances for the visitors. In particular, Nashville was a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, a key component in the win.

“Every time we killed a penalty the crowd seemed to get some juice and some life from that, as did we,” Laviolette said. “The penalty kill was excellent tonight. It seemed there were different points where there was energy in the building. I thought it was consistent all night; that (Smith’s penalty) was one of them. That being said, I liked our game. I don’t think we just picked it up from there. I thought we competed hard against a good team for 65 or so minutes.”

Even after dropping Game 1 at home, the Predators knew they didn’t have to change much, but rather execute consistently for 60 minutes – or more. On Saturday, they did just that, and now they’ll head to the Lone Star State with what now equates to a best-of-five set.

And no matter what happens in Texas, the Predators know they’ll be coming back to Bridgestone Arena to host Game 5 next Saturday night.

“I don’t want to sound boring, but you try to have the mindset that you take one game at a time, no matter what the situation is,” Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “But it’s a huge win for us. Now we’ve tied the series and go in their building and have an opportunity to get the lead, but at the same time you don’t want to go too far ahead of yourself. Not too high, not too low, enjoy this, but also get ready for the next couple Dallas games.”

Smith Rises Up:

Craig Smith always dreamed of being the guy to have 19 fellow teammates swarming him after scoring a game-winning overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Now, he knows what it feels like.

The longest-tenured Predators forward converted at five minutes even in OT to tie the Round One series at 1-1, exactly what his club needed on Saturday night.

“That was a good one and it was awesome,” Smith said of his goal. “I hadn’t seen the building like that in a while so it was a lot of fun. I was just able to get a stick on it and just happened to grab the puck there so it was great.”

“Playoff goals are pretty special,” Watson said. “To be playing this time of year is what we all work for as a team and individuals to play on the biggest stage. That’s what that is. Good on him for rising to the occasion and being able to score a big goal for us.”

He doesn’t wear a letter on his sweater, and he isn’t often mentioned to the outside as one of the team’s leaders, but make no mistake – inside of that dressing room, Smith is regarded just as highly as anyone.

It’s moments like this where that respect and admiration gets a chance to shine.

“We know in this room that Smitty’s a leader for us,” Watson said. “We talk a lot about how we have our leadership group that wears letters, but each individual here has a responsibility to himself and the team to lead by example. Smitty does that every day. He works his butt off and he does that game in and game out. To get rewarded is awesome.”

“He represents our team so well,” Rinne said of Smith. “[Laviolette] talks about speed and attitude, and he has those qualities and he brings them every night. When you think of playoffs, you’ll think of players like Smitty. He goes to work to work every single night, so it’s nice to see him get rewarded.”

Notes:

It was the third career game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for Smith, tied for the most in Nashville history (James Neal, Viktor Arvidsson and David Legwand).

Nashville is now 8-8 all-time in overtime in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and 5-4 at Bridgestone Arena.

Nashville winger Wayne Simmonds left Game 2 in the first period and did not return after taking a shot from Roman Josi to the leg. Laviolette did not have an update on Simmonds’s condition following the game.

Preds forward Brian Boyle missed Game 2 due to illness and is day-to-day.

In addition to Boyle, the Predators scratched Yannick Weber, Rem Pitlick, Miikka Salomaki, Zac Rinaldo, Matt Irwin, Cody McLeod, Frederick Gaudreau and Niclas Westerholm for Game 2.

With Games 1 and 2 now complete, the series shifts to Dallas for Games 3 and 4. The first of those two contests come on Monday night, an 8:30 p.m. (CT) start from the American Airlines Center. Game 4 is Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report