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Westwood Softball Rolls Over Fayetteville
Emmalise Raymer of WMS softball
The Westwood Middle School softball team hosted Fayetteville on Tuesday night in their first home game of the year. The Lady Rockets jumped on the Tigers early as they rolled to a 12 to 2 win.
The Lady Rockets continued their hot hitting from last week as they banged out 12 hits. Emmalise Raymer swung the hot bat as she was 3 for 3 on the game with a walk, 3 stolen bases and 2 RBI. Emma Kidder had a double and a single and 3 RBI while Kara Beth Patton had 2 singles with 3 stolen bases and 3 runs scored. Kidder went the distance in the circle as she pitched 6 innings striking out 8 while only allowing 2 hits. The win improves Westwood to 2 and 0 on the year.
The Lady Rockets will be back at home on Thursday as they welcome conference rival Cascade to Lady Rocket Field. First pitch is set for 5 PM.
Westwood Baseball Captures a Doubleheader Split on Tuesday Night
Raiden Sain of Westwood baseball
The Westwood Middle School baseball team welcomed Moore County to Fred Deadman Park on Tuesday for a conference doubleheader. Playing their regularly scheduled game plus making up a rain out from Monday, the Rockets and the Moore County Raiders battled to a doubleheader split. Westwood won the first game 4 to 2 before falling in the nightcap 5 to 3.
In the first game, the Rockets rallied from a 2 to 1 deficit in the 4th inning when they scored 3 times. Raiden Sain came on in relief to get the win on the mound while adding a double at the plate and scoring the tying run. Dylen Trail led the Rocket hitters as he had a pair of singles and scored the Rockets final run.
In the nightcap, Westwood got off to a strong start as they led 3 to 2 after 2 innings of play. Moore County rallied to tie the game in the 3rd inning and scored twice in the 5th to grab a split of the series. Jayden Carter, Raiden Sain and Timothy Henderson all singled in the first inning to produce Westwood’s first 2 runs.
Westwood is back at home on Thursday when they host Middle Tennessee Christian. First pitch is set for 5:00 PM at Looney Riddle Field in Fred Deadman Park.
Westwood Soccer Rolls Past Riverside Christian
The Westwood soccer team traveled to Fayetteville on Tuesday night to do battle with conference rival Riverside Christian. Six Rocket goals in the first half put the match out of reach. Westwood won by a final of 7 to 0.
Lex Dodson had 2 goals and an assist. Ian Weldon netted a pair of goals. Nico Sanfilipo scored once and added a pair of assists. Izick Sierra, Elijah McCoy added goals and Adam Gann tallied an assist.
The Rockets return to Dyer-Bouldin Field on Thursday for a conference match with Cascade. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the Gilley Crane Hometown Sports Series. The opening kick is set for 4:30 PM, Jonathan Oliver will have the broadcast beginning with the pregame show at 4:20.
Coffee County Middle School Tennis Sweeps Tullahoma
Savannah Blackburn of CCMS tennis
The Coffee County Middle School tennis welcomed Tullahoma to the Raider Academy courts on Tuesday for their season opener. The Raiders and Lady Raiders both scored impressive wins over the rival Wildcats. The Lady Raiders won 5 to 0 while the Red Raiders captured a 6 to 2 win.
The Red Raiders swept all 5 singles matches before dropping 2 of the 3 doubles matches. In singles play, Krish Patel(6 to 2), Liam Brown(6 to 1), Matthew Blomquist(6 to 3), Nolan Sussen(6 to 0) and Xander Blomquist(6-1) all won over their Wildcat opponent. In doubles play, the tandem of Liam Brown and Nolan Sussen were pushed to the tiebreaker before winning 12 to 10 for Coffee Middle’s lone doubles victory.
Liam Brown of CCMS tennis
The Lady Raiders captured 3 singles victories and 2 doubles wins in the sweep of the Lady Cats. Coffee County got singles wins by Claire Rondolet(6-0), Savannah Blackburn(6-1) and MorganTinsley(6-0). In doubles play, the team of Lauren Hogan and Raelin Tucker captured a 6 to 1 win while the team of Kyra Sherrill and Savannah Blackburn finished off their opponent 6 to 1 as well.
The CCMS netters will be back on the court on Thursday when they play host to Warren County. First serve is at 4 PM at the Coffee County Raider Academy.
Coffee County Soccer Falls in Road Match at Ooltewah
Coffee County CHS soccer traveled to Ooltewah on Tuesday night for their 2nd straight non-district road contest. The Raiders gave up a first half goal to the Owls in the first half to fall 1 to 0.
Ooltewah got on the board in the 10th minute to grab a 1 to 0 lead that stood up. The Red Raiders will once again be road on Friday as they travel to Gatlinburg to take part in the Smokey Mountain Cup Tournament. That tournament concludes on Saturday.
Forsberg’s Two Late Tallies Not Enough as Preds Fall to Ducks
Filip Forsberg
A pair of power-play goals made it interesting, but it was too little, too late for the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
Filip Forsberg netted two in the final six minutes of regulation and the Predators outshot the Ducks, 34-18, but the night belonged to Anaheim. The home team boasted a 3-0 lead as the final frame began and Forsberg’s duo of man-advantage goals – the first time Nashville has recorded two power-play markers in a game since December – was a close as the Predators could get.
A 3-2 loss to the Ducks is difficult to take morale victories from, especially for a Predators team that has 11 games left in the regular season.
“It’s a disappointing result and just a sleepy game,” Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “There’s not much going on, and it’s just disappointing at this time of the year. I think we have to ask for more from ourselves, and everybody included. We have to show more speed, desperation, and it’s a situation in the season where we have a lot of things in our own hands, and considering that, it’s disappointing.”
“We’re chasing a game again, and we can’t keep chasing a game,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “All of a sudden we’re shortly into a game, we’re down 2-0 and we can’t play that way. You can do it once in while and come back, but the percentages aren’t with you there.”
Anaheim had a 2-0 lead after the opening period courtesy of goals from Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg. Recovering some, the Predators began the second period with a burst of energy, but after Pekka Rinne stopped Max Jones on a penalty shot, the Ducks got their third on a backhander from Daniel Sprong for a 3-0 lead after two frames.
With two Ducks in the penalty box and six minutes to play, Laviolette elected to send Rinne to the bench for a 6-on-3 edge in skaters for Nashville. Mikael Granlund fed Forsberg on the other side of the offensive zone for the Predators’ first of the evening to make it 3-1 at 14:16. Fifty-eight seconds later, Forsberg potted another to set the final score at 3-2, but that was as close as they came.
The road trip continues in Los Angeles, and as the regular season continues to wind down, the Preds will search for a better outing on Thursday, another opportunity to find the game they know they’re capable of playing.
“You want to win all the games, you want to be playing your best hockey as an individual and as a team, no question about it,” Rinne said. “Everybody knows individually we can be better, and as a team we can be better. It gives us time, but there’s still bigger and better things ahead of us. We’ve got to see the good things, even though after a game like this it’s hard to see that.”
Notes:
Forsberg returned to the Nashville lineup after missing Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury.
Rocco Grimaldi, Frederick Gaudreau and Matt Donovan were scratched for the Preds on Tuesday.
Nashville will now head up the California coast to Los Angeles for a date with the Kings on Thursday before finishing up the trip on Saturday night in San Jose.
Pete Weber’s Postgame Report
3/12/19 — Birthdays
Birthdays:
Gordon Matthews, 68
Anniversaries:
Angela & Douglas Yurcik, 13
“Little Houdini” back in the News
“Little Houdini” Christopher Gay
Manchester Police Chief Investigator Jackie Matheny told WMSR News that Miranda Jones, and Donald Wyatt Jr. were arrested in McMinnville.
A notorious man known as “Little Houdini” for ability for escaping from custody including Coffee County, Christopher Gay, and others are accused of stealing items such as a $260,000 motor home, a truck from a Stan McNabb dealership in Tullahoma, equipment from Tri-Green in Manchester plus items in other states. There is also a suspicion of even planning a jail break Virginia.
The so-called “Little Houdini” is known as a jailhouse escape artist, but now Matheny says he might have been the mastermind behind a multi-state crime ring that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise. In January Gay was arrested in a stolen Corvette in Virginia. Where he is now in jail.
“It was really, just old-fashioned police work,” said Investigator Matheny. He bragged about the outstanding work done by Captain Dwight Vandergriff and Investigator Jonathan Anthony.
While searching Jones and Wyatt’s possessions police found a letter to a Virginia prison addressed to Christopher Gay and a hand drawn map of the Virginia jail holding Gay as though they were planning a jailbreak.
Gay is a habitual offender with a reputation for escaping from Tennessee jails, including escaping custody from a Coffee County deputy several years ago in Atlanta.
Police are working to return the stolen items to their owners.
TN Lawmakers Consider an Alzheimer’s Advisory Council
The Alzheimer’s Association of Tennessee says Alzheimer’s disease is the only official cause of death without dedicated research funds for a cure. (phiasinclair/Twenty20)
AARP Tennessee and the Alzheimer’s Association back the idea of a state council to examine the industries, services and resources available to seniors and families living with memory-loss disorders. Last year, Alzheimer’s care and treatment cost Tennessee close to $1 billion, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Rachel Blackhurst, director of public policy and advocacy at the Alzheimer’s Association of Tennessee, said the bills have garnered broad support.
“We actually have quite a bit of support for these bills in the Legislature,” she said. “Some individual legislators have been impacted, with family members suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and they understand this issue. We don’t have to tell them what’s important. They know the financial and emotional strain that Alzheimer’s has on families.”
Tennessee has the fourth-highest Alzheimer’s death rate in the nation, Blackhurst said.
Senate Bill 28 is being carried by Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City. Its companion bill, House Bill 37, is sponsored by Rep. Sam Whitson, R-Franklin.
The bills would charge the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability with priorities such as increasing early detection and diagnosis of memory-care issues, educating health-care providers and monitoring state agencies. Blackhurst said the goal is to help coordinate efforts between advocacy groups and government agencies.
“In the past, it’s been individual advocacy groups trying to get the Legislature and the governor to take Alzheimers seriously,” she said. “With the establishment of an advisory council within the state government, they will really become this ‘official voice’ of Alzheimer’s disease.”
A few months ago, the Trump administration signed legislation to provide cooperative funding to states to aid in the Alzheimer’s public-health crisis. This is the first step for Tennessee to establish an infrastructure in order to be eligible for those funds.
TWRA says leave Abandoned Wildlife Alone
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is urging the public to leave wildlife alone which appear to be abandoned. Recent flooding in various areas of the state has displaced some wildlife which has resulted in an influx of calls to the TWRA and wildlife rehabilitators across the state.
Each year, especially in the spring and the early summer, Tennesseans encounter wildlife, appearing to be orphaned, sick, or injured. The TWRA urges the public to leave wildlife alone.