Nashville SC bagged another home win at First Tennessee Park as it beat Penn FC on Saturday night 3-1. Brandon Allen, Lebo Moloto and Alan Winn all scored for the home team.  Saturday’s victory pushed Nashville SC’s unbeaten run to six games inside of the league and eight games in all competitions.

Saturday’s 3-1 win over Penn FC in front of a crowd of 8,724 at First Tennessee Park showed how Nashville SC is one of the best teams in the USL after 11 games.

The differences between wins and draws In the first two months of the season relied upon either Ropapa Mensah or Lebo Moloto to create and score. If the pair were stymied, Nashville SC left points on the pitch.

The midseason additions of forward Brandon Allen and winger Ish Jome have added much-needed ability and depth to Nashville’s attacking options. Nashville’s goal, with Jome on the assist of Allen’s goal, created the kind of play that coach Gary Smith envisioned when Nashville acquired the two.

“Just being in the right place at the right time is a goal scorer’s instinct,” Allen said. “The players around me help me get into the right place, and I’m really happy to be here.”

Nashville has played two league games at home since April 7 and has earned results against three of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference. With four straight home games on the horizon after a June 9 match in Tampa, Nashville has a real opportunity to scale up the standings in comfortable surroundings and position themselves for a second-half run toward home playoff soccer.

Brandon Allen was the best player on the field Saturday. His positioning led to the first goal as he made a precise run to the far post, which was one of many attacking runs to keep Penn FC on the back foot. Smith has choices to make, with Allen, Moloto, Mensah, Jome and Alan Winn all available for spots in the starting lineup.

Nashville is 3-0-0 in First Tennessee Park and 3-0-1 at home overall with seven goals scored to only one allowed.

QUICK NOTES

– Nashville SC now sits 6^th in the USL Eastern Conference with 19 pts. The team also have a game in hand on three of the five teams ahead it in the standings.

– Brandon Allen is now tied for the team lead in goals with 3 despite appearing in just four games with three starts. He has scored in every start.

– Keeper Matt Pickens and the Nashville defense has allowed the fewest goals this season in the USL (7), but just three in the five game unbeaten run it is on.

– Nashville SC has scored multiple goals in every USL match this season at First Tennessee Park. Moloto’s goal is his third of the season tying him with Allen and Ropapa Mensah for the team lead.

For the second night in a row, the Nashville Honky Tonks got home runs from Ramon Laureano and Jake Smolinski and rallied late, only to fall 6-5 against the Round Rock Dance Halls on Saturday night at Dell Diamond. The Honky Tonks have lost three of the first four in the series and the Battle for the Boot and are back to .500 on the season at 27-27.

The Honky Tonks never led in the game but fought back from a 5-0 deficit. Former Nashville pitcher Yovani Gallardo gave up just one run over seven innings against his old team. Smolinski grounded out in the sixth to score Nick Martini to get Nashville on the board. Then Adrian Sampson replaced Gallardo in the seventh and retired his first two batters before the Honky Tonks began their surge. The next six hitters in a row reached base in the four-run frame. Laureano smashed a two-run homer, and Smolinski made it back-to-back homers with a solo shot to the upper deck. Smolinski now has eight home runs in 17 career games at Dell Diamond. BJ Boyd later made it a one-run game at 6-5 with an RBI single off Brandon Mann, but former Nashville reliever R.J. Alvarez stopped the rally with a strikeout of Sheldon Neuse and then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to end it.

Chris Bassitt (2-3) took the loss for the Honky Tonks. He gave up two runs in the first and third innings and one more in the fourth, surrendering five runs – four earned – on five hits over four frames in the defeat. Liam Hendriks, pitching on major league rehab assignment for Oakland, gave up Round Rock’s other run on a homer by Tommy Joseph in the seventh.

Nick Martini went 3-for-5 for Nashville, moving his consecutive games on base streak to 41 and his hitting streak to 10, which matches a career-high. Gallardo (2-1) got the win for the Dance Halls, and Alvarez notched his 11th save.

The finale of the five-game series is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Round Rock. The Sounds starter is TBD, and right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx (2-3, 3.72). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Then the Sounds are off on Monday before beginning a seven-game homestand at First Tennessee Park on Tuesday.

The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Signups for the Manchester Youth Football League resume on Saturday at the Manchester Recreation Center. The signups will be held from 9 AM to 1 PM for the football players AND cheerleaders. The MYFL is looking for boys and girls ages 5 to 12 for the league for the upcoming fall season.  The MYFL will also hold registration days on Saturday, June 9th and  Saturday, June 16th.  The league will begin practices in July.  Folks needing more information, or wishing to register online, can visit the league’s website at: MYFLRaiders.com

MYFL league president Lawrence Phillips and cheer coordinator Kristy Cassel were guests on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show talking about the upcoming season. They were also excited to announce that the MYFL home games will be moved to Carden-Jarrell Field this year beginning in August. “It is a chance for the little Raiders to play on the same field that the big Raiders play on” said Phillips. You can listen to their whole interview by downloading the Coffee Coaches Show podcast at: https://www.podcastgarden.com/login/audio-28/28184/CCS052618Podcast.mp3

Jake Smolinski clubbed a pair of home runs and the Nashville Honky Tonks hit four as a team on their way to an 8-6 win over the Round Rock Dance Halls Thursday night at Dell Diamond. The win in Round Rock evened the 2018 Battle for the Boot at one game each.

Smolinski wasted little time getting his big night started when he launched a solo homer in the top of the first inning to give Nashville a 1-0 lead. The center fielder finished the night a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored.

The early lead didn’t last long as Christian Lopes hit a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the first to even the game at 1-1. Nashville never trailed, but every time the Honky Tonks scored, the Dance Halls answered.

Jorge Mateo and Nick Martini drove in runs in the third, and Sheldon Neuse and Steve Lombardozzi knocked in runs in the fourth to extend Nashville’s lead to 5-1. Lombardozzi’s solo blast in the fourth was his first home run of the season.

Round Rock answered with a four-run bottom of the fourth inning to even the game at 5-5, but the Honky Tonks regained the lead with the help of an error in the top of the sixth.

With the game tied at 6-6 in the top of the seventh, Smolinski drilled his second home run of the game, an upper-deck blast to left field to give the Honky Tonks a 7-6 lead. Anthony Garcia gave Nashville an insurance run when he followed Smolinski with a solo blast of his own to extend the lead to 8-6.

The bullpen trio of Liam Hendriks, J.B. Wendelken and Bobby Wahl shut down Round Rock over the final four innings to lock in the win. Wahl earned his sixth save in as many opportunities.

Game three of the five-game series is scheduled for Friday night in Round Rock. Right-hander Ben Bracewell starts for the Honky Tonks in his first Triple-A start of 2018 against left-hander Yohander Mendez (0-5, 5.18) for the Dance Halls. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• With tonight’s 8-6 win, Nashville improved to 27-25 on the season.
• Nashville matched a season-high four home runs in tonight’s win (Smolinski (2), Garcia, Lombardozzi).
• CF Jake Smolinski hit a pair of home runs in tonight’s game to become the fifth Nashville player to record a multi-homer game this year.
• Smolinski and DH Anthony Garcia hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning to become the first pair of Nashville teammates to hit back-to-back home runs this year.
• RHP Liam Hendriks appeared on rehab assignment tonight and pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
• Nick Martini extended his consecutive on-base streak to 39 games when he singled to lead off the game. Martini’s streak is the longest by a Nashville player in the Pacific Coast League era. It’s the longest active streak in the Pacific Coast League. Since April 14, Martini has reached safely in every game he has played in.
• Hendriks, J.B. Wendelken and Bobby Wahl combined to strike out six over four scoreless innings.

The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41^st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.