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CHS Softball Hosts Region Championship Tonight

Coming up tonight, it will be high school softball as the Coffee County Lady Raiders will play host to the Region 4AAA finals.  Coffee County will play host to Lincoln County as they attempt to capture the region title.  First pitch is set for 7 PM at Terry Floyd Field.

Thunder Radio, as always, will be on hand to bring you the broadcast.  Lucky Knott will bring you all the action here on Thunder Radio.  First pitch is set for 7 PM, the pregame show will kick off our live coverage beginning at 6:45.

Coffee County Claybusters Claim 2 Titles on Saturday

The Coffee County Claybusters were in action this past weekend as they participated in a team shoot at Big Springs in Christiana.  The Claybusters captured a pair of team wins and the 4th place finish in the Saturday tournament.  The Senior Division varsity team and the Intermediate Advanced team each came out on top.

The senior division Claybusters Team #1 varsity team shot 475, out of a possible 500, to outdistance 2nd place Lawrence County by 16 clays.  The Claybusters Team #4 won the Intermediate Advanced division with a score of 447 outdistancing Marshall County by 49 clays.  The Claybusters Team #2 captured a 4th place finish in the senior division, junior varsity.  Team #2 had a score of 366.

Coffee County was led in scoring by Tucker Carlton(with 97 clays), Zach Bonee(96), Hayden Jacobs(96), Austin Schaller(95), Landon Meadows(94) and Colter Smith(94).

CHS to Host Athletic Department Open House

The public is invited to the Coffee County Central High School Athletic Department Open House on Wednesday night at CHS.  The Open House will run from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM and will be hosted in the CHS cafeteria.  The event is open to any prospective student-athlete who has a desire to learn more about the sports offerings at the high school.

Students and parents will be able to meet the coaches, tour athletic facilities and get tryout information for their respective sport or sports.  A guidance counselor will also be on hand to answer any questions you might have about academics and give you the necessary information for registering for the NCAA Clearinghouse if you have an interest in competing at the college level in the future.

Questions arise because of Downtown Manchester Mural

Photo by Rob Clutter

Something new is going up in Downtown Manchester, but it is being met by some controversy.
A new mural is being painted on the side of Wheeler’s Construction and Restoration, Inc. The mural, painted by a Murfreesboro artist, is an American flag in the shape of a magnolia with the word “Manchester” on it.
The Historic Commission found it to be disrespectful and wants it covered up, while Scott van Velsor believes he is in his right to have it completed.
The artist was commissioned to do the work by van Velsor and his wife.
He, representing building owner John Wheeler, went to the Historic Zoning Commission to seek approval for the mural at 121 S. Spring St. and adding a new awning during their Thursday, May 3 meeting. The commission approved the exterior paint and awning, but asked van Velsor to wait on the mural until they could create guidelines for mural projects.
Van Velsor moved forward with the project. Zoning commission acting secretary Pat Berges told the Manchester Times, “It doesn’t represent anything.” “It has nothing to do with Manchester history.”
Berges said the commission called the police to stop the artist on Sunday, but law enforcement is not in charge of zoning codes and couldn’t do anything as the painting is not criminal.
Van Velsor claims the art is within code – his color choices matched those set by the commission and he did get their approval to paint the building. The meeting’s minutes also show an approved motion.
Van Velsor was able to hire the artist after a donation from First National Bank of Manchester. It was done at no cost to the city.
The Wheeler building formerly had an American flag painted in the exact spot as the new mural. The flag was grandfathered in to the exterior building guidelines set by the zoning commission. The flag had the words “Welcome to Historic Downtown Manchester, Tennessee” written below it. (Read more information in this week’s Manchester Times)

Gossett Shines as Sounds Hold Off Redbirds in Series Finale

The Nashville Sounds jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held on to defeat the Memphis Redbirds 7-4 Tuesday afternoon. The win secured the series victory for the Sounds over the first-place Redbirds.

Gossett lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.63 with another stellar performance Tuesday afternoon. He recorded his second quality start of the season with six shutout innings of two-hit baseball while fanning seven batters. The only real danger he found himself in came in the fourth inning when Luke Voit doubled to lead off the frame and reached third base on a wild pitch. Gossett stranded Voit at third by drawing a fly out and striking out a pair of batters.

Nashville drew first blood in the third inning. Dustin Garneau singled and advanced to second on an error. Jorge Mateo then legged out a triple as he served a hit just fair down the right field line to plate Garneau. Steve Lombardozzi scored Mateo from third with a ground out to the shortstop to provide Gossett with a two-run cushion.

The Sounds doubled their lead in the fourth inning as Josh Phegley and Garneau each went deep off Memphis’ Austin Gomber. Phegley won an eight-pitch at-bat while Garneau crushed a 1-0 pitch over the 20-foot fence in left center-field.

The first two batters to come to the plate for the Sounds in the sixth reached base in the sixth inning and came around to score on a two-out bloop single from BJ Boyd to extend Nashville’s lead to 6-0.

Memphis finally broke through in the seventh inning off Sounds reliever J.B. Wendelken. After walking the leadoff batter, Wendelken induced a fly out before yielding four straight singles and was promptly pulled from the game. Jeremy Bleich allowed two of his three inherited runners to score to trim the Redbirds deficit to 6-4.

The Redbirds again threatened in the eighth as they singled twice off Raul Alcantara but Bobby Wahl entered the game with two outs in the frame and struck out Alex Mejia to leave both runners stranded. He then shut the door on the Redbirds in the ninth for the four-out save.

The Sounds are off Wednesday before beginning a four-game series Thursday against the Oklahoma City Dodgers in Oklahoma City. Right-hander Chris Bassitt (1-1, 5.40) starts for the Sounds while Oklahoma City has yet to name its starter. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 a.m.

Post-Game Notes

  • With today’s 7-4 win, the Sounds improved to 20-18 on the season.
  • Nick Martini extended his consecutive on-base streak to 26 games when he singled in the third inning. Since April 14, Martini has reached safely in every game he has played in.
  • Dustin Garneau threw out another would-be base stealer in the fifth inning. He has thrown out 10 runners this season, which is tied for second in the Pacific Coast League.
  • The Sounds doubled their season total of home runs off left-handers with a pair today off Austin Gomber.
  • Sheldon Neuse has struck out at least once in each of his last 17 games.

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.

5/15/18 — Birthdays

Birthdays:
Malichi Cain, 7 — Pizza Winner!

Tiffany Carroll Gray, 46

Doug Yurcik, 46

Anniversaries:
Allan & Pam Fleenor, 36

Tullahoma Police Investigating Fraud Case

The Tullahoma Police Department is asking for your help identifying a female that might have been involved in a fraud case. Anyone with information regarding the woman’s identity is asked to contact Tullahoma Police Investigator Tyler Hatfield by calling 931-455-0530 or email the investigator, thatfield@tullahomatn.gov.
The Tullahoma Police Department thanks the public for any assistance in this case.

647 Allegations of Child Abuse or Neglect Involving Students in 20 Months

An analysis has found Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services investigated 647 allegations of child abuse or neglect involving students at more than 460 schools during a recent 20-month period.
Data obtained by USA Today’s Tennessee Network showed DCS investigated claims at both public and private schools serving 74 of 95 Tennessee counties between January 2016 and August 2017. The agency did not provide investigations’ outcomes.
The data indicates DCS investigated 373 allegations of physical abuse, 130 allegations of sexual abuse or exploitation, 97 allegations of children lacking supervision and 33 allegations of psychological abuse.
State education officials said they didn’t know how frequently child welfare workers were called. Spokeswoman Sara Gast’s response to the shared data noted that “school officials generally err on the side of caution” when making reports.

Gas Prices Jump Up Again

Gas prices rocketed higher last week in most markets, due to reductions in domestic supply and the oil market’s response to the President’s decision to leave the Iran Nuclear Deal.
Sunday’s national average of $2.87 is 53 cents more than this time last year. Prices at the pump jumped 6 cents nationwide last week. Gas prices have not been this expensive since November 2014.
Tennessee gas prices rose 3 cents during the past week. The average price in Tennessee now sits at $2.62 per gallon-the highest daily price in four years.
AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said gas prices are their highest in years, yet that doesn’t seem to be slowing motorists down. The latest round of figures shows that gasoline demand is significantly higher than this time last year.
The low price in Manchester as of Tuesday afternoon was $2.49, even though some stations had risen from $2.45 to $2.69 during the day. Tullahoma’s low pump price was $2.57.

TNReady Test Scores Can’t Lower Student Grades

Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen says school districts can decide whether student assessment scores will be included in student grades as long as the scores don’t lower final grades.
More than 2.5 million TNReady tests were administered this spring, with about 300,000 online. But there were several flaws.
The state also won’t give districts or schools A-F grades for TNReady data, and the data can’t be used to designate a school in the bottom 5 percent academically.
Lawmakers passed legislation barring adverse action being taken against any student, teacher, school or district based on 2017-18 online TNReady results.
Among the problems were an apparent cyberattack, connectivity issues and a fiber optics line severed by a dump truck.