Sarah Pearson competes in the 300M hurdle race at the 2018 TSSAA state track meet

The Coffee County Central High School Lady Raider track team and the Red Raider pole vaulters opened up competition in the TSSAA Sub-Section 2(North) Meet on Monday at Blackman.  The 2 day event began on Monday with the girls competing in field and running events attempting to qualify for the Sectional Meet to be held on May 12^th.  Also competing were the pole vaulters as they looked to get one step closer to a state berth.

Raven Weber did exactly that on Monday as the junior finished in a 4^th place tie in the pole vault.  Weber is in his first year of vaulting.

For the Lady Raiders, Macy Tabor qualified in the high jump as she finished in 3^rd place with a jump of 4’ 10”.  Sarah Pearson also got a sectional berth with her 3^rd place finish in the shot put.  Pearson qualified with a throw of 30’ 6.5”. Pearson also qualified in the 300M hurdles with a time of 51.48 which was good enough for 4^th place.

Coffee County barely missed out on qualifying in the 4x800M relay as the team of Ryan Green, Sarah Pearson, Emily St. John and Jaden Campbell finished in 5^th place.  You can see full results from Tuesday at: http://tn.milesplit.com/meets/305047/results/591035/raw#.WvFd3_mUvIV

The Red Raider harriers head to Blackman on Tuesday for the final day of the meet.  First race begins at 5 PM.

The Coffee County Middle School golf team opened up the match play conference tournament on Monday taking on North Franklin.  Hosting the Gator golfers at Willowbrook, the Raiders captured a 1^st round win by a final score of 7 ½ to 1 ½.

The team of Logan Hale and Kira Jarrell blanked their Gator foes 3 flags to 0.  The team of Zack Tidwell, Cole Fowler and Avery Hill also got a 3 to 0 sweep.  The team of Caleb Jarrell, Kaleb Jones and Xavier Bartley split their match earning 1 ½ flags.

The win advances Coffee Middle to the 2^nd round where they will take on the winner of Tuesday’s match between Liberty and Fayetteville.  That match is tentatively scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Shelbyville’s Riverbend Country Club.

2018 District 8AAA Softball Tournament Bracket(updated 05-07-18)

District tournament action continues tonight here on Thunder Radio as the Coffee County Central High School Lady Raiders take on Lawrence County.   Thunder Radio will be broadcasting bringing you live coverage of the winner’s bracket finals matchup between Lawrence County and Coffee County tonight from Lincoln County.  First pitch is set for 7 PM, Lucky Knott will bring you live coverage from Fayetteville beginning with the pregame show at 6:45.

Filip Forsberg

Game 7 is necessary.

Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson both tallied twice and Pekka Rinne made 34 saves as the Nashville Predators shut out the Winnipeg Jets, 4-0, in Game 6 on Monday night. The result sees the Preds even the series for the third time and force a deciding Game 7 on Thursday night in Nashville.

The Predators knew if they were going to have success against the Jets on Game 6, they would need a nearly perfect road game to have a chance to prevail. Their effort on Monday may have been even better than that.

“You always try to say the right things going into a game like this like we’re confident, but our guys truly were,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “Just from the way we were built and previous years, last year, certainly this year, in this group, in particular, there’s been a lot of guys in there for a few years. There’s been a lot of work that’s gone into this to make you feel like you’re ready for a game like tonight, where it’s elimination and you have to win in order to be successful. I think our guys handled it really well.”

It only took Arvidsson 1:02 into the contest to redirect a shot – while falling down in the slot – off his stick and through the pads of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. The play was originally ruled no goal due to a high stick, but after Wes McCauley determined the puck hit Arvidsson’s twig below the crossbar, the Preds got their 1-0 lead.

In the second period, the Predators got another. With an assist to Predators Equipment Manager Pete Rogers, who handed a fresh stick to Forsberg moments before he received an atmospheric pass from Craig Smith, Forsberg drove to the net and squeaked one into the twine to give Nashville a 2-0 advantage after 40 minutes of play.

Forsberg wasn’t done, however, and in the final frame, he decided to go between his legs for his second of the evening and evaporate any hopes Winnipeg may have had of a comeback.

Arvidsson iced it into the empty net with his second of the evening as time wound down and Rinne preserved his second shutout of the 2018 playoffs to give the Predators a decisive victory ahead of what is sure to be a raucous atmosphere at Bridgestone Arena.

“It’s gonna be wild in Nashville,” Rinne said. “As a player, our job is to just focus on getting ourselves ready to play hockey, but it’s going to be a fun show, too.”

Before the Predators departed for Game 6 on Sunday, Forsberg said one of the reasons he was so confident in his club was the amount of players in the Preds locker room who could step up and make a difference. On Monday, it was Forsberg, himself.

“To be honest with you, it’s the most fun you can have,” Forsberg said. “You can never have more fun than playing these elimination games in Stanley Cup Playoffs and just try to enjoy it as much as possible.”

“I don’t think there’s any question that Fil is a big game player,” Laviolette said. “Tonight, the two goals that he scored kind of exemplified that… And not just Fil was good, you need difference-makers like that in a game when you’re facing with elimination, but I thought our guys in general were good, just the way we approached the game today.”

Guarantee Fulfilled:

It’s been said actions speak louder than words. On Monday night in Winnipeg, the Preds were louder than a jet engine.

P.K. Subban said after a loss in Game 5 in Music City the Predators would come back to Manitoba, win Game 6 and then head back to Nashville for one final contest. And then he said it again. And again.

He and his teammates backed that up with authority on Monday night en route to a 4-0 win to do exactly what Subban said he and his mates would accomplish – force the first Game 7 in Bridgestone Arena’s history.

“I said what everybody else in the dressing room was thinking, and we knew right after that game that we were built for this,” Subban said of his guarantee. “We were built to come on the road and win big games and that’s a championship effort tonight. From our team, I can’t say enough good things about this group. It’s the best group of guys that I’ve ever played with, and they’re good people, and that’s the difference in that when you’re in these situations.”

“That’s great that somebody says it and that’s how we feel,” Rinne said of Subban’s statement. “That’s how we felt before the game and… we’ve played too long and too well to be in this situation [and not succeed].”

The Predators have talked about it all season long – the attributes they possess in their locker room and what each and every guy brings to collectively make up that group. So when their backs were against the wall, they decided they weren’t ready to be done yet.

“In these situations, good people understand what’s at stake and go do whatever it takes,” Subban said. “You look down our lineup today from our goaltender out, everybody sacrificed their bodies and did exactly what they had to do to get a win.”

Notes:

Mike Fisher exited the game after the first period and did not return. Laviolette did not have an update on Fisher’s status following the contest.

With two assists in Game 6, Ryan Johansen tallied his 12th and 13th points of the playoffs to tie his career high in points during a single season, set in 2017.

Game 7 between the Predators and Jets is set for Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena at 7 p.m. CT. It will be Nashville’s third Game 7 in franchise history and their first at home.

The Nashville Sounds’ attempt at sweeping the Memphis Redbirds came up short in a 4-1 loss in front of 8,297 fans at First Tennessee Park Monday afternoon.

After winning the first three games of the four-game set, Nashville’s offense went quiet in the finale. The Sounds’ one run came on just three hits – all singles.

Starters Eric Jokisch and Daniel Poncedeleon were sharp early as neither team scored in the first two innings. Nashville manufactured the game’s first run in the third after Poncedeleon issued back-to-back walks to start the inning. BJ Boyd gave the Sounds a 1-0 lead when he plated Josh Phegley with a fielder’s choice.

The lead didn’t last for long as Memphis came back with three runs in the fourth. Tyler O’Neill singled to start the frame and came around to score when Luke Voit followed with a long two-run home run to left field.

Former Sound Rangel Ravelo kept the inning going with a double, and he later scored on a sacrifice fly by Adolis Garcia to give the Redbirds a 3-1 lead.

Jokisch was tagged with the loss after he allowed four runs in 6 2/3 innings. In Jokisch’s six starts, the Sounds have scored a total of 10 runs.

Poncedeleon was sharp throughout his six innings and earned his second win of the season. He allowed one run on two hits while racking up eight strikeouts.

The Sounds welcome the Colorado Springs Sky Sox for a four-game series set to begin Tuesday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander James Naile (3-2, 2.41) starts for Nashville against right-hander Alec Asher (1-0, 1.04) for Colorado Springs. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• With today’s 4-1 loss, the Sounds dropped to an even .500 on the season at 15-15.
• With nine more innings of errorless baseball this afternoon, the Sounds have now played 51 consecutive innings without an error. The team has committed just one error over the last eight games.
• Left fielder Nick Martini extended his consecutive on-base streak to 19 games when he walked in the third inning. Since April 14, Martini has reached safely in every game he has played in.
• Catcher Beau Taylor extended his consecutive on-base streak to 16 games when he singled in the fourth inning. Taylor has reached safely in every game he has played in since April 13.

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.