Skylar Bratcher of CHS baseball

The Coffee County CHS baseball team returned to district play on Tuesday night in Tullahoma.  The Red Raiders tangled with their old rival the Wildcats at Grider Stadium. A 3 run 5^th inning by Tullahoma was tipping point as Coffee County fell 4 to 1.

Tullahoma got on the board in the bottom of the first inning before the Raiders tied the game in the 4^th inning on a double steal.  In the 5^th inning, Tullahoma strung together 4 hits and used a Coffee County error to plate 3 runs.  Skylar Bratcher led Coffee County with 2 doubles and a single.

The Raiders return home on Wednesday for Game #2 of the season series with the Cats.  First pitch is set for 6 PM at Powers Field.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action beginning with the pregame show at 5:45.

Javier Rodriquez of CCMS soccer

The Coffee County Middle School soccer team welcomed North Franklin to CCMS on Tuesday.   Having not played since March 15^th, the Red Raiders were able to shake off a brutal loss in their last game.  The Raiders used five 1^st half goals to roll to a 7 to 2 conference win.

Two goals in the first 10 minutes allowed the Raiders to get control of the match early.  Coffee Middle added 3 more 1^st half goals to lead 5 nil at intermission.  The teams traded a pair of goals each in the 2^nd half.  Javier Rodriquez scored 4 goals, Reuben Alvarez and Jamie Norris each added a single goal and Coffee County also got the benefit of an own goal by North Franklin.  Coffee County also won the JV game 4 to 0 as Norris added 3 goals and Alex Prater added the other goal.  The win evens the Raiders conference record at 2 and 2.

Coffee County is back in action on Friday when they open play in the Red Raider Invitational at the Raider Academy.  The Raiders open play at 5 PM as they will take on Prescott Middle.  That game will take place on the football field at Carden-Jarrell Field.

Connor Fox of CCMS tennis

The Coffee County Middle School tennis team hosted Harris Middle on Tuesday night at the Raider Academy.  Playing their first matches since March 16^th, the Raider netters showed no signs of rust from the layoff.  Coffee Middle swept Harris with the girls winning 8 to 1 and the boys won 4 to 1.

The Lady Raiders won 8 of the 9 singles matches with no doubles matches contested.  Coffee Middle got wins from Jayda Wright(6 to 3), Marley Perry(6 to 1), Anna Amado(6 to 4), Lucy Riddle(6 to 1), Kylie Millaway(6 to 0), Paige Meadows(6 to 2), Clare Rondolet(6 to 1) and Ryle Tucker(6 to 1).

The Red Raiders won 3 singles matches and a doubles match.  Jayden Brown(6 to 0), Connor Fox(6 to 0) and Leon Mayo(6 to 0) all got singles wins.  Brown and Fox combined for a 6 to 2 win in doubles play.

The Raiders return to the court on Friday when they travel to Sewanee to take on St. Andrews.  First serve is set for 4 PM.

Lauren Perry of WMS tennis

The Westwood tennis teams hosted their first home matches of the year on Tuesday at Fred Deadman Park.  Welcoming St. Andrews to their home courts, the Westwood netters were looking for their first match wins of the year.  The Lady Rockets won 6 to 0 while the Rockets lost 3 to 4.

The Lady Rockets were dominant as they dropped only 2 games.  Lauren Perry, Rylea McNamara and Anna Johnson each got 4 to 0 wins in singles play.  Addison Welch won her match 4 to 1.  In doubles play, the team of Perry and McNamara won 4 to 1 while the team of Johnson and Welch won 4 to 0.

In boys’ play, the Rockets won three singles matches but a pair of singles losses and a pair of doubles losses cost the Rockets the team win.  Jonathan Nelson(4 to 0), Caleb Simmons(4 to 1) and Alex Simmons(5 to 4) captured  wins in singles play.

Westwood returns to the court on Thursday when they travel to take on Lewisburg.  First serve will be at 4 PM.

Jessica Barrera of CHS tennis

The Coffee County CHS tennis teams traveled to Shelbyville on Tuesday for a district match with the Eagles and Eaglettes.  The Red Raiders suffered their first loss of the year 5 to 2.  The Lady Raiders fell by a final score of 5 to 2.

The Red Raiders suffered their first district loss of the year as they were swept in doubles play.  The Red Raiders got 2 singles wins for their lone points of the match.  Grey Riddle(8 to 3) and Jonah Rollman(7 to 5) captured wins in singles play.

The Lady Raiders got a singles win and a doubles win for their 2 victories.  Emily Shelton won in singles by a score of 8 to 6.  In doubles play, the team on Jessica Barrera and Odalis Garcia won their match 8 to 6.

The CHS netters return home on Thursday for a district match against Lawrence County.  First serve is set for 4 PM at the Raider Academy.

The Coffee County Middle School and Westwood Middle School golf teams traveled to Shelbyville on Tuesday for a pair of matches.  The Coffee Middle squad dropped a 7 to 5 decision to Liberty.  The Westwood team fell to Harris 10 to 2.

Coffee County got 3 flags from the team of Austin Dockrey and Kira Jarrell as they got a forfeit win.  The teams of Avery Hill/Caleb Jarrell and Logan Hale/Kaleb Jones each grabbed a single flag.

The Rockets of Westwood earned 1 ½ flags in an uncontested match with the team of Katie Lawrence/Brylee Chansky captured half a flag.

The middle school golfers return home on Monday when they welcome Harris and Liberty to Willowbrook.  Coffee County will square off against Harris while Westwood will do battle with Liberty.  The golfers will go off with a shotgun start at 4 PM.

The Nashville Predators tied the game with less than a second left to complete one of the most impressive and crucial comebacks in franchise history. Until they didn’t.

It was a controversial ending on Tuesday night in Florida as Nashville fell to the Panthers by a 2-1 final at BB&T Center. The loss keeps the Preds at 113 points on the season, preventing them from clinching the Central Division or Western Conference for the time being.

The Panthers had a 2-0 lead with less than four minutes to play in the third period, but Preds Captain Roman Josi beat Roberto Luongo with 3:52 to play in regulation to get his club on the board, and with 0.6 seconds left on the clock, Filip Forsberg jammed a loose puck over the goal line to tie the game.

However, with less than a minute to play an automatic review was initiated, and the Situation Room in Toronto determined there to be goaltender interference, negating the goal and leaving the Predators befuddled.

From the Situation Room: “The deliberate actions of [Viktor] Arvidsson’s stick caused Luongo to spin and cause the covered puck to come loose prior to the goal.”

“It was a tough call,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We obviously feel it was [Panthers defenseman Keith] Yandle who caused the goalie to be disrupted. He got on the backside of Arvidsson and moved him, so we 100 percent disagree with the call.”

“It’s a goal. It’s got to be a goal,” Forsberg said. “I don’t know what’s going on, and it’s so inconsistent that we don’t even know when it’s a goal or not, but it’s one that’s clearly a goal. The puck is never covered, the goalie had no clue where it is and it ends up on my tape and it’s in and they somehow don’t think so. I disagree 100 percent.”

Luongo made 45 saves in total on the night, while Preds netminder Pekka Rinne turned aside 31 shots of his own in what Nashville believed was a solid effort on their part. But ultimately, this one will be remembered for a goal that was, and then wasn’t.

“I think it was a goaltending duel,” Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “Peks played amazing, their goalie played amazing too, and at the end of the day we didn’t score enough. All in all, I thought our game was pretty good, but not good enough.”

Notes:

Forward Viktor Arvidsson returned to the Nashville lineup after missing one game with a lower-body injury. Miikka Salomaki was scratched in Arvidsson’s place.

Nashville’s final road trip of the 2017-18 season concludes on Thursday night in Washington where the Preds will meet the Capitals (TV coverage on NBCSN at 6 p.m. CT) before heading back to Bridgestone Arena to host the Columbus Blue Jackets in the season finale on Saturday night.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report