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Walks Undermine Newcomb, Braves in 7-1 Loss to Mets
Sean Newcomb has shown much promise in his first 3 ½ months in the major leagues, but the walks are something the hard-throwing Braves left-hander must get a handle on before he can expect to fully realize his potential.
Newcomb walked the leadoff hitter in the last three of his five innings of work Wednesday night against the Mets, including pitcher Robert Gsellman to start a two-run fifth inning that gave the Mets a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a 7-1 series-finale win at Citi Field.
They blew the game open with a Dominic Smith three-run homer off beleaguered Braves reliever Jim Johnson in a four-run seventh inning, all the runs unearned following a two-out fielding error by Freddie Freeman. Yes, it turned into an ugly night for the Bravos.
Johnson recorded two outs and was charged with four unearned runs, two hits and two walks, the last run on his ledger scored when Ian Krol gave up an RBI double to the first batter he faced, Jose Reyes.
The Mets took three of four in the series and 12 of 19 this season from the Braves, who need to split a season-ending four-game series against the Marlins that starts Thursday in Miami if they are to avoid a third consecutive 90-loss season.
Newcomb (4-9) gave up four hits, three runs and four walks with seven strikeouts in five innings, all the runs scoring in the fourth and fifth innings including the leadoff hitter he walked in each of those frames.
It was the final start of the season for Newcomb, who finishes with a 4.32 ERA and 108 strikeouts with an alarming 57 walks in 101 innings.
Ozzie Albies’ RBI single in the third gave the Braves a 1-0 lead, but the Mets tied it in the fourth after Newcomb walked Juan Lagares to start the inning. Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a single and Travis d’Arnaud drove in a run with a fielder’s choice grounder that shortstop Dansby Swanson botched, his error allowing Cabrera to reach second.
One ground-out and a strikeout later, Newcomb walked Travis Taijeron to load the bases, but Matt Reynolds flied out to strand three and keep the score tied.
The Braves returned the favor an inning later when Freeman struck out on an eight-pitch at-bat with bases loaded to end a scoreless inning and leave him 2-for-10 with bases full this season, with no walks, two strikeouts and four RBIs.
Newcomb worked out of a jam in the fourth inning but couldn’t pull it off in the fifth after walking Gsellman to start things off. Jose Reyes followed with a single and two outs later, d’Arnaud singled up the middle to drive in both runners. The Mets had a 3-1 lead after five innings despite being 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position at that juncture.
Gsellman (8-7) limited the Braves to six hits, one run and one walk in six innings. The Braves won five of Newcomb’s last seven starts before Wednesday and the big lefty was 3-1 with a respectable 3.96 ERA in that span, though he had an .383 opponents’ OBP that included 20 walks in 36 1/3 innings. Add his four walks Wednesday and the total climbed to 24 walks with 47 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings over his past eight starts, with Newcomb lasting 5 1/3 or fewer innings in each of his final seven games.
Interstate 24 Shut Down for Over 3 Hours after Serious Crash
Crash scene photo by Doug Yurcik
According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), a 1996 Ford Explorer driven by Wendell Rogers JR age 39 of Smyrna exited the interstate westbound into the Manchester Scales at mile-marker 116 apparently believing it was a rest area. A Trooper approached the vehicle were it had stopped to check on the driver. At this time the Trooper observed the driver to allegedly be under the influence with the driver refusing to exit the SUV and left the scale complex at a high rate of speed.
Traffic backed up through Manchester on Tuesday. Photo by Mary Knott
A second Trooper was nearby and located the vehicle and pursued the vehicle for a short distance where it crashed at mile-marker 109. The vehicle overturned ejecting the driver and partially ejecting passenger, Jamie Hiles age 35 of Woodbury. Both individuals were flown by air ambulance because of their injuries. Rogers went Vanderbilt Medical Center and Hiles was transported to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga.
The THP report says that the individuals were not wearing seatbelts.
Charges are pending.
Two other non-life threating accidents occurred during the clean-up of the first crash. One near Exit 114 and the other near Exit 110.
Bus Crash Sends 12 to the Hospital in Warren County
A crash involving a school bus sent 12 fourth graders to the Emergency Room on Tuesday. Officials say the students from Hickory Creek Elementary School in Warren County were returning from a field trip to Bridgestone when the accident happened.
Witnesses said the school bus was making a left turn from Bridgestone Drive on to Highway 55 when a car driven by Veronica Scott, which was westbound on 55, crashed into the side rear panel of the bus.
Scott’s vehicle was totaled, but she was not seriously injured and was not transported. School officials said 12 students were transported to River Park Hospital in McMinnville, although none were believed to be seriously injured. The remaining students were loaded on to another bus and were taken back to school.
Rape Charge Filed Against Hillsboro Man
Cory Thomas Keeling… Photo provided by the CCSD.
Cory Thomas Keeling, 25, of Amy Road, Hillsboro was arrested Sept. 22 in connection with an alleged rape that occurred on Ridgelawn Place in Tullahoma.
According to a warrant obtained by Tullahoma Police Investigator Rana Pawlowski, on Sept. 13 a woman reported that her friend took Keeling to the victim’s residence. The warrant alleges that the friend and Keeling arrived at her residence “very intoxicated.” Then the friend left but left Keeling at the residence.
The warrant alleges that after the friend left, Keeling “attempted to kiss the woman and she refused.” The warrant alleges that he then placed his hands around the woman’s throat and attempted to choke her.
The female, according to the warrant told the investigator that Keeling then forced her to perform a sexual act.
The warrant states that the victim had marks consistent with what she told the officer.
According to the investigator, the victim did not know Keeling.
Keeling is scheduled to appear in Coffee County General Sessions Court on Sept. 28.
Man from Coffee County Facing Charges in Bedford County
A Tullahoma man was arrested Sept. 26 for possession of meth by deputies from the Bedford County Sheriff’s Department.
Michael Dale Cyree, 42, of East Lincoln Street was charged with possession of schedule II and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Cyree’s arrest came after he and another man, who was not arrested, made residents in Normandy suspicious. Around 6 a.m. the two were going to houses in Normandy asking to use the phone while he was seen carrying a working cellphone.
A report by Bedford County Sheriff’s Deputy Jared Featherstone states that when he arrived, Cyree told him that he was trying to find a tool to fix a flat tire. The officer ran a criminal record of Cyree and learned that there were warrants for him from Coffee County for possession of schedule II, a felon in possession of a weapon and failure to appear in court.
When he was asked by the deputy if he had any drugs, Cyree told the officer that he had meth. A search of the man revealed 2.85 grams of crystal meth in five bags, $292 cash, a glass pipe and a knife in Cyree’s clothing. Cyree was carrying a duffel bag that contained ammunition, syringes, knives, scales, a car stereo, iPod, Kindle Fire and a Samsung Glaxy Note cellphone.
Cyree was booked in the Bedford County Jail under a $30,000 bond.
Tullahoma Man is Running for State House Seat
Rush Bricken
Bricken said he plans to focus on limited government, good jobs, quality education and better roads.
Bricken is a Certified Public Accountant, bank executive with Coffee County Bank and represents the 21st district on the county commission.
CHS Volleyball Claims Regular Season District Title on Tuesday
Odalis Garcia of CHS volleyball
The Lady Raider volleyball team traveled to Winchester on Tuesday with a chance to wrap up the District 8AAA regular season championship. Building off the momentum of Monday’s non-district sweep of Tullahoma, Coffee County captured a 3 set win over the Rebelettes. Coffee County won by set scores of 25 to 17, 25 to 23 and 25 to 23.
Coffee County was led in kills by the trio of Odalis Garcia, Keelie Hillis and Alliyah Williams who each had 7. Garcia also led the team in aces as she scored 5. Hillis also added 4 aces from the service line. Amanda Mukai led the team in assists with 21 while Tyana Fenton led the Lady Raiders in digs with 15.
Coffee County travels to Eagleville on Wednesday for an in-school game. First serve is set for 1:30 PM. Coffee County will take part in the Middle Tennessee Classic Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Franklin. The District 8AAA tournament begins next week as Coffee County will be the #1 seed. The district tournament will be held at Lincoln County High School.
CHS Soccer Blanks Franklin County on Senior Night
CHS Soccer seniors(left to right) Vanessa Pedrosa, Maddie Creek, Ashley Woods, Maggie Lashlee and Anadelia Barrera.
Coming off a tough loss to Lincoln County on Monday, the CHS soccer team welcomed Franklin County to the Raider Soccer Field for Senior Night on Tuesday. In a match you heard here on Thunder Radio, the Lady Raiders dominated in time of possession and shots as they grabbed the 2 to 0 win.
Coffee County got both goals in the first half as they outshot Franklin County 18 to 2 in the opening frame. The Lady Raiders got on the board in the 18th minute when Jessica Barrera netted a goal off a feed from Morgan Henley to make the score 1 to nothing. Coffee County added the second goal In the 28th minute after Allie Amado drilled a free kick to the front of the net. Reyna Flores flicked the ball around the keeper and onto the foot of Maddy Jones who scored the clincher.
The Coffee County defense, led in large part by seniors Maddie Creek and Maggie Lashlee, kept the clamps on Franklin County the whole match. Franklin County was only able to get off 5 shots as senior keeper Ashley Woods recorded saves on the only 2 shots on frame. Seniors Vanessa Pedrosa and Anadelia Barrera helped the Lady Raider offense pound 31 shots at a beleaguered Franklin County keeper.
Coffee County hits the road on Thursday when they travel to Fayetteville to take on Lincoln County. That district match kicks off at 7 PM.
CHS and CCMS Runners Excel in Home Cross Country Meet
Bradley Kishpaugh of CHS Cross Country
Getting wins in 3 of the 4 races contested on Tuesday, the Coffee County Middle School and Central High School cross country teams showed out in the final home meet of the year. Competing in the Jiffy Burger’s Red Raider Run hosted by Old Stone Fort Golf Course, the Raider harriers captured 8 Top 5 finishes in the 4 race event.
The Coffee County Middle School boys team won the middle school boys team championship as they outdistanced 2nd place Warren County. Coffee County’s Jacob Rutledge won the race with a time of 11:38. Ethan Welch was 2nd at 12:19. Ethan Beaty came in 4th at 12:37; Bradley Escue had a time of 14:22 to finish 8th and Brayton Anderson grabbed 10th place at 14:23. Clayton Bryant broke the tape at 16:50 for 16th spot.
Greenlee Woods won the middle school girls race and she won by almost 3 minutes over the 2nd place finisher. Woods recorded an blistering time of 14:12. Haley Koren Sherrill was the only other Lady Raider runner from CCMS and she finished in 4th place at 17:42.
For the high school girls, Emily St. John had the winning time as she completed the 5K course in 23:49 which was 45 seconds faster that the #2 finisher. Byanka Woods came in 4th at 26:25, Zoe Mills was 8th at 29:39, Kara Mueller came in 11th at 30:45, Jasie Willis was 14th at 32:27 and Shelby Watkins finished 16th at 37:54. The Lady Raiders were edged by St. Andrews-Sewanee for the team title.
The Red Raiders got a 2nd place finish from Bradley Kishpaugh as he ran a time of 19:08. Renato Ayala was 8th at 20:44; Neil Slone was 10th at 21:07; Reuben Chaput came in 11th at 21:10; Larson Meltzer was 14th at 22:36; Johnny Dulin came in 16th at 22:59; Jacob Melton was 17th at 23:18; Christian Alverez had a time of 23:36 which placed him 18th and Eric French logged a time of 21:55 to finish 24th. The Red Raiders finished 2nd in the team standings behind Franklin County.
Three runners from the middle school squad will compete on Saturday, October 7th in the TMSAA state meet in Clarksville [Related story] . The high school runners will next be in action on Saturday, October 14th at the Mid State Cross Country Association Championships to be held at Dickson’s Buckner Park.
CCMS Football Closes Out Season With Win
Kelby Walker of CCMS football [Photo by Demarco Moore – Manchester Times]
Coffee County got off to a fast start as Kelby Walker scored on the first play from scrimmage. Lined up as the quarterback in the Wildcat formation, Walker ripped off a 69 yard touchdown run to give Coffee County all the momentum they would need. The Raiders also got touchdowns from Ethan Baker and Conner Shemwell. White County scored on a pair of kickoff returns and a 1 yard touchdown run as time expired.