Grace Butler of Temple Christian volleyball

The Temple Baptist Christian School Lady Eagle volleyball team soared through pool play on Thursday at their home tournament.  Hosting the 6^th Annual Lady Eagles Invitational Classic, Temple captured the top seed in their pool heading into Friday’s double elimination tournament bracket.  Both the Temple varsity and junior varsity teams were a perfect 3 and 0 on the day.  Temple captured wins over Shenandoah( Cleveland), Victory Baptist(Shelbyville) and Madison Baptist(Alabama) .

In the opening match of the tournament, the Lady Eagles won by set scores of 25 to 9 and 25 to 13 over Shenandoah.  Brooke Clark served for 7 of the Eagle points while Grace and Rachel Butler each served for 6 points in the win.  Rachel Butler led the team in kills with 13 and Clark had 3 blocks.

Against Victory, the Lady Eagles won by set scores of 25 to 12 and 23 to 17.  Rachel Butler again led Temple in service wins as she served for 15 points in the match.  Butler also added 16 kills.  Lauren Davis and Lexie Stewart tied for the team lead in assists with 16 apiece.

Temple closed out the day with a spilt set win over Madison Baptist.  The Eagles won the first set 25 to 14.  Time expired in the second set with the Lady Eagles trailing 20 to 18.  By pool play rules, Temple gained the win by point differential.

The JV Lady Eagles defeated Shenandoah’s JV 25 to 11 and 25 to 9.  They came back with a straight set win over Madison Baptist 25 to 10 and 24 to 14.  The JV team completed the pool play sweep with a victory over South Haven by identical scores of 25 to 9 for each set.

The Lady Eagles will open varsity tournament play at 8 AM on Friday morning at the E.C. Bailey Gym at Temple Baptist Christian School.  The JV team begins their tournament play at 1:50 PM.

2017 Temple Baptist Christian School Volleyball Tournament bracket.  Temple is the number 1 seed in both divisions.  (click to enlarge and print)

Reid Lawrence of CHS golf

Taking part in their final regular season match of the year, the Red Raider golf team of Central High School traveled to Franklin County on Thursday.  Taking on Franklin County, Marshall County, Tullahoma and Shelbyville; the Red Raiders “brought their B game” according to head coach Mike Ray as they finished in 2^nd place.  Coffee County finished with a round of 323 which was 5 strokes behind Tullahoma.

Coffee County was led by Austin Farris and Samuel Prater who each fired a 77.  Reid Lawrence shot an 82, while Matthew Hale and Josh Perry carded matching 87’s.  This gives the Raiders a regular season record of 37 and 3 on the year.  The Red Raiders will return to Bear Trace on Monday for the District 8AAA tournament.  Tee time is set for 9 AM.

Westwood Homecoming Queen and King Kasen Holt(left) and Joseph Bagby(right)

An Eagleville touchdown with no time remaining on the clock in the first half, seemed to give the Eagles the momentum they needed to spoil Westwood’s homecoming on Thursday night.  Eagleville got 2 touchdowns in each half to win the Duck River Valley Conference game 26 to 0.

After the Rockets dominated the ball and the time of possession in the scoreless first quarter, an exchange of punts left Westwood at their own 1 yard line.  Unable to move in the close quarters, they were forced to punt which Eagleville returned for a touchdown with 5:133 remaining in the half to take a 6 to 0 lead.  The Eagles converted on a 12 yard touchdown pass as time expired in the half to lead 12 to 0 at intermission.  The Eagles used a 65 yard interception return to set up their 3^rd touchdown with 2:35 left in the quarter.  The Eagleville starters took over on downs and added their final score with 2:05 left in the game.

At the half, Kasen Holt and Joseph Bagby were named the Westwood Homecoming King and Queen for 2017.  Westwood is back in action on Thursday when they travel to Woodbury to take on Cannon County.  Opening kick will be at 6:30 PM at Cannon County High School.

Lauren Brandt of CCMS volleyball

Playing their 6^th and 7^th matches in the last 8 days, the Coffee County Middle School volleyball traveled to McMinnville on Thursday to tangle with the Lady Pioneers in a conference doubleheader.  Needing a sweep of the Lady Pioneers to capture first place in the district, the Lady Raiders fought hard in a 2 to 1 in the opening match before being swept in the second match.

In the opening match, the Lady Raiders saw Warren County capture a 25 to 14 decision in the opening set.  Coffee County leveled the match in the 2^nd set 25 to 19 before Warren County won the tiebreaker match 15 to 4.  Aly Harris led the Lady Raiders in kills with 5, Kiya Ferrell had a block, a kill and an ace and Lauren Brandt finished with 6 assists.

In the second match, Coffee County fell by set scores of 16 to 25 and 24 to 26.  Ferrell led the team in kills with 6 while Harris added 3.  Brandt led Coffee County in aces with 5  and Maddie Sussen led the team is assists with 4.

Next up for Coffee County will be the CTC conference tournament in Sparta.  The tournament begins on September 28^th and will be held at White County.  Times and opponent will be announce at a later date.

Kelby Walker of CCMS football

Scoring 3 touchdowns in the first 4 minutes of the game, the North Gators celebrated homecoming with a 45 to 6 win over Coffee County Middle School on Thursday night in Winchester.  Turnovers and big plays doomed the Raider upset and allowed North to run out to a 30 to 0 halftime lead.

After Coffee County fumbled on the opening play from scrimmage, North scored on the ensuing play to take an 8 to 0 lead.  After forcing a Coffee County punt, North used 2 plays to score to make it 16 to 0.  The Gators then recovered an onside kick and scored again one play later to make it 24 to 0 with 3:54 left in the first quarter.  The Raiders scored in the 4^th quarter when Kelby Walker scored on a swing pass with 4:40 left in the game to avoid the shutout.

Coffee County is back in action on Tuesday when they welcome Warren County to Carden-Jarrell Field.  Opening kick is set for 6:30.

Katie Cotten of CCMS Soccer

A great start gave way to an avalanche of goals as the Warren County Middle School soccer team crushed a shorthanded Coffee County Middle School team 9 to 1.  Missing midfielder Marley Perry, who suffered an injury in the game with Tullahoma, Warren County was able to control the middle of the field and the time of possession in the lopsided win.

Katie Cotton got the lone goal for Coffee Middle in the 10^th minute as she was unassisted.  That goal gave the Lady Raiders a 1 to 0 lead.  Warren County responded by adding 4 goals in the first half.  The Lady Raiders are back in action on Friday as they travel to take on Algood.  That match will kick off at 6 PM.  Coffee Middle returns home on Monday at 5 PM as White County visits the CCMS pitch.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  Our live coverage will begin at 5:20.

After the Nationals dropped the first two games of the series, manager Dusty Baker decided to give many of his regular position players a day off in order to recharge. So Baker turned to a lineup filled with his team’s young talent, which provided a spark in the Nationals’ 5-2 victory on Thursday night against the Braves at Nationals Park.

Nationals outfielder Victor Robles, the club’s top prospect and No. 4 overall per MLBPipeline.com, went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and a pair of runs, while infielder Adrian Sanchez added a two-run double in the sixth.
Their offense helped back another quality start from right-hander Tanner Roark, who was held up by a 30-minute rain delay at the start of the game before limiting the Braves to two runs over six innings. It marked Roark’s seventh quality start in his last eight outings, as he continues to round into form heading into the postseason.
Braves right-hander Mike Foltynewicz had his outing cut short, leaving the game after four innings with a cut on the tip of his right middle finger. He gave up three runs on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk before exiting.
It has only been a week since Robles’ callup, but the Nationals’ top prospect is already giving them a glimpse of the threat he can be on the basepaths. On his RBI triple in the fourth inning, Robles raced from home to third base in 11.12 seconds — the fastest time for any Nationals player since Statcast™ began tracking the data. The three-bagger gave the 20-year-old his second career RBI and extended the Nats’ lead to 2-0.
Albies extends hitting streak: Ozzie Albies got the Braves right back in the game in the sixth inning, launching a Statcast-projected 390-foot home run to left-center field to cut the deficit to 3-2. The knock was not only his second in three days, but it extended the 20-year-old rookie’s hit streak to 12 games. Albies has four home runs since he made his Major League debut on Aug. 1.
The Braves head back to SunTrust Park for their final homestand of the season, which will begin with a three-game weekend set against the Mets. Friday’s series opener (6:35 p.m. CT first pitch) will see lefty Sean Newcomb (2-8, 4.38 ERA) oppose the Mets’ Rafael Montero (5-9, 5.05 ERA).