Emilee Roberson of CHS Soccer

A great start and a strong finish described Saturday for the CHS Lady Raider soccer team.   Hosting their own scrimmage play day, Coffee County opened the day with a win before a pair of disheartening draws.  They closed the day with a near flawless performance in a 0 to 0 tie with defending state tournament quarterfinalist Lincoln County.

Coffee County opened the day with a 3 to 1 win over Cascade.  The Lady Raiders got goals from Emilee Roberson, Jessica Barrera and Regan Ellison in the win.  Squaring off against Mt. Juliet, the Lady Raiders led 2 to 1 before a defensive breakdown allowed the Lady Bears to score the tying goal in the closing minutes of the game.  Coffee County got goals from Roberson and Allie Amado in the contest.

In the afternoon session, Coffee County opened with Shelbyville and got on the board in the 3^rd minute as Roberson got her 3^rd tally of the day.  The Lady Raiders dominated the possession and kept Shelbyville on the defensive until the closing minutes.  The Lady Eagles capitalized on a defensive breakdown to get off a shot on Coffee County keeper Ashley Woods in the 29^th minute.  Woods dove to her right for the save, but the deflection was corralled by Shelbyville and pushed past Woods as she scrambled to her feet.   With less than 90 seconds remaining, Coffee County could not mount a sustained attack settling for the draw.

Coach David Amado was animated and blunt with his young team calling the performances unacceptable.  “We were tied by two teams we dominated” said Amado following the game.  He challenged his squad to step up their game against the 2 time defending district champion, and state tournament qualifying Lady Falcons of Fayetteville.  The Lady Raiders were outmatched early as Lincoln County got off 7 shots on frame in the first 9 minutes.  Only a spectacular effort by senior keeper Ashley Woods kept the match scoreless as she turned away all 7 shots.  Coffee County was only able to fire off one shot, with it coming in the 10^th minute on a free kick by Allie Amado.

Following the match, Coach Amado was ecstatic about his team’s performance against Lincoln County.   After the shaky start of his defense in the first 10 minutes, he praised the team for making the necessary adjustments to help out Woods between the pipes.  When asked about the positives on the day, Amado had this to say:

He also singled out the play of his goal keeper Ashley Woods.  When asked about her play, Amado had this to say:

The JV Lady Raiders finished the day with a record of 2-0-1 on the day.  The JV team “played really well” said JV & keeper coach Lafredo Ramirez.

The Lady Raiders will host a pair of scrimmage games this week at the Raider Soccer Field.  Coffee County will take on Nolensville on Tuesday at 7 PM.  On Thursday, Ooltewah visits the Raider pitch for a 6 PM contest.  The Lady Raiders open the season on Tuesday, August 14^th when they travel to Smyrna.  The varsity game will kick off at 7 PM.

A pair of homers during a four-run first inning provided early comfort for Marlins right-hander Jose Urena, who proved to be nearly flawless through six innings in a 4-1 win over the Braves on Sunday afternoon at SunTrust Park.

Coming off a pair of losses to open the weekend set, the Marlins quickly marred right-hander Lucas Sims’ second career start with home runs from Marcell Ozuna and J.T. Realmuto before the game’s second out was recorded. The four-run first was more than enough for Urena, who was perfect through three innings and allowed just one run on three hits over six innings.
“That is the best thing that can happen to a starting pitcher, when you know your team takes care of you like that,” said Urena, who improved to 10-5 with a 3.70 ERA. “You’ve got the lead, four runs. You just have to go out there and do your thing.”
The homers by Ozuna and Realmuto gave Urena all the support he needed. Miami has now gone back-to-back four times this year, with the most recent on June 10 at Pittsburgh.
“Sometimes, we’ve been up and down,” Ozuna said of the offense. “Some days, one of my teammates can do it. One of those days, I can do it. That’s the biggest thing for winning.”
Sims made a nice recovery by giving up only four more hits after the first and keeping the Marlins scoreless over the remainder of his six innings. But the early deficit proved to be too significant for the Braves, who didn’t score until the sixth. Pinch-hitter Jace Peterson doubled and scored on a single by Ender Inciarte, who earlier in the game extended his current Major League-best hitting streak to 12 games.
“You can’t go out there and not execute pitches like that [in the first inning],” Sims said. “It kind of sets the table. I put us behind the eight ball, and I can’t be doing that.”
Sims encountered immediate trouble when he hit Giancarlo Stanton in the left thigh with a first-pitch fastball, then issued a five-pitch walk to Christian Yelich. This set the stage for Ozuna to jump on a hanging curveball and send it over the left-center-field wall for his 26th homer of the season. The three-run shot traveled a Statcast-projected 386 feet.
Realmuto followed by jumping on a center-cut slider that went 388 feet, with a 102.7-mph exit velocity.
After Urena needed just 33 pitches to complete three perfect innings, Inciarte opened the fourth with an opposite-field double. Freddie Freeman drew a one-out walk, but the threat ended when Nick Markakis produced a sharp grounder (103.8-mph exit velocity) that Mike Aviles fielded to begin an inning-ending double play.
“He’s pretty good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Urena. “He’s got a live arm. He’s a good pitcher. We just couldn’t get anything going against him.”
“It was nice to get the lead early, and then a quick few innings there [from Urena],” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “The first three, he gets rolling and his pitch count is down. Then he gets the big double play with Markakis [in the fourth]. There’s a little momentum. That kind of put him back in order.”
Stanton has hit 34 of his 36 home runs in 2017 as Miami’s right fielder. Braves right fielders have totaled 26 homers since the start of the 2015 season.
Derek Dietrich collected his 16th double of the season in the Marlins’ sixth inning after a call was overturned. Dietrich ripped the ball high off the right-field wall, and Markakis delivered a strong throw to second, with shortstop Johan Camargo applying the tag. Dietrich was ruled out, but Miami challenged. After a review of one minute and 15 seconds, the call was overturned.
Julio Teheran will take the SunTrust Park mound when Atlanta opens a two-game set against the Phillies at 6:35 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Teheran has given up a career-high 27 homers this season, including three during the fifth inning of his July 28 start in Philadelphia.

The Nashville Sounds offense cooled off Sunday afternoon but savvy defense, opportunistic base running, and Mother Nature propelled them to a 5-4 victory over the Reno Aces. The win clinched a series victory for the Sounds who won just one series in both June and July.
Nashville was clinging to a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning when the skies opened up. Greater Nevada Field became so saturated with water that the tarp stuck to the ground and was unable to be pulled all the way over the infield. Following a lengthy delay the umpires deemed the field unplayable and awarded the victory to the Sounds.
Sounds starter Zach Neal rebounded Sunday afternoon in Reno after a tough outing on August 1st. Neal came within one out of a quality start as he yielded three runs on six hits to earn his second victory of the season. He had been tagged with losses in his previous six decisions.
The Aces opened the scoring in the second inning as Jack Reinheimer scored from first on an Evan Marzilli RBI double. The run was sandwiched between a pair of stellar defensive plays from Sounds shortstop Yairo Muñoz that robbed base hits.
Aces starter Eric Jokisch cruised through the Sounds lineup the first time through. He retired the first 11 batters he faced before Renato Nuñez stepped to the plate for a second time. The Sounds slugger clubbed a mammoth home run for his Minor League-leading 30th of the season to knot the game at 1-1.
The Sounds took advantage of Reno mistakes to plate three runs in the fifth. Joey Wendle led things off with a triple into the left field corner. Chris Carter drew a walk and Muñoz then reached on an error by third baseman Kevin Medrano, which allowed Wendle to score. Two batters later, with Kenny Wilson at the dish, Jokisch skipped a pitch in the dirt that got away from catcher John Ryan Murphy. Carter scampered home safely and the throw home from Murphy sailed over the head of a covering Jokisch. Muñoz never stopped running and scored on the play as well.
Nashville tacked on another run in the sixth with a brief two-out rally. Matt McBride doubled and came in to score on a Wendle base hit back up the middle.
Reno’s Christian Walker swatted a pair of lead-off home runs to cut the Sounds advantage down to 5-4. His 27th home run of the season came in the sixth inning as Neal left a pitch up in the zone that Walker was able to turn on. He belted his 28th home run to open up the bottom of the eighth inning off Chris Jensen.
Nuñez chipped in on defense as well. The left fielder gunned down the potential tying run in the eighth inning at third base. Oswaldo Arcia attempted to advance to third as Zach Borenstein flied out to left in the bottom of the eighth but a laser from Nuñez extinguished the threat.
The Aces were ready to send the bottom of its lineup to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning before the game went into a rain delay and was ultimately called.
The Sounds head to Tacoma, Washington for a four-game series against the Tacoma Rainiers Monday night at Cheney Stadium. Right-hander Daniel Gossett (3-3, 3.41) starts for Nashville while the Rainiers have yet to announce a starter. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. CST.