As the fall sports season gets ready to crank up, Thunder Radio sports continues our series of previews for the fall prep sports teams. Each day, we will spotlight a different team as we count down to the opening of practices and games of the upcoming season. Today, we look at the Westwood football team.
The Rockets donned the pads this week as they opened their preseason workouts. Coach Chad Dyer has a squad of 25 “dedicated young men who are giving up a part of their summer for the game of football.” Dyer went on to say that his team has shown a positive work ethic. “They are excited to represent their school” added Dyer.
Dyer is looking for the return of 3 talented starters from 2016 in quarterback Will Partin, wing back Trenton Thompson and left guard Xavier Garcia. Coach Dyer is also impressed with the play of some of his 7th graders who are battling for starting positions. Dyer was quick to point out the play of Darryn Strickland, Conner Heaton and Cameron Ballard. Additionally, Dyer is looking for contributions from transfer Derek Scott and 8th grader Gavin Prater who is recovering from a toe injury.
Experience at the skill positions is expected to be the strong suit for the Rockets as Westwood has 3 players who have posted 40 yard times below 5 seconds. Dyer begins his 14th season of coaching as he will employ a Wing-T attack on offense and a 5-3 base defense. “This group can be as good as they want to be” said Dyer.
The Rockets will conclude their preseason workouts with their annual Blue/White game on Thursday, August 3rd at Dyer-Bouldin Field. The intersquad scrimmage wil get underway at 7 PM and is a fundraiser for the Rockets football team. Rockets will take part in the Cascade Jamboree on August 4th before opening the season on August 10th at Chapel Hill when they take on Forrest. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you that broadcast as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series.

The Coffee County Claybusters trap teams are making their final preparations for the AIM Grand Championships for later this month. The AIM Grand Championship is the national trap shooting championship and is held on July 27th through August 1st. AIM is the youth program of the Amateur Trapshooting Association and holds their national championship in Sparta, Illinois.
The Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) is the official governing body of the sport of Trapshooting and was founded in 1889. The purpose of AIM is to provide a safe and positive experience with firearms and registered trapshooting for youth, elementary school through college age. AIM encourages good sportsmanship and personal responsibility through competition while establishing the foundation to make trapshooting a lifelong avocation.
The Coffee County Claybuster middle school and high school teams will be guests on Saturday’s edition of the Coffee Coaches Show to talk about the upcoming national championship. They will also talk about their performances at the SCTP and AIM state championships in June. The Coffee Coaches Show is heard each Saturday at 10 AM here on Thunder Radio as it is broadcast live from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.

Despite spending seven weeks without Freddie Freeman and bidding adieu to their most expensive free-agent acquisition — Bartolo Colon — after he essentially spent just two months in the rotation, the Braves should feel good about entering the All-Star break with the National League’s seventh-best record.

There is certainly a sense of optimistic anticipation as the Braves enter the second half with reason to believe they could still make things interesting in the NL Wild Card race. They went 24-20 while Freeman was sidelined with a fractured left wrist and entered the break having won 13 of their past 21 games.
Here is a quick look back at how the Braves have proven to be one of this year’s most surprising teams, while also enhancing hope as they conclude what is just the third season of their rebuilding process.

What went right
Freeman was arguably the NL’s top MVP candidate before he was injured, and the impressive power numbers he produced were nearly matched by Matt Adams, who was acquired from the Cardinals as an emergency replacement in May. To keep Adams in the lineup, Freeman then made the selfless decision to move to third base when he returned from the disabled list on July 4, three weeks earlier than expected. … Ender Inciarte earned his first All-Star selection after once again providing Gold Glove-caliber defense and serving as a dependable catalyst at the top of a lineup that benefited from the production Matt Kemp provided before beginning to slump in June. … Mike Foltynewicz legitimized his bid to establish himself as a legit frontline starter and Tyler Flowers served as an invaluable asset as he extended his reign as the game’s top pitch-framer and also became a legit offensive threat.
What went wrong
Colon became a $12.5 million bust as he produced an 8.14 ERA over the 13 starts completed before he was released. … Julio Teheran produced a 2.53 ERA in nine road starts and a 7.58 ERA in nine starts at SunTrust Park, the sparkling new stadium, which didn’t serve as a cozy new home to many of Atlanta’s pitchers through the first two months. … Thoughts of having a much-improved bullpen evaporated as closer Jim Johnson blew seven of 26 save opportunities. … Dansby Swanson showed some offensive promise after June arrived, but he made some costly errors as he progressed through what is essentially just his fourth full season since he graduated from high school.
What we learned
Though Colon faltered, the offseason additions of R.A. Dickey and Jaime Garcia gave the Braves the necessary veteran stability needed in the rotation. Their presence allowed Sean Newcomb to gain two more months of development before coming to the Majors in June and making an immediate positive impact.
It might be a year early to optimistically hope for a postseason berth, but the Braves had the best interest of their fans and players in mind when they quickly acquired Adams after Freeman’s injury and reacted to Sean Rodriguez’ February shoulder surgery by acquiring second baseman Brandon Phillips, who has proven he can still provide consistency near the top of the lineup.
First half top player (non-pitcher)
Freeman might have been the game’s top player for this season’s first six weeks, and he has picked up right where he left off since returning to action. But the Braves are where they are because of what they did while their MVP candidate was sidelined. Thus, the nod goes to Inciarte, who aided the pitching staff with his glove and compiled a .385 on-base percentage and a 111 Weighted Runs Created Plus mark while Freeman was on the DL.
First half top pitcher
Though Dickey entered the break on a roll, Foltynewicz served as the rotation’s most consistent and dominant piece throughout the first half. The talented right-hander carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a June 30 start in Oakland and allowed two earned runs or fewer in 12 of his 16 starts. The strides he’s made both physically and mentally have given the Braves a base as they attempt to project how their rotation might look next year and beyond .
First half top rookie
Swanson narrowly maintained his rookie status last year and Newcomb showed signs of his potential throughout much of June. But the rookie who made the greatest impact was Johan Camargo, who has drawn comparisons to a young Martin Prado. Camargo provided the indication he may soon become an everyday player, solidifying the third-base position after Adonis Garcia was injured in June. He will enter the second half with a chance to continue being a regular at one of the infield positions over the remainder of the season.

Joey Wendle became the Nashville Sounds franchise leaders in doubles in a 10-1 win over the Omaha Storm Chasers Thursday night at Werner Park.

Wendle’s record-breaking 95th double in a Sounds uniform came in the sixth inning. In typical Wendle fashion, he turned a line-drive to right-center into a two-bagger when he hustled into second ahead of the throw. Wendle broke the record held by Skeeter Barners who notched 94 doubles in 514 games with Nashville. Wendle, who has played parts of three seasons with the Sounds, broke the record in game number 335.

In the first game back from the All-Star break, the Sounds (43-48) out-hit the Storm Chasers, 15-3, and got another solid performance from starter Ben Bracewell.

The offense started early when Mark Canha doubled and Jaff Decker singled to start the second. Canha raced home on a groundout by Yairo Munoz that gave the Sounds a 1-0 lead. Canha went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and two runs knocked in.

Five consecutive batters reached against Yender Caramo in the top of the third. Wendle walked, Franklin Barreto singled to left, Matt Olson singled, Canha drove in a pair of runs with his second double, and Decker followed with a single to knock in a pair of runs and give Nashville a 5-0 lead.

Bracewell’s lone misstep came in the home half of the third when a leadoff walk to Terrance Gore resulted in a run. Gore swiped second and scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Billy Burns.

It was the second consecutive quality start for Bracewell. He limited the Storm Chasers to one run on two hits in six innings in his first Triple-A win.

Nashville’s offense kept churning as the night went on. After Barreto singled to start the fifth, Olson launched a two-run homer to right-center to make it 7-1. It was Olson’s 18th with the Sounds and 22nd between Nashville and Oakland.

Kenny Wilson cleared the bases with a three-run triple in the top of the ninth to cap the scoring. The top six hitters in the lineup had multi-hit games led by Canha’s three-hit night.

The bullpen trio of Felix Doubront, Lou Trivino, and Kyle Finnegan finished the job for Bracewell. Each reliever tossed a scoreless inning in the win.

Game two of the four-game series is scheduled for Friday night at Werner Park. Right-hander Jesse Hahn (0-0, 9.82) starts for Nashville against right-hander Luke Farrell (7-4, 4.11) for Omaha. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.