CHS Soccer player Ben Reid on the set of the Coffee Coaches Show

The postseason honors continue to pile up for rising senior soccer player Benjamin Reid.  In an announcement you heard on Thunder Radio on Saturday, Reid was named to the first team Tennessee Sports Writers All-State team for Class AAA.  Reid, a defender, received the news while on the air for Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show live from Al White Ford/Lincoln.  Coach Robert Harper called in to make the announcement.

Reid, who had previously been named the All-District defender of the year, was the lone District 8AAA player named to the squad.  He joins Oakland keeper Jakob Hurst as the only members of Region 4 to be named to the squad.  Earlier in the year, Reid was named to the All-District team, the Tennessean All-Midstate team and he was recognized with the YMCA Sportsmanship Award for Middle Tennessee.

Always humble, Reid was quick to deflect praise when learning of the honor on the Coaches Show.  This was his reaction when asked about the honor and the unheralded position he plays as a center back on defense:

Coach Harper was quick to recognize the contributions of Reid as he made the announcement live on Thunder Radio:

You can hear the full interview as part of Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show.  You can listen or download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/audio/CCS070117Podcast.mp3

An early pitchers’ duel turned into a bullpen battle in extra innings, but Kurt Suzuki’s second homer of the day propelled the Braves to 12-inning, 4-3 win over the A’s Sunday afternoon, completing a series sweep at the Coliseum.

Against his old team, Suzuki went to nearly the same spot with both his homers, including the game-winning shot in the 12th off A’s reliever John Axford. It’s just the third career multi-homer game for the catcher.
“I told him yesterday, ‘I’ve got to break you out or these people around here are going to kill me,'” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It was great. It couldn’t happen to a better guy. It’s nice to see when good things happen to the good guys.”
Each team scored once in the 11th. The Braves tallied their run when Matt Kemp’s deep drive to the center-field wall hit off a leaping Jaycob Brugman, falling to the warning track for a go-ahead double to score Nick Markakis.
The A’s got one back in the bottom half when Bruce Maxwell hit a one-out single to right off Braves closer Jim Johnson, scoring Khris Davis. But with the bases loaded and one out, Braves All-Star Ender Inciarte made a sliding catch in center to keep A’s All-Star Yonder Alonso at third, and Johnson struck out Rajai Davis looking to end the inning.
“Obviously we had one big inning where we had a chance to win it, and we didn’t,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “We didn’t do much before that, but maximized our opportunity in one inning and couldn’t come through, and it ended up costing us.”
The Braves scored twice in the second inning, with Suzuki’s first homer leading off the inning before Inciarte added a two-out RBI double, scoring Danny Santana. It was the only damage A’s starter Sean Manaea allowed. He pitched a season-long 7 1/3 innings and gave up six hits and two walks, striking out six.
After six scoreless frames off Braves starter Julio Teheran, the A’s answered with two runs in the seventh, started off by Davis’ leadoff homer to center. After a single and two walks led to Teheran being pulled from the game, Adam Rosales hit a sacrifice fly, tying the game. Teheran finished the day with 6 1/3 innings pitched, allowing two runs on three hits and four walks, with eight strikeouts.
“Julio was really good. Really good. He was on the attack and spotting the ball up,” Snitker said. “He just lost his command there a bit in the seventh when he walked the two guys, but we put him in a tough situation there. He battled really well, it’s just a shame he couldn’t come away with something for it.”
After the Braves had already scored twice in the second inning, a Brandon Phillips two-out single to right looked like it could get Inciarte home from second base. But A’s right fielder Matt Olson fielded the ball cleanly and fired a strike home, giving catcher Maxwell just enough time to tag Inciarte out and end the inning.
After the A’s tied the game in the 11th and loaded the bases with one out, Johnson got Rosales to hit a popup to shallow center. The ball looked like it was going to fall between the outfielders and infielders, but Inciarte raced in from center and made a sliding catch 205 feet from home plate, according to Statcast™. Inciarte quickly popped up and threw home, keeping Alonso at third base.
“The last couple pitches, I moved forward a little more and a little more. If I was playing where I normally play, I don’t catch that ball,” Inciarte said.
The Braves return home for a quick two-game Interleague series against the Astros beginning at 6:35 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Young left-hander Sean Newcomb (1-2, 1.48 ERA) will take the mound coming off his first Major League win in San Diego on Wednesday, when he threw six scoreless innings and struck out eight.

For the second straight night, the Nashville Sounds walked off on the Oklahoma City Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth inning to score a win at First Tennessee Park. Jaff Decker raced home from third on a throwing error by Oklahoma City’s Max Muncy to give the Sounds a 5-4 win in front of 9,407 fans Sunday night.

With the game square at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Decker’s two-out base hit sparked the game-winning rally. The speedy center fielder swiped second base and moved to third on Ross Stripling’s wild pitch.

Marcus Semien drew a walk to put runners at first and third for Joey Wendle. The Sounds’ second baseman hit a ground ball that was gloved by Muncy at third base, but his throw pulled Scott Van Slyke off the first base bag as Decker crossed home plate with the winning run.

It’s the sixth walk-off win of the season for the Sounds (40-42), and second in as many nights against the Dodgers.

Nashville led for most of the game as early runs allowed starter Chris Smith to cruise early. Wendle’s first of three doubles came in the first inning and scored Decker to even the game at 1-1. An RBI groundout from Mark Canha gave the Sounds a 2-1 lead after an inning.

After Yairo Muñoz scored on a wild pitch in the second to make it 3-1, Smith kept Oklahoma City off the board until the sixth. Scott Van Slyke’s solo homer in the top of the sixth made it a 3-2 game.

Smith worked six innings and held the Dodgers to two runs on seven hits. It was the first time a Sounds starter went at least six innings since Corey Walter tossed seven on June 20th.

Jermaine Curtis provided the Sounds with an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when he singled home Beau Taylor with a two-out knock.

The hit proved large as Oklahoma City evened the game in the seventh against reliever Josh Smith. Brett Eibner homered and Drew Maggi plated Tim Locastro with a squeeze bunt to make it 4-4.

It remained that way until the ninth when Decker’s two-out single started the rally. Decker, Wendle, and Curtis had multi-hit games for the Sounds while Simon Castro picked up his third win of the season with a scoreless top of the ninth.

The series finale between the Sounds and Dodgers is set for Monday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Frankie Montas (0-1, 7.71) starts for Nashville against right-hander Fabio Castillo (4-3, 3.47) for Oklahoma City. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The Braves capitalized on Oakland miscues to beat the A’s, 4-3, Saturday afternoon and take the series at the Coliseum.

Dansby Swanson went 2-for-4 with two RBI doubles, including one to left in the ninth inning after Danny Santana reached on an error from A’s shortstop Franklin Barreto. Swanson also doubled home Santana in the seventh after Santana reached when Barreto collided with left fielder Matt Joyce.
Earlier, Santana kicked off the scoring with an RBI double in the second, scoring catcher Tyler Flowers after he reached on a Barreto throwing error. The Braves tacked on one more run in the eighth on a Matt Adams sacrifice fly.
The A’s tied the game in the eighth when slugger Khris Davis turned around a 97-mph fastball from Braves reliever Arodys Vizcaino and blasted it to center for his 22nd homer of the season. The two-run shot went 458 feet, his longest of 2017 according to Statcast™.
The A’s lone damage off of Braves starter R.A. Dickey came in the fourth, when third baseman Ryon Healy singled home Davis. Dickey finished the day with six hits and three walks allowed in six innings, striking out four.
In his Major League debut, local kid Paul Blackburn was excellent for the A’s, giving up one unearned run on three hits and a walk across six innings. The right-hander from Antioch struck out four and left the game to a standing ovation in front of family and friends.
The A’s were on the doorstep of taking the lead in the fourth and the fifth, but Dickey was able to escape each inning with the game tied. Oakland tied it in the fourth with four straight one-out baserunners, drawing a walk and getting three singles. With the bases loaded, Dickey got a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Then, in the fifth, the A’s had runners on first and third with two outs, but Dickey froze Davis with a knuckleball and struck him out looking.
When Santana popped a ball to shallow left with one out in the seventh, Barreto and Joyce both raced to the ball. Barreto caught the ball, but the two collided, jarring the ball loose from the shortstop’s glove. Santana reached safely and scored the go-ahead run on Swanson’s double.