The 14th annual Crethan Hansert Memorial Baseball Tournament, established to honor the late Red Raider and raise funds for Central High School baseball team, opens play on Thursday at Central High School’s Powers Field. The tournament honors former Red Raider Crethan Hansert who passed away in 2003 as the result of an automobile accident. Proceeds from previous tournaments have gone to build and maintain the Crethan Hansert Hitting Facility at CHS and support the Coffee County Red Raider baseball team.
Eight teams make up the field for the tournament that runs from Thursday afternoon through Sunday. Each team will play 3 pool games on Thursday night through Saturday. The top 2 teams in each of the 4 team pools will return on Sunday for the semifinals and finals. All the games will be played at Powers Field. The schedule is as follows:
Thursday June 15
3:30 – Coffee Co vs. Central Magnet
5:45 – Central Magnet vs. Walker Valley
8:00 – Franklin Co vs. Warren Co

Friday, June 16
3:30 – Grundy Co vs. Coffee Co
5:45 – Marshall Co vs. Throwbacks
8:00 – Marshall Co vs. Franklin Co

Saturday, June 17
9:00 – Central Magnet vs. Grundy Co
11:15 – Coffee Co vs. Walker Valley
1:30 – Walker Valley vs. Grundy Co
3:45 – Throwbacks vs. Warren Co
6:00 – Franklin Co vs. Throwbacks
8:15 Warren Co vs. Marshall Co

Sunday, June 18
1:30 – POOL A1 vs. POOL B2
4:00 – POOL A2 vs. POOL B1
6:30 – CHAMPIONSHIP

The Coffee County Red Raider basketball team went 3 and 0 on their second day of a 4 day team camp at MTSU.  The Raiders got wins over McGavock, Tallulah Falls, GA and Pope John Paul II to run their record to 5 and 1 on the week.  The JV team was 1 and 2 on Tuesday while the freshman team was 2 and 1.

In all 3 wins, Coach Micah Williams was pleased with the offensive improvement.  “Offensively we played really well and continued to eliminate the scoring droughts from last week, “ said WIlliams.  He went on to add “We got offensive production from everyone when we were patient on the offensive end.”  Defensively, the Red Raiders continue to play well as he was pleased with a great effort from the whole team.

The Red Raiders return to MTSU on Wednesday as all 3 Raider teams will be in action for 3 games.  The freshman will hit the court at 9 AM.  The JV’s first game is at 10 AM and the varsity gets underway at 11 AM.

The Lady Raider basketball team completed a team camp at Lebanon on Tuesday.  Coffee County got a win and a loss on the day as they defeated Gallatin before falling to Portland.  The Lady Raiders ended the 2 day camp with a record of 3 and 1.

Against Gallatin, the Lady Raiders captured a 20 point win as their defense once again provided the spark the Lady Raiders needed.   Coach Joe Pat Cope was able to build a big lead as the Raider offense looked sharp allowing him to liberally substitute in the second half.  Against Portland, the Lady Raiders jumped out to an early lead before Portland roared back to take a lead.  Coffee County rallied to capture a 3 point lead in the closing minutes, but a pair of turnovers and some missed free throws down the stretch spelled defeat for Coffee County.

The Lady Raiders will return home for a couple of days of practice before taking a long weekend break.  Coffee County will return for the final 3 days of workouts next week before hosting some type of scrimmage workout at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym on Friday, June 23^rd.

After a three-game hiatus, Ryan Zimmerman didn’t miss a beat in his return from a back injury. Zimmerman hit two home runs, including the go-ahead long ball in the sixth inning to lead the Nationals to a 10-5 win over the Braves at Nationals Park on Tuesday night, snapping their four-game losing streak.

Zimmerman’s two-run homer in the sixth — which gave him 19 dingers on the season and tied him for the most in franchise history — sparked the Nationals’ five-run inning in which they overcame a two-run deficit to take an 8-5 lead. Bryce Harper scored Ryan Raburn with a single before Zimmerman’s home run, and Matt Wieters capped the frame by notching a two-run double. That forced R.A. Dickey — who allowed back-to-back homers in the first and then didn’t surrender another run until the sixth — out of the game.
The Braves entered the bottom of the sixth with a 5-3 lead after Rio Ruiz smacked a homer off Joe Ross, who gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings. Washington allowed a combined 14 runs after the seventh inning the past three games due to the bullpen’s struggles, but three relievers shut down the final 3 1/3 frames.
Following his three-day absence from the lineup, the Nationals couldn’t have asked much more of Zimmerman upon his return. The veteran first baseman delivered a two-run shot to left field in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Nats a 6-5 edge they wouldn’t relinquish.
But the 446-foot blast, according to Statcast™, had even more significance than giving Washington the lead; it marked the 234th of Zimmerman’s career, tying Vladimir Guerrero for the most in Nationals/Expos franchise history. He’s currently just three homers away from tying Senators great Frank Howard for most ever for any D.C. club.
After failing to do so for much of the Nats’ recent four-game skid, their bullpen found a way to close out a victory without much drama. After Ross exited the game, four relievers pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, highlighted by two shutout frames from lefty Enny Romero.
Atlanta will tap right hander Julio Teheran (5-4, 5.08 ERA) in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale at Nationals Park at 3:05 p.m. CT. The right-hander will look to post a solid outing against a Washington lineup that has given him trouble since the start of the 2016 season.

The Iowa Cubs sent 12 to the plate in a six-run seventh inning en route to an 8-4 win over the Nashville Sounds in front of 8,771 fans at First Tennessee Park Tuesday night.

The Sounds (32-30) built an early 4-0 lead behind another strong start by Chris Smith only to see it erased when the bullpen faltered.

Renato Nuñez provided some early fireworks when he launched his Pacific Coast League-leading 18th home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning.

A run-scoring double by Joey Wendle and bases loaded walk issued to Matt Chapman extended Nashville’s lead to 3-0 in the third. Ryan LaMarre pitched in a sacrifice fly in the fourth to make it a 4-0 game.

Smith was dialed in early as he cruised through the first four innings. The reigning PCL Pitcher of the Week ran his scoreless inning streak to 16 2/3 before it came to a halt with two down in the fifth. Elliot Soto doubled and Jacob Hannemann singled to put the Cubs’ first run on the board.

Smith recorded two quick outs in the sixth before Iowa catcher Victor Caratini launched a solo homer in the sixth to trim the deficit to 4-2. The right-hander was in line for the win after allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Right-hander Tyler Sturdevant relieved Smith in the sixth and got out of the inning, but found trouble in the seventh. All five batters he faced in the frame reached safely. Iowa’s Chesny Young made it a 4-3 game with a run-scoring base hit, and Mark Zagunis cleared the bases with a triple to put the Cubs ahead for good at 6-4.

Felix Doubront relieved Sturdevant and struck out a pair, but also issued four walks to allow the Cubs to extend their lead to 8-4. The Sounds issued a season-high eight walks in the loss.

Nashville’s offense went quiet the rest of the way against Iowa’s bullpen. The lone bright spot was Matt Chapman’s single in the eighth to extend his career-best hitting streak to 11 games.

David Berg picked up the win for Iowa and Sturdevant was tagged with the loss for Nashville.

Game two of the four-game series is set for Wednesday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Corey Walter (1-1, 3.38) starts for Nashville against right-hander Seth Frankoff (1-2, 2.77) for Iowa. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.