The Coffee County Central High School Red Raider and Lady Raider basketball teams are set to begin team camp play on Thursday.  The Red Raiders will open a team camp in Murfreesboro on Thursday.  The Lady Raiders will open up their summer camp season on Monday when they travel to a team camp at Crossville.

The Red Raiders will be taking part in a team camp at Oakland beginning this morning.  The Red Raiders will play 3 games on Thursday beginning at 10 AM.  Coffee County will also have games at 12 and 4.  On Friday, the Red Raiders open up play at 9 AM with additional games at 11 and 12.  Coffee County will travel to MTSU for a team camp on June 12^th thru the 15^th.

The Lady Raiders will participate in 3 team camps this summer beginning on Monday.  The Lady Raiders will travel to Crossville to take part in the Cumberland County play day on Monday and Tuesday.  The Lady Raiders open play on Monday at 2 PM against Grundy County before taking on Cleveland at 5.  The Coffee County JV team will play the Van Buren County JV team at 4 PM and Cleveland’s JV at 7 PM.  On Tuesday, the varsity team has games at 2 and 4 PM.  The JV team will be in action at 3 and 5 PM.  The Lady Raiders will also take part in team camps at Lebanon High School on June 12^th and 13^th and MTSU on June 19^th thru the 21^st.

A three-goal outburst to start the third period gave the Pittsburgh Penguins what they needed to defeat the Nashville Predators, 4-1, in Game Two and take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

The two clubs entered the third period locked in a 1-1 tie, but Pittsburgh exploded for three goals in less than four minutes to start the final frame, leading the team to its second win in as many tries to begin the series.

As they did in Game One, Nashville had long stretches that saw them outplay the opposition, but an opportunistic Penguins team made the most of their chances once more, leading to Wednesday’s result.

“It seems every little breakdown we have, they come back and get something, so we just have to shore up our all around defense,” Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “The effort was there, the result wasn’t. We need to be tighter within our system.”

“They got one early in the third and got a little bit of life,” Preds Captain Mike Fisher said. “Similar to last game, they got just one stretch with three or four minutes that just killed us. We can’t have those stretches if we want to beat this team.”

The Predators threw 18 shots on the Pittsburgh net in the opening frame, including a few during a 5-on-3 man advantage, but the most impressive of the 18 came from Pontus Aberg to make it 1-0.

After taking a pass from Viktor Arvidsson in the Penguins zone, Aberg drove around Olli Maatta and to the net before roofing a shot past the outstretched Matt Murray for his second goal of the playoffs. Before the period was out, however, Jake Guentzel tallied his 11th of the postseason when he poked the puck past Pekka Rinne to even the score.

Nashville continued to control play for a majority of the second period, and with a pair of stellar penalty kills as well, held Pittsburgh off the score sheet while outshooting them 32-19 through 40 minutes.

A second goal from Guentzel only 10 seconds into the third period started a Penguins rally that saw them pot three early in the frame for a 4-1 lead, spelling the end of Rinne’s night in favor of Juuse Saros. The game settled back down after the outburst, but the score held to put the Preds in the loss column again, even though their play for most of the contest would suggest they deserved better.

“We’ve done some good things,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “For five and half periods we really liked things that we did, but there’s just a stretch where they gain some momentum and they are able to capitalize and be opportunistic. That swung two games in their favor. We just need more consistency, but certainly we’re happy to get home.”

“We have to be better defensively and find ways to beat Murray, so we’ll look at that, we’ll find ways and we’re going to get better, no question,” Fisher said. “We’ll clean that up and our focus now is Game Three and going home with a crowd that’s going to be electric. We’re going to feed off that energy, and we’re going to be ready.”

From here, the Predators will head home to host their first two Stanley Cup Final games in franchise history in search of their first victory and a chance to get back into the series, something they intend on doing.

“We’re looking at ourselves, and right away, the focus shifts to we don’t lose in our building,” Preds d-man P.K. Subban said. “We’re going back home, we’re going to win the next game and we’ll see what happens from there.”

Notes:

Nashville will now prepare to host its first two Stanley Cup Final games in franchise history as the series shifts to Tennessee. Game Three comes Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena while Game Four is set for Monday evening, both 7 p.m. CT starts in Music City.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

Eric Young Jr. launched a go-ahead homer off Arodys Vizcaino in the eighth inning to lift the Angels to a 2-1 win on Wednesday night, clinching a series victory over the Braves at Angel Stadium.

With the game tied at 1, Young blasted a 2-1 fastball to right-center field for his first home run of the season. Young, who was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday after Mike Trout was placed on the disabled list, had not homered in the Majors since May 12, 2014, when he was with the Mets. Young is batting .455 (5-for-11) with a homer, a double and two stolen bases since his call-up.
“At the plate, he’s a tough little out,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “He showed he can put a charge into a fastball tonight. Any time a player perseveres like EY does and they get an opportunity, it’s great to see them achieve. He gave us a big lift tonight.”
Matt Kemp’s one-out single off closer Bud Norris put the tying run on first for the Braves in the ninth, but Norris induced a groundout from Tyler Flowers and struck out Rio Ruiz swinging to earn his 10th of save the year.
Angels slugger Albert Pujols, who entered Wednesday with 599 career home runs, is still searching for No. 600, as he finished 1-for-4 with a bloop single to center field in the fourth. With his 2,874th career hit, Pujols moved past Babe Ruth to take sole possession of 44th place on the all-time list.
Both clubs were kept quiet for much of the night, as Braves left-hander Jaime Garcia and Angels right-hander Jesse Chavez engaged in a classic pitchers’ duel through seven innings. Garcia allowed one unearned run on five hits while walking three and striking out two, while Chavez yielded one run on five hits while walking one and striking out four. Both pitchers came away with no-decisions.
It was a bounceback outing for Chavez, who allowed five runs and lasted only 3 2/3 innings in his last start against the Marlins on Friday. The 33-year-old veteran said he studied video of his rocky start in Miami and made a series of minor adjustments, including altering his foot placement on the rubber, that he believed helped him get back on track on Wednesday.
“For me to miss spots that bad the last few starts up until today was really head-scratching, because that’s normally not me,” Chavez said. “I’m normally able to make that adjustment in between pitches and things like that. But we hammered out this last bullpen about placement and direction. Today was a good step.”
Garcia’s performance saw his run of scoreless innings finally come to an end after 18 2/3 frames, but Atlanta manager Brian Snitker thought the outing “was really good” despite the final outcome.
“[That’s] what I’d expect out of him,” he said. “Just been more consistent and throwing the ball really well.”
Kemp led off the second with his 10th homer of the season, putting the Braves ahead, 1-0. Kemp went ahead in the count, 2-0, before hammering a 92 mph fastball from Chavez to right field. The blast had an exit velocity of 105 mph and traveled a projected 396 feet, according to Statcast™. It was Kemp’s second homer in as many games. More >
After being shut out by Garcia over the first six innings, the Angels finally got on the board in the seventh with the help of a defensive miscue by third baseman Ruiz. With runners on first and second and one out, Shane Robinson bounced a grounder to Ruiz, who stepped on third for the forceout, but then uncorked a throw that skipped past first baseman Jace Peterson, allowing Danny Espinosa to score the tying run from first. Robinson advanced to third on the play, but Garcia coaxed a groundout from Cliff Pennington to end the inning, preserving the 1-1 tie.
Atlanta will begin the final series of its nine-game road trip when it visits the Reds. Right-hander Mike Foltynewicz (3-5, 4.44 ERA) will take the mound, seeking to bounce back from his latest outing against the Giants, in which he allowed five runs on seven hits, including two home runs, and a walk in four innings. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.