Raven Rogers of CHS softball

On a day when wet field conditions limited the effectiveness of the short game, the Coffee County Lady Raider softball team got a home run from one of their slappers to capture a 1 to 0 win in the elimination bracket of the TSSAA State Tournament.  Raven Rogers led off the bottom of the 3^rd inning with a home run to centerfield to give Coffee County a 1 to 0 win over Dyer County.  The win keeps the Lady Raiders season alive as they advanced in the Class 3A loser’s bracket.

Rain on Wednesday morning delayed the start of the game until 11 AM making the field wet.  A rain shower right before first pitch reduced the playing surface to a sloppy and slick mess.  In spite of the elements, the Coffee County defense played splendidly.  Coffee County got a double play from Ashley Evans and Tori Bell and did not commit an error on the day.  Kaylee Skipper was once again masterful in the circle as she pitched a complete game 4 hit shutout while striking out 5.

Skipper also was excellent at the plate as well as she had a pair of singles.  Haley Hinshaw had a double and Rogers finished with a home run and a single.  Rogers was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Lucky Knott had the call of Rogers’ home run

The Lady Raiders will now march on in the elimination bracket where they will face the loser of Wednesday’s 9:30 PM game on Thursday morning at 11:30 AM.  As always, Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action.  Lucky Knott begins Thunder Radio’s exclusive coverage with the pregame show around 11:20.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

You can view the updated state tournament bracket at: http://brackets.tssaa.org/bracket.cfm?id=20160503

2017 CHS soccer award winners (left to right) Moises Ramirez, Breyer Taylor, Briggs Haithcock, Felix Salinas, Ben Reid and Chase Harper[Photo by Kim Taylor]

Breyer Taylor also broke the career goal scoring record as he broke the previous record held by Rickey Ramirez.  Taylor was named the team Most Valuable Player.  Other award winners were: Moises Ramirez – Raider Award; Briggs Haithcock – Midfielder of the Year; Felix Salinas –  Freshman of the Year;  Ben Reid – Defender of the Year and Chase Harper – Offensive Player of the Year.

Coach Mike Ray(left) presents the 2017 CHS Tennis Coaches Award to Kayla Wright(right)

The Coffee County tennis teams hosted their annual awards banquet on Monday.  The banquet recognized the Red Raider and Lady Raider tennis programs who celebrated a successful 2017 season.  The season was highlighted by a boys’ team which advanced to the district finals in team competition.  The team of Reid Lawrence and Grey Riddle won the district doubles title and advanced to the region doubles tournament.  Freshman Joseph Sadler was runner-up in the district singles tournament and also advanced to the region singles tournament.   At the banquet, senior Kayla Wright was awarded the 2017 Coaches Award.

2017 CHS tennis Award winners

A little less than 24 hours after blowing a ninth-inning lead, the Pirates staged a ninth-inning rally against a thin Braves bullpen, then added seven more runs in the 10th inning to cruise to a 12-5 win on Wednesday night at SunTrust Park.

After Gift Ngoepe’s go-ahead RBI double and Josh Harrison’s two-run single, David Freese, Jose Osuna and Jordy Mercer hit back-to-back-to-back homers off right-hander Josh Collmenter.
“Just considering where we’ve been at so far to this point of the season, it’s nice to know that guys are still going up there battling,” Harrison said. “We’re not quitting until that last out. You’ve got to make all the outs. If you give us a little breathing room, we’re going to try to take advantage of it.”
Collmenter, a long reliever, pitched the 10th because the Braves wanted to stay away from closer Jim Johnson and setup man Arodys Vizcaino. This decision also influenced the ninth, during which Jose Ramirez squandered a two-run lead when Osuna hit a two-run single.
Jace Peterson’s two-run double capped a four-run sixth inning that blemished what had previously been an impressive start by Pirates right-hander Trevor Williams. Peterson’s second-inning error gave Adam Frazier a chance to drill a three-run homer, which accounted for the three unearned runs allowed by Braves starter Julio Teheran. The right-hander retired 13 of the final 15 batters he faced and halted the struggles he’d endured while producing a 10.50 ERA in his previous five home starts.
“[Teheran] was incredible tonight,” Peterson said. “In the second inning, if I make that play up the middle, that limits the damage big time. It’s unfortunate we got the loss. But we battled back, and he threw great. Everything was explosive coming out of his hand tonight.”
Ramirez saw his 1.31 ERA rise to 2.08, as he squandered the Braves’ 5-3 lead in the ninth. The hard-throwing right-hander surrendered consecutive hits to open the inning, then issued a two-out walk to Freese before Osuna drilled a game-tying, two-run single to left field.
“He was the freshest one down there, and he has been doing a great job,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That ninth inning is a different animal, until you’ve experienced it. It was a good opportunity to experience that, as he had been pitching well enough, and I had confidence in him to go out there and seal the game.”
Andrew McCutchen opened the 10th-inning rally with a leadoff single, then advanced to second base on Chris Stewart’s sacrifice bunt. This set the stage for Ngoepe to deliver his decisive double down the right-field line against Collmenter, who has allowed 15 earned runs over his past eight innings (six appearances).
“That guy’s a little funky up there,” Ngoepe said of Collmenter. “He just threw me a pitch that I could throw my hands out there, and put it in play. … Coming back from a game like last night, coming back today, all tied up in the ninth and it’s just chaos going, it’s awesome to be a part of the 10th inning.”
With a homer, a single and four walks, Frazier became the first Pirates player to reach base six times in a game, without an error, since Neil Walker on Aug. 12, 2012. Frazier is the first player in at least 100 years to walk four times with two hits, including a homer, while batting leadoff.
Collmenter became the fifth reliever in Braves history to allow seven earned runs or more, while working one inning or less. The most recent was John Smoltz, who allowed eight earned runs to the Mets, while recording just two outs, on April 6, 2002. Smoltz went on to record 55 saves that year — his first full season as a closer.
Bartolo Colon will take the mound to conclude the four-game series against the Pirates on Thursday. Colon, who turned 44 on Wednesday, has pitched more effectively during his past two outings, but he still hasn’t come close to meeting the expectations of his one-year, $12.5 million contract.

The cool weather cooled off the Sounds bats but they found other ways to score on a soggy night at First Tennesse Park. Patience at the plate, savvy base running, and dominant pitching were part of the Sounds’ recipe for success in their 4-0 shutout of the Omaha Storm Chasers.

The shutout for the Sounds was their second straight and third in the past six games. Nashville is 4-2 in shutout games this season.

Paul Blackburn became the fourth straight Sounds starter to record a scoreless outing, extending the rotation’s stretch to 29.0 consecutive scoreless frames. Blackburn lasted a season-high seven innings and allowed just five hits while striking out six batters. He threw 98 pitches for the second straight start to match his career-high.

The Sounds jumped out to an early lead for the ninth straight game as Matt Olson laced a double to right field in the opening inning. For Olson it was his team-leading 32nd RBI of the season. Then in the second inning the Sounds hitters displayed their patience at the plate, drawing four consecutive walks, which gave Jaycob Brugman an RBI the easy way and made it 2-0. On the night, Omaha starter Josh Staumont issued seven free passes.

As the rain began to fall from the sky in the fifth inning Franklin Barreto led off by roping a double to left field and advanced to third on a groundout. Matt Chapman stepped up to the plate and grounded a ball to the second baseman Ramon Torres who went home with the throw as Barreto was going on contact. Torres’ throw was low and unable to be corralled by catcher, Parker Morin, which allowed Barreto to slide in safely.

Nashville closed out the scoring in the seventh as Melvin Mercedes bunted his way aboard then advanced to second on a balk and to third on a groundout. He then came in to score on a wild pitch from Mark Peterson to give the Sounds their fourth and final run.

Tucker Healy and Simon Castro put a bow on the ball game as they both tossed scoreless innings. For Healy he has now gone 11 1/3 straight scoreless innings, which matches him with Chris Smith for the longest such stretch this season.

Jaycob Brugman saw his career-long hitting streak snapped at 11 games as he went 0-for-1 but drew three walks. Olson extended his streak to nine straight games with a base hit.

The Sounds continue their nine-game, eight-day home stand tomorrow night against the Omaha Storm Chasers. Right-hander Raul Alcantara (0-1, 1.50) starts for Nashville against right-hander Yender Ceramo (0-3, 3.93) for Omaha. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.