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Lady Raider Softball Falls in Opening Round of State Tournament
Sarah West of Coffee County softball
On a night when both teams combined for 18 hits, Coffee County could not keep up with Gibbs in the opening night of the TSSAA State Softball Tournament as they fell 8 to 2 on Tuesday night. A pair of huge innings for the Lady Eagles spelled doom for the Lady Raiders. Gibbs scored 3 runs in the 4th inning and 4 more in the 5th to put the game out of reach.
Gibbs got on the board in the top of the 1st inning as they got their lead-off hitter on base and she came around to score on an error to make it one to nothing. Coffee County came back to tie it in the bottom of the 2nd on a solo home run from Sarah West. Lucky Knott had the call:
Gibbs responded as they stretched the lead to 4 to 1 in the 4th inning on a home run of their own. The Lady Eagles put the game out of reach in the 5th as they batted around and used 5 hits and a walk to plate 4 runs. Coffee County got their last run in the 5th inning after Haley Richardson led off with a double and came around to score on an RBI single from Katie Rutledge.
West finished the game with a home run and a double to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game. Richardson finished with a double and a single and Rutledge had 2 singles.
The Lady Raiders will now fall to the elimination bracket where they will face Dyer County on Wednesday morning at 10 AM. Wednesday’s game is an elimination game for Coffee County. 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 at 9:50.
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
Cade Giles Signs with Chattanooga State Baseball Program
Cade Giles signs to play college baseball surrounded by family and coaches. Front Row(left to right) – Jeannie Giles, mother; Cade Giles; and Shelby Giles, sister. Back Row(left to right) Ryan Sulkowski, CHS Athletic Director; David Martin, CHS baseball coach; Brittany Williams, extended family.
Coffee County senior baseball player Cade Giles accepted a college scholarship on Tuesday to play college baseball at Chattanooga State. Giles will attend the Chattanooga community college in the fall. Giles, who was named the District 8AAA Most Valuable Player this season, is expected to compete for the starting job at 3rd base for the Tigers.
When asked what attracted him Chattanooga State, Giles was quick to point out that there is “a level of competition in all their practices and workouts.” Giles also loved the campus and the facilities. Furthermore, the relative close distance from home was a draw as well.
Coach David Martin called out Giles’ work ethic as the key to his future success at Chattanooga State. “Cade simply refuses to fail” said Martin. “That is one reason why he was a key leader in many of our late game comebacks this season.” Giles, who spent the first 3 years of his high school career at 2nd base, moved to 3rd base for most of his senior season for the Raiders due to an injury to Noah Anderson. “Cade learned the position quickly and allowed us to keep the same personnel in our hitting order” said Martin. “He has a very good baseball IQ.”
Chattanooga State competes in the Eastern Division of the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association and is coached by Greg Dennis who just finished his 14th season at the helm of the Tiger program. Giles is the 2nd Red Raider baseball player to accept an offer to play college baseball in the last 2 years.
Sounds Trounce Storm Chasers 10-0
There is a recent trend of winning sweeping through Music City and Tuesday night was no different. Daniel Mengden was superb and the offense put on another show as the Sounds trounced the Omaha Storm Chasers 10-0. It was the third shutout in five games for the Sounds.
Mengden’s dominant performance followed suit with what Jharel Cotton and Daniel Gossett had done the previous two nights. The 24-year-old hurled seven shutout innings to extend the Sounds’ season long streak of 22 consecutive scoreless innings from the starting pitchers. The previous high was 20 1/3 innings. Mengden surrendered just three hits, struck out five batters, and issued no free passes en route to his second straight win.
Offensively for the Sounds it did not take long for Jaycob Brugman to set a new career-long hitting streak of 11 games. Brugman led off the home half of the first and stroked a 2-2 pitch in to center field. During his streak, he is batting .396 (19-for-48) with eight runs scored and six driven in.
The first three batters in the second inning for the Sounds reached base with softly hit singles. Ryan LaMarre proceeded to crush a bases clearing triple into the right center field alley and give the Sounds a 3-0 lead. It was the ninth consecutive game Nashville opened up the scoring. Melvin Mercedes sacrificed himself for the sake of LaMarre who came in to score on a fly ball to left field to make it 4-0.
Matt Chapman continued to torch Pacific Coast League pitching as he led off the third inning with a mammoth home run to left. It was his tenth home run on the season, all of which have come in the month of May. His ten home runs this month are tied for the second most in a single month for any Sounds hitter since 2005 and lead all of professional baseball. Chapman’s solo blast also marked the 42nd home run for Nashville in May which tied June 2011 as the most explosive month for the Sounds since 2005.
The offense did not stop there for the Sounds in the third. Joey Wendle and the birthday boy Matt McBride laced back-to-back two-baggers to add to the total. Chris Parmelee then smoked a pitch right back up the middle that caught Storm Chasers pitcher, Christian Binford, trickled into shallow left field and allowed McBride to come home. It was the second straight inning the first four Sounds to come to the plate recorded a base hit.
Chapman and Wendle began the fourth inning with back-to-back triples and McBride drove in Wendle on a sacrifice to add to the already comfortable Sounds lead. Wendle collected his fourth hit in the eighth inning with an RBI single. The four hits for Wendle matched a career high, which he last accomplished in 2015. He finished a home run shy from the cycle.
The Sounds continue their nine-game, eight-day home stand tomorrow night against the Omaha Storm Chasers. Right-hander Paul Blackburn (2-4, 3.89) starts for Nashville against right-hander Josh Staumont (3-3, 3.32) for Omaha. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.
Tullahoma will have only Local Election
With no city elections in Manchester this year, Tullahoma will be the only election.
Four candidates have qualified to run for two aldermen seats; Robin Dunn, Stephen Landers, Paige Prescott Lashlee and incumbent Jerry Mathis, the sitting mayor pro tem. Aldermen are elected to three-year terms.
Current Alderman Mike Stanton has opted not to seek re-election.
Voters will also cast votes for mayor, city judge and school board members. Candidates in those races are running unopposed; Mayor Lane Curlee will continue to serve for his sixth, nonconsecutive, three-year term.
Tullahoma City Judge James Conley will run unopposed along with Tullahoma city school board incumbents Jessica Fogarty and Teresa Lawson.
Franklin County needs New Director of Schools
Dr. Amie Lonas
Lonas has accepted a position as dean of academic affairs at the Joint Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia. She will be overseeing faculty, academics and curriculum operations at the Department of Defense institution of higher learning.
Before accepting the job as director of schools in Franklin County in 2015, Lonas was a Major in the Air National Guard and was dean of academics, acting vice president for academic affairs at Joint Special Operations University at MacDill Air Force Base at Tampa, Florida.
Vanderbilt Warns about ATV Accidents
Vanderbilt University Medical Center officials are warning that doctors are already treating numerous people injured in accidents involving all-terrain vehicles and it’s not even the peak trauma season of summer yet.
VUMC officials say staff has treated nearly 50 ATV accident victims since the beginning of the year, including 34 adults and an additional 14 children.
Officials, in their press release, say two common problems doctor see with the injuries are the result of not wearing helmets and from having more than one rider on a vehicle equipped for only one person.
Hospital officials say children under 16 should not ride ATVs due to the risk of serious injuries, especially head trauma. They also recommend wearing a helmet certified by the U.S. Department of Transportation or the Snell Memorial Foundation.
Beware of Loan Scam
There is a new phone scam report. This time it happened in Rutherford County when a 30-year-old woman was called by a man named “Jimmy,” who told her she was eligible for a $5,000 loan. The man convinced the victim that the money would be deposited into her bank account if she would only pay him $802 in a transaction fee.
To pay the fee, the man told her to buy iTunes gift cards and then give him the card numbers over the phone. That being said, the woman followed his directions after she bought the cards.
After the man had access to her $802, he told the victim that she needed to pay another $300. At that point, she called the police only to confirm that she had been scammed.
The caller ID showed that the scammer called from 773-942-2651, a number that is shown to be tied to previous scams after a simple Google search. (WGNS Radio)
TN Communities Expand Access to Internet as End of Net Neutrality Begins
TVA will install 3,500 miles of fiber optic lines across its seven-state coverage area over the next three years. (Twilight Jones/flickr.com)
“Net neutrality” refers to the expectation that internet service providers will provide equal access to all content regardless of source. Opponents say it will limit access to information.
But right now in Tennessee, plans are underway that could increase the speed at which customers access information on the web. This month, TVA announced it was upgrading its network, installing 3,500 fiber optic lines across its seven-state region. The Electric Power Board of Chattanooga installed fiber lines seven years ago.
Eric Friedman, managing member at Broadband Collective, explained that, aside from improving online access, it also is helping when homes lose power.
“The savings by this fiber being laid – which has created a smart electrical grid for the community and the way they were able to solve this problem by redirecting electricity – is saving them money,” Friedman said; “and it’s saving the community money in terms of downtime.”
Last week, Gov. Bill Haslam signed the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act, allowing the state’s nonprofit electric cooperatives to offer retail broadband services and providing $45 million in grants and tax credits to assist in making the technology available to under-served homes and communities.
Tennessee currently ranks 29th in the country for broadband access, with 34 percent of rural residents in the state lacking access to the internet at recognized minimum standards. Friedman said technology such as fiber optic and broadband can change entire communities.
“We need to learn how to use these technologies to be more competitive, more effective and to really serve our citizens,” he said. “And this is a way to do a lot of things we could be doing if we had better connectivity for all people, particularly under-served communities.”
Reliable access to high speed internet can enable services such as online education, home-based jobs and businesses, and even telemedicine.
5/25/17–Ricky Lynn Parker
Ricky Lynn Parker, 52, passed away Monday, May 22, 2017 at his home
following an extended illness. He was a native of Cannon Co., TN.
He is survived by his parents, Zenith & Martha Spry Parker of Woodbury;
Sister & Brother-in-law, Pam & Richard Harris of Woodbury; 2 Aunts, Nila
Reed & Wanda (Russell) Burks and several nieces and nephews. He was a
member of the Nazarene Church. Funeral Services will be 2 pm Thursday,
May 25, 2017 in the Chapel of Woodbury Funeral Home with Bro. Jimmy
Wright & Jimmy Hodge officiating. Interment will follow in the Gilley
Hill Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be from 2 pm to 8 pm
Wednesday, May 24, 2017.
5/25/17—Rosemary Messick
Funeral services for Rosemary E. Messick, age 73, of Beechgrove, TN, will be conducted at 7:00 PM on Thursday, May 25, 2017 at Manchester Funeral Home Chapel with Ray Marcom officiating. A visitation with the family will be from 5:00 PM until time of service on Thursday at the funeral home. Rosemary passed away on Monday, May 22, 2017 at Life Care Center in Tullahoma, TN.
Rosemary was born in Nashville, TN, the daughter of the late Cantrell and Amelia Mankin Messick. She was a member of the Beechgrove Church of Christ. Rosemary loved taking care of her beloved cat, Charlie.
In addition to her parents, Rosemary was also preceded in death by one brother, Richard Arlen Messick; and two grandsons, Rusty and Christian Carden. She is survived by one son, Cantrell (Lynda) Carden; two daughters, Rose Anne Carden (Nick) Smith and Susan Carden (David) Ferrell; grandchildren, Viktor and Christina Carden, Stone, Boone, Grey and Lucy Riddle, Alaina Ferrell (Chris) Murray and Abby Ferrell; niece, Linda Messick; and cousin, Billy Troxler.
Manchester Funeral Home is honored to serve the Messick family.