Karson Young of CHS Track

A pair of Coffee County Lady Raider track athletes and the 4x800M relay team qualified for Tuesday’s sectional track meet at Rhea County.  The Coffee County Raider and Lady Raider track teams competed at Blackman in the sub-sectional meet on Tuesday and Wednesday with a chance to advance to the sectional meet.  The top 4 finishers in each sectional will advance to the state meet in Murfreesboro.

Karson Young and Sarah Pearson each qualified in the 100M hurdles.  Young finished in a time of 16.41 seconds.  Pearson covered the distance in 17.14 seconds.  Pearson also qualified in the 300M hurdles as she ran a season best 49.39 seconds.  Young also qualified in the high jump, with a jump of 5’; the triple jump, with a jump f 36’ 7 ½”; and the long jump, with a jump of 17’4”.  The 4x800M relay team also recorded a season best time of 11:54.97 to finish in 4^th place and advance to the sectional.

The sectional meet will be held on Tuesday at Rhea County High School in Evensville.  The field events will begin at 2:30.  The 4×800 is scheduled for 3 PM with the hurdle races being held during the running events which begin at 4 PM.  All Times are Eastern Daylight Time.

To see a complete rundown of the sub-sectional results for all of the Coffee County athletes, go to the link at:  http://tn.milesplit.com/meets/260321/teams/4931#.WRexHvkrLIU

Coffee County Youth Bass Club members Garrett Fellers(left) and Hunter Haley(right) with boat captain Jeff Haley(middle) show off their 9th place plaques from the TN State Championship that concluded on Saturday.[Photo provided]

The boat of Issac Turner and Cam Rutledge finished in 28^th place with a total catch of 10.87 pounds.  The team of Blake Mangrum and Jacob Garms finished in 41^st place with a total catch of 8.45 pounds.  Braeden and Colby Thurmond finished in 54^th place, Hunter Sanders and Brayden Majors finished in 79^th place and Shannah Frame and Hogan Scott came in 124^th place.

The championship brought to a close the 2016-2017 TN Bass Nation Points Championship.  The Coffee County team of Braeden and Colby Thurmond finished in 21^st place which qualified them for the BASS Nationals Tournament.  The top 25 teams in the state qualify for the National tournament.  The team of Issac Turner and Cam Rutledge finished in 34^th place as they were the only other Coffee County boat to finish in the top 50.  The Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship will be held on June 22^nd thru 24^th on Kentucky Lake and Barkley Lake.   Official launch point will be Paris Landing State Park.

A three-goal second period helped the Anaheim Ducks to even the Western Conference Final at one game apiece with a 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators in Game Two on Sunday at Honda Center. The result marks just the third loss of the postseason for the Preds, and the first time they’ve given up at least four goals in these playoffs.

Nashville jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the Ducks got a power-play goal before the opening frame was out, a moment Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said caused the momentum to shift in Anaheim’s favor.

“It’s a 60-minute game, and it’s a good hockey team over there,” goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “I’m happy with how we battled back, but obviously disappointed [we lost]. We had enough chances [to win]…but you have to play a solid 60 minutes to win these games.”

For the second consecutive game, Nashville’s start was excellent, and they had a 2-0 lead to show for it. First, Viktor Arvidsson found Ryan Johansen streaking past the Anaheim defense, and the centerman beat John Gibson for a 1-0 lead. Then it was James Neal with his second goal in as many games, this time tucking one home on the power-play at 8:32. But Sami Vatanen got a power-play goal of his own before the frame was out to get the Ducks on the board, and the goals kept coming in the second.

Anaheim evened the score with a goal from Jakob Silfverberg early in the middle stanza before Arvidsson pulled Gibson out of the net on a partial break, which Filip Forsberg followed and poked the puck over the line for a 3-2 lead. It was Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie who tallied before the period was out to give the Ducks a 4-3 advantage after 40 minutes of play.

“After the [fourth] goal, you feel like you could have saved it, but that one for sure, it was bad timing too,” Rinne said. “It’s a tough break, tough play and personally, for sure, I want to have that back.”

Nashville had their opportunities in the third period as they pushed for the equalizer, including a mad scramble in front of Gibson with less than six minutes to play, but that was as close as the Preds came before the Ducks added an empty-netter to seal it.

The goal was to take two games to open the series in Anaheim, but the math says Nashville had to win at least one in California for a chance to advance, and they’ve done that. Now they’ll head home to a building where they’re 5-0 in the playoffs with two chances to collect wins before jetting back to Anaheim.

“We came here to win two games – we got one and it’s a step in the right direction,” defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “We would have liked a different result tonight, but we go home with a 1-1 series and two games at home, and we’re comfortable with that.”

“Now we’re heading home and have an opportunity [in Nashville],” Rinne said. “And that’s the best part of it.”

Notes:

With a goal and an assist in Game Two, Ryan Johansen tied the Nashville franchise record for points in a single postseason with 13 (3g-10a). Colin Wilson (2016 postseason) and Joel Ward (2011 postseason) currently share the record with Johansen.

James Neal scored in the first period of Game Two, giving him 13 playoff goals as a member of the Predators. That ties him with Shea Weber and David Legwand for first in the category in franchise history.

The Western Conference Final now shifts to Nashville with Game Three set for Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CT at Bridgestone Arena. Game Four will take place on Thursday in Nashville before shifting back to Anaheim for Game Five on Saturday.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

R.A. Dickey was ultimately undone by the latest pinch-hit home run Tyler Moore has hit off of him. But as the Braves’ knuckleballer exited Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Marlins at Marlins Park, he could not help but wonder what might have been had he gotten the call he wanted on a 3-2 pitch to A.J. Ellis in the decisive seventh inning.

“The walk to Ellis was big,” Dickey said. “I was going to pitch him carefully to get a forceout for the next guy up. I felt I had controlled the game up until that point.”
Dickey allowed just three hits while blanking the Marlins through the first six innings, then allowed Giancarlo Stanton to open the seventh with a double hit against what the pitcher described as a “flat” knuckleball.
With Stanton on second base and one out, Dickey pitched Ellis carefully knowing he had a base open and could create a forceout or a potential double-play opportunity on a day when he had already induced 11 ground-ball outs. But after recording two straight strikes to get the count to 3-2, he attempted to buzz the top of the strike zone with a knuckler that home-plate umpire Marvin Hudson called a ball.
“A hitter that sees the knuckleball high is much more likely to swing than a guy who sees it low,” Dickey said. “There’s a prevailing kind of agenda for a hitting coach to tell his players to ‘see it high and let it fly.’ That’s the knuckleball mantra for a hitter. I tried to throw one at the top of the zone. I thought it broke down late. Another day with another guy back there, that was strike three. But everybody has their own unique zones and with Marvin today, that wasn’t a strike.”
Ellis’ one-out walk didn’t necessarily hurt the Braves any more than the 12 runners they left on base while attempting to complete a three-game sweep. But it did help extend the inning and provide a chance for Moore to come off the bench to drill his game-winning home run on a first-pitch knuckleball.
Moore, who briefly played in the Braves’ system for Triple-A Gwinnett last year, is 4-for-6 with two home runs off Dickey. The previous homer was also hit during a seventh-inning pinch-hit appearance for the Nationals against the Mets on Sept. 11, 2012.
“[Dickey] was cruising and just a couple calls didn’t go our way,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Then one thing led to another.”
Dickey recorded 12 called strikes on knuckleballs — his second-highest total of the season. He received the call he needed when he froze Stanton on an inside pitch to strand two in the first inning, but his prevailing memories of this game will likely center around the call that didn’t go his way.

The Nashville Sounds settled for a four-game series split after a 6-0 loss to the Albuquerque Isotopes spoiled the day for 9,718 fans on Mother’s Day at First Tennessee Park.

The near-capacity crowd didn’t have much to cheer about as the Sounds (15-18) were blanked for the second time in 2017.

Albuquerque jumped on Nashville starter Paul Blackburn in the second inning. Noel Cuevas reached on an infield single and quickly moved to third when Jordan Patterson followed with a double. Both scored on run-scoring hits by Rafael Ynoa and Collin Ferguson.

Ferguson’s big day was just getting started as the first baseman cracked a two-run homer his next time up to give the ‘Topes a 4-0 lead in the fourth. He finished the day 2-for-3 with 3 RBI in his first career Triple-A game.

Blackburn turned in a 1-2-3 fifth inning but the long ball got him again in the sixth. Cuevas singled to left field and swiped second base before Jordan Patterson belted a two-run homer to the right field seats.

The right-hander was tagged with his fourth loss of the season after allowing six runs on seven hits in five-plus innings.

Meanwhile, the offense was stuck in neutral. The Sounds mustered only four hits on the afternoon, two of which came off the bat of Joey Wendle.

Albuquerque starter Barry Enright kept Nashville off balance for 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander yielded only three hits, didn’t issue any walks, and struck out five in the win.

The bullpen trio of Jerry Vasto, Carlos Estevez, and Sam Moll shut down the Sounds the rest of the way.

The Sounds hit the road for an eight-game trip to California. Game one against the Fresno Grizzles is scheduled for Monday night at Chukchansi Park. Right-hander Chris Bassitt (0-0, 9.00) starts for Nashville against right-hander Casey Coleman (1-1, 8.38) for Fresno. First pitch is slated for 8:35 p.m.

A pair of Opening Day starters who had mostly struggled this season stepped up on Saturday night in a closely pitched contest at Marlins Park. Atlanta’s Julio Teheran, backed by RBI singles from Nick Markakis and Dansby Swanson in the fourth inning, held on for a 3-1 victory over the Marlins.

Teheran threw six shutout innings, scattering three hits and two walks while striking out four. Atlanta’s right-hander continues to have a split season. On the road, his ERA is 0.71 over 25 1/3 innings, compared to an 8.14 ERA in 21 home frames.
“That might be as crisp and as good as I’ve seen Julio since I’ve been here, and he’s pitched some really good games since I’ve been here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “The ball was really coming out of his hand good, and he was changing [speeds] really good. He pitched around some trouble with some guys on second. It was just a really solid outing.”
Miami’s Edinson Volquez, reinstated from the disabled list on Saturday with a right thumb blister, surrendered two runs in six innings, with five strikeouts and two walks. Volquez allowed four hits, and he encountered a bit of bad luck in the fourth when Marcell Ozuna lost Freddie Freeman’s fly ball in the twilight, setting up a two-run inning.
“My blister didn’t bother me today, and I was able to make a lot of good pitches tonight,” Volquez said. “I can’t blame anybody for the loss. Whatever happened over there is part of the game. Nothing to complain about.”
Justin Bour homered for the Marlins off Eric O’Flaherty in the seventh, but Miami has now dropped five straight at home and fell into last place in the National League East.
Doubles by J.T. Realmuto, Ozuna and Derek Dietrich accounted for the only hits surrendered by Teheran, who had allowed 10 earned runs over 11 innings in his past two starts. The Braves’ ace used his two-seamer a little more frequently and found more confidence in his four-seam fastball than he had in recent outings.
“It feels really nice when you have a nice outing after two rough ones,” Teheran said. “I’ve been working hard to get back. That’s how I pitch. I’m happy with how I did today.”
Marlins Park is in its sixth season, and Saturday marked the first time the roof has been open for five straight games. In the fourth inning, it was twilight in Miami, and the conditions helped the Braves open the scoring. Ozuna couldn’t find Freeman’s towering fly ball in the lights/twilight, and it dropped for a two-base hit. Per Statcast™, the hit probability on the fly ball with a 55-degree launch angle was 1 percent. The double set up Markakis’ RBI single, and Swanson delivered a two-out, run-scoring single.
“At that moment, I don’t see it,” Ozuna said. “I saw it when it went off the bat. And then I was, ‘Where’s the ball?’ I lose it because it was yellow and sky blue, light blue mix.”
An inning later, the sky got darker, and visibility wasn’t an issue at that point.
“When it’s dark, it’s easy,” Ozuna said. “But when it’s like this, when the sun is going to sleep, it’s hard to see it.”
Bour is getting a chance to face left-handers this season, and in the seventh inning, Miami’s first baseman connected on his first homer off a southpaw. Bour skied a homer into the second deck in right field against O’Flaherty. It was his first career homer versus a lefty, after his first 45 were off right-handers. Bour has also homered in three straight games. Statcast™ projected the solo shot at 388 feet, with an exit velocity of 97.8 mph and a launch angle of 32 degrees. More >
“I remember a couple years ago, it was the other way and I was getting in trouble on the road. Hopefully we’ll get everything together. At home, it’s been a little weird. But I don’t want to put that on my mind. I know it’s a new stadium and everything is new for everybody. I’m just trying to find myself in that setting.” — Teheran, on his home/road splits
R.A. Dickey will be on the mound when Atlanta and Miami conclude the three-game series at 12:10 p.m. CT on Sunday. Dickey has allowed just one of his eight home runs this year on the road.