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CHS Lady Raiders Pound Tullahoma
Haley Hinshaw of CHS softball (Photo by John St. Clair, stclair-sports.com)
Visiting their old rivals in Tullahoma, the Lady Raider softball team had revenge on their minds. The Lady Raiders were stinging from a loss on Monday night in Lawrenceburg and a loss to Tullahoma on April 9th. Turns out, the Lady Wildcats did help the Lady Raiders get that sweet revenge and clinched at least a share of the regular season district title. In a game heard here on Thunder Radio, Coffee County blasted the kittens by a final score of 9 to 4.
The Lady Raiders got off to a fast start, scoring 4 runs in the first inning as they batted around getting 3 hits, 2 walks and benefited from a Tullahoma error. Haley Hinshaw had the big blast as she hit a 2 RBI double in the frame. The Lady Raiders held a 5 to 1 lead entering the 6th inning but sent 8 hitters to the plate scoring 4 more runs. Haley Richardson had a bases clearing double in the frame for the big blast in the contest. Richardson finished with 2 hits and 4 RBI and also got the win in the circle for Coffee County. Hinshaw finished with a double and a triple and drove in 4 runs as well. For their heroics, Hinshaw and Richardson were named the Crazy Daisies co-players of the game. Katie Rutledge finished the game going 4 for 4 with a double while Raven Rogers had 3 singles and scored 2 runs.
The Lady Raiders conclude the regular season on Wednesday night when Shelbyville visits Terry Floyd Field. A win would clinch a regular season district title for Coffee County. First pitch is set for 7 PM. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action beginning with the pregame show at 6:50 PM.
You can download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/
CCMS Softball Storms to CTC Championship
One of the certainties of the spring sports season is the appearance of the Coffee County Middle School softball team in the Central Tennessee Conference(CTC) post season tournament finals. Tuesday was no different as the Lady Raiders squared off against North Franklin at Warren County. Needing to win once to claim another conference title, the Lady Raiders had the mojo on their side. Coffee Middle raced out to an 8 to 0 lead on their way to an 8 to 3 win and their 3rd CTC title in 4 years.
After being held to only 1 hit in Saturday’s semifinal win, Coffee County banged out 6 hits including 2 in the first inning as they built a 1 to 0 lead. Keri Munn went the distance in the circle allowing 6 hits and only 1 earned run while striking out 5. Kiya Ferrell had a single, a double, an RBI and reached on an error as she scored 3 runs. Jayden Scheller finished with a single, 2 sacrifices and 2 RBI.
Coffee County got on the board in the first inning when Ferrell led off with a single, moved to 3rd on a pair of wild pitches and scored on a double steal after Justus Turner walked. Munn drove in Turner on a groundout. The Lady Raiders added 3 runs in the 3rd inning. Ferrell led off the 3rd inning by reaching on an error and scored on a Jayden Scheller sacrifice fly. Turner reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a wild pitch before Keri Munn added the 3rd run after singling and scoring on Amber Ingleberger’s bunt single. Coffee County added 3 runs in the 4th inning when Olivia Evans led off with a single and scored on Ferrell’s double. Ferrell scored on another double steal and Munn reached on an error and scored on a sacrifice ground out by Scheller.
The Lady Raiders finish the season with a final record of 15 and 2 with the only losses of the year coming at the hands of the North Lady Gators.
CHS Red Raider Tennis Falls in District Team Tournament Finals
Joseph Sadler of CHS tennis
The Coffee County Red Raider tennis team traveled to Fayetteville on Tuesday to battle Lincoln County for the District 8AAA team tennis title. Needing a win to punch their ticket to the Region 4AAA team tennis tournament, Coffee County pushed the regular season champion Falcons to the brink before falling 4 to 3.
Coffee County got wins in singles play from Grey Riddle(8-8/7 to 3 in tiebreaker) and Joseph Sadler(8-1). In doubles play, Shlip Patel and Joseph Sadler got a win by a score of 8 to 6. Coach Mike Ray was pleased with his team and their performance on the night and the season. “I am very proud of my kids. They play with a lot of heart and a lot of intensity” said Ray. He went on to add “Lincoln just made a few better shots today.”
Coffee County finishes the season with a record of 10 and 2 with both losses coming at the hands of Lincoln County. Coach Mike Ray and members of the Coffee County tennis program will be guests on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday at 10 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln. The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.
Red Raider Baseball Blanks Central Magnet
Cade Giles of CHS baseball
Closing out the regular season in Murfreesboro, the Coffee County CHS baseball tangled with Central Magnet on Tuesday. Coach David Martin, whose Red Raiders open district tournament play on Thursday, used the opportunity to get his pitching staff a light workout and his hitters some extra swings against a good team. Coach Martin used 7 pitchers to grab the 4 to 0 non-district win.
The Raiders got a run in the first inning as Jacob Langham led off with a double and scored on a Nathaniel Tate fielder’s choice. The Raiders scored 3 more runs in the 4th inning using 3 hits and an error by Central Magnet. Davis Green got the start on the hill and got credit for the win.
Coffee County finished the regular season with a record of 15 and 13 which represents the first regular season winning record for the Red Raider baseball team since 2010.
Earlier on Tuesday, it was announced that Cade Giles had been named the District 8AAA Most Valuable Player. Additionally, 3 Red Raiders were named to the All-District team and 2 Red Raiders were named honorable mention. Named to the All-District team were: Giles, Noah Anderson and Jacob Langham. Receiving honorable mention were Grant Sadler and Nathaniel Tate.
Coffee County opens District 8AAA tournament play on Thursday night at Powers Field. Coffee County will take on the winner of Wednesday’s play-in game between Lincoln County and Tullahoma. First pitch is set for 6 PM, Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you all the action. Lucky Knott kicks off Thunder Radio’s exclusive coverage with the pregame show at 5:50.
CHS Soccer Uses Big 2nd Half to Race Past Warren County
John Parigger of CHS Soccer(Photo by Pascale Randolph)
The Coffee County CHS soccer team continued their post season tune-up tour on Tuesday night at Warren County. For the second night in a row, Coach Robert Harper substituted liberally to keep his starters fresh for next week’s district tournament. After a nip and tuck first half, the Red Raiders roared to a 7 to 0 win.
Coffee County got on the board early when Paco Barrera scored in the 3rd minute off an assist from Chase Harper and Briggs Haithcock. Breyer Taylor added an unassisted goal in the 17th minute to give the Red Raiders a 2 to 0 lead they would carry into the half. In the first minute of the second half, John Parigger made a diving save in goal to stop a sure Warren County goal. That seemed to spark Coffee County as the Raiders tallied goals in the 43rd minute(Taylor with assists by Harper and Parigger), 53rd minute(Warren County own goal off a crossing pass by Pablo Leiva), 55th minute(Ben Reid on a long free kick), 57th minute(Ethan Abplanalp with an assist from Parigger) and in the 69th minute by Parigger, who had moved out of goal to a forward position.
Coffee County closes out the regular season on Thursday night when they travel to Smithville to take on DeKalb County. That match is set to begin at 7 PM. The Red Raiders will open District 8AAA Tournament play on Tuesday when they play host to the winner of this weekend’s quarterfinal matchup between Lawrence County and Franklin County. Tuesday’s match will get underway at 7 PM and will be held at the Raider Soccer Field behind the Raider Academy.
CCMS Tennis Splits with Lewisburg to End Season
Tyler Rigney of CCMS tennis
The Coffee County Middle School tennis teams hosted Lewisburg on Tuesday in their final match of the year. The Raiders and Lady Raiders were each looking to finish out the season with an undefeated record. The Red Raiders won by a final score of 5 to 2. The Lady Raiders lost 5 to 4.
The Red Raiders got wins in singles play from Jaden Talley(6-3), Luke Irwin(7-5), Landon Booth(6-4) and Tyler Rigney(6-3). The doubles team of Rigney and Booth won their doubles match 6 love. The Red Raiders finished the season with a final record of 10-0-1.
The Lady Raiders struggled in singles play only capturing 2 wins out of 6 matches. Jayda Wright(6 to 3) and Wren Lawson(6 to 4) had the wins for Coffee Middle. The teams of Sydney Bell/ Lucy Riddle(6 to 6/7 – 4 in tiebreaker) and Wren Lawson/Paige Meadows(7-5) got doubles wins. The Lady Raiders finish the season with a record of 10 and 1 on the year.
Coffee County Middle School tennis is coached by Tiffany McCormick.
Ellis, Rinne Star Again, Preds Win Game Four to Take 3-1 Series Lead
Win a period, win a hockey game.
Ryan Ellis opened the scoring and James Neal tallied the game-winner, all in the third period, as the Nashville Predators defeated the St. Louis Blues by a 2-1 final in Game Four to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
It wasn’t until the final frame that anyone was able to find the back of the net, but just as they’ve done throughout the postseason, the Predators found a way, with their stud netminder backstopping them to their seventh win of the playoffs, tying a franchise record.
“This game was just an all-around good hockey game by both teams,” Ellis said. “It was a key win for us, but we still haven’t done anything yet. They’re not going to go away, and we’re going to have to come out even harder than we did tonight. It’s a good feeling, and we’re going to go with it for a couple of days, but we have to get back to work.”
Through the first 40 minutes of Game Four, goaltenders Pekka Rinne and Jake Allen kept things scoreless for the first time in this series, turning aside 18 and 15 shots, respectively. Perhaps the most impressive came in Rinne’s crease, with some help from defenseman Ryan Ellis as he swatted the puck off the goal line late in the second stanza to keep things at 0-0.
Physicality was also present as the two clubs sought out the first goal, with Nashville’s Austin Watson throwing seven hits through two periods.
But a power play early in the third broke the goal drought, when who else but Ellis fired a shot home with traffic in front, bringing an elated fist pump on the bench from Head Coach Peter Laviolette and giving the Predators a 1-0 lead. The goal marked Ellis’s seventh consecutive game with a point, tying a postseason franchise record.
And then, with less than seven minutes left in regulation, James Neal brought the house down with a beautiful shot from above the right circle that beat Allen to the top corner and gave the Preds a 2-0 advantage.
“He’s got an absolute cannon for a wrister,” Ellis said of Neal. “It catches a lot of guys by surprise. I didn’t really see the play, but it was a heck of a shot and it went top shelf. It’s a good thing for him. He’s been working hard and battling for us, and it’s nice to see him back to his old self.”
St. Louis made it interesting down the stretch when Joel Edmundson scored late, but Rinne finished the night with 32 saves in total and his seventh win of the postseason, tying a career high.
“We knew they were going to come, and we had to weather it a little bit,” defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “They were a little angry from their last performance, but I thought we handled it pretty well. Pekka stood tall in net. Everyone battled tonight, everyone worked hard, and we did a lot of really good things defensively.”
The Predators now find themselves just one win away from the Western Conference Final for the second consecutive season. But as they’ve said all along, their accomplishments are minuscule to this point, compared to what they’re really after.
“It’s in our own hands, for sure,” Rinne said. “Being up 3-1 now, I think we can control our destiny.”
There isn’t much Ryan Ellis can’t do, and right now, he’s doing all of it.
Like scoring a goal for the third consecutive games. Or recording a point for the seventh consecutive game. Or maybe sweeping a puck off the goal line to help make his goaltender look that much better.
Indeed, Ellis has been rewriting Nashville’s postseason record book over the past few weeks, and if he is able to record a point in Game Five, he’ll set a franchise mark with points in eight consecutive games.
And again, he’s a defenseman.
“At both ends of the ice, he does everything for us,” Laviolette said of Ellis. “He plays terrific defense, he sacrifices his body all the time to block shots and just really strong, strong defensive player for us. And then offensively, he’s on a little bit of a roll right now, playing terrific in the offensive zone. He’s getting the shot off, he’s getting it on net, and it’s finding the back of the net, a 200-foot game.”
The goaltender behind Ellis isn’t half bad either.
Pekka Rinne collected his seventh win of the postseason on Tuesday night in Game Four, the fifth time in these playoffs he’s allowed one goal or less. Building off the lessons of season’s past, Rinne continues to play some of the best hockey he ever had, and it couldn’t come at a more opportune time.
“I think it was a really good experience last year, playing two seven-game series,” Rinne said. “I think the hardest lesson that we all learned is that it’s not going to be easy. It’s extremely hard, every team is extremely dangerous, so when you have a chance to close these things out you have to really step on their throat.”
Game Five between the Preds and Blues is set for Friday night in St. Louis, a 7 p.m. CT start. If necessary, Game Six will be on Sunday in Nashville; a start time is yet to be announced.
Pete Weber’s Post Game Report
5/4/17 — Richard Wayne Hill
Funeral Services for Mr. Richard Wayne Hill age 48 of Hillsboro will be
held 2:00pm Thursday May 4, 2017 at Manchester Funeral Home with Reverend
Spencer Vanorder officiating. Burial will follow in Methodist Cemetery with
Keith Hill, David McBay, Tyler Stephens, Adam Morris, Dustin Hereford and
Donnie Watts serving as pallbearers. Visitation with the Hill family will
be Wednesday May 3, 2017 from 5:00pm until 9:00pm at Manchester Funeral
Home. Mr. Hill went home to be with his Lord and Savior Monday May 1, 2017.
Mr. Hill is preceded in death by his mother; Joann Tucker Hill and his
grandparents Jean and Dub Hill. He is survived by his wife of 5 years;
Michelle Hill, daughters; Kelley Hill of Decherd, Jessica Hill of
Manchester, step-son; Robert L. Cummins, his father; J.W. Hill and two
grandchildren; Addison Moore and Dusty Gilliam. He is also survived by his
brother; Eric (Amy) Hill of Manchester, two sisters; Sheila (Jerry) Walls
of Decherd, Larissa (Tim) McCullough of Winchester and six special nieces
and nephew; Demetria Walls, Paige Matheson, Shae McCullough, Skyler Hill,
Avery Hill and Libby Hill.
Mr. Hill was a member of White Oak Grove Church of God. He loved his
church, gospel music, fishing and entertaining his grandchildren.
MANCHESTER FUNERAL HOME IS HONORED TO SERVE THE HILL FAMILY
5/2/17 — Birthdays
Birthdays:
Thomas Foster, 11 — Pizza Winner!
Kerry Norris, Jr.
Wesley Colwell, 32
Alyssah Darnell, 7
Leonard Moore, 40
Freeman Homers as Braves Edge Mets, 9-7
Freddie Freeman homered and Ender Inciarte produced his first three-hit game of the season as the Braves battered Matt Harvey and provided R.A. Dickey sufficient support during Tuesday night’s 9-7 win over the Mets at SunTrust Park.
After Jay Bruce got the Mets rolling with a two-run homer, Freeman answered in the bottom half of the inning with his 10th home run of the season — a two-run shot that traveled a projected 422 feet per Statcast™ and landed in the upper level of the Chop House in right field. Inciarte provided a go-ahead double in the second inning and capped a three-run fourth inning with a two-run single.
While surrendering eight hits over 5 1/3 innings, Harvey allowed the Braves a season-high six earned runs for the second time in five days. The Mets’ right-hander received some early support from Bruce’s homer and the game-tying solo shot Asdrubal Cabrera provided in the third inning. But Dickey escaped damage over the remainder of his six-inning outing, within which he allowed just four hits.
The Mets made things interesting against Matt Wisler in the ninth inning. But after Bruce drilled a two-out grand slam, Jim Johnson entered and recorded the game’s final out to notch his fifth save of the season.