Josh Peterson

For the 19th consecutive year, Thunder Radio will be your home for Coffee County Central High School Red Raider baseball and Lady Raider softball games on the radio.

Thunder Radio will also broadcast select CHS soccer games, as well as baseball, softball and soccer for Coffee Middle School and Westwood Middle School. See the schedule for middle school broadcasts here.

“Unlike basketball, we obviously cannot broadcast every single game because of scheduling conflicts,” explained Josh Peterson, Thunder Radio co-owner. “But we have carefully selected over 30 games that we will broadcast through the spring. This doesn’t include postseason tournaments which we will, of course, be there to broadcast on Thunder Radio.”

Peterson will handle play-by-play duties for most Central High School baseball games. Meanwhile, CHS Lady Raider basketball head coach Joe Pat Cope will trade in his whistle for a headset and serve as the primary play-by-play voice for CHS Lady Raider softball this spring. Courtney Steere, who served as host of Friday Night Thunder in the fall and color commentator during basketball season, will fill in as play-by-play voice for select games, as well.

Spring sports broadcasts on Thunder Radio are made possible by title sponsor Al White Ford-Lincoln. Other sponsors include: Hullett’s Service Center, Elk River Public Utility District, Garner’s Furniture & Appliance, Shanelle Gray with RE/MAX 1st Realty, Mid Tenn Turf, Coffee County Bank, Stone Fort Mortgage, A Winning Attitude, Char El Apartments, Powers Storage, First Vision Bank, Gilley Crane and Garretson Stone.

See the complete broadcast schedule below (subject to change):

Thunder Radio is once again proud to partner with Peoples Bank & Trust company to present the Spring Hometown Sports Series of broadcasts on Thunder Radio!

Every spring sports season, in addition to high school baseball, softball and soccer (see high school spring sports broadcast schedule here) , Thunder Radio makes an effort to broadcast athletic events for Coffee County and Westwood middle schools.

“Thunder Radio is your sports in Manchester, Tennessee,” said Thunder Radio co-owner Josh Peterson. “The spring hometown sports series was an effort launched by our former sports director Dennis Weaver before he passed away. We come to work every day thinking of how we can make him proud, and continuing this great tradition forward to give unparalleled exposure to our local athletes is the best way to do that.”

Thunder Radio has selected 13 games – a mix of baseball, softball and soccer from CMS and WMS to broadcast. This schedule is subject to change based on weather and other circumstances. Updates will be posted at thunder1320.com and on the Thunder Radio “on-air schedule”, which can be found on the Thunder website.

The hometown sports series is made possible by Peoples Bank & Trust company. Other sponsors include attorney Shawn Trail, Eagle Door Service, MidTenn Turf and Elk River Public Utility District.

Below is a tentative schedule:

Central High School had three medalists and two state qualifiers in the Region wrestling tournament over the weekend in McMinnville.

In the 145-pound division, freshman Jacob Barlow placed second and earned a trip to the state wrestling meet. He also earned Freshman of the Year.

Gavin Prater also placed second in his weight division – 152 – and will go to the state wrestling meet.

Zack Galy also medaled, taking third place in the 195-pound division. In a normal year, Galy would qualify for the state meet, but number of qualifiers has been cut down this year due to COVID-19.

The Coffee County Middle School Lady Raider basketball team put the finishing touches on an 18-2 season Saturday morning with a third place finish in the TMSAA State Tournament.

After losing Friday night in the semi-finals to an unbeaten Lake Forest team, the Lady Raiders bounced back Saturday morning with a 45-22 shellacking of Macon County in the third-place game.

Olivia Vinson and Channah Gannon led the offensive attack for CMS. Vinson finished with 11 points – 10 coming in the first half to help the Lady Raiders build the lead. Gannon put up 10 for the Lady Raiders.

Sophie McInturff pitched in 9 points for the Lady Raiders, Natalie Barnes 5, Ava McIntosh 2, Kaylee Mason 2 and Jaydee Nogodula 2.

District 8-AAA tournaments begin this week – with both the CHS Lady Raiders and Red Raiders earning first-round byes thanks to their first and second place finishes, respectively.

The Red Raiders finished second in the district and will host a tournament game on Thursday, Feb. 18. With a win, they will play in the championship on Feb. 22. If they lose, they will play a third place game on Feb. 22. A third place game would be at home, the championship game will be on the road if it’s against Columbia and at home if it’s against another team.

Meanwhile, the Lady Raiders will play at home through the district tournament. They will host at  p.m. Feb. 19 and Feb. 23.

All tickets are $6 and sold through gofan.co – no tickets are available at the door. No student tickets and season passes cannot be used. Coffee County employees cannot use their badge to enter. TSSAA and TACA cards are accepted. Masks are required.

Inclement weather could delay games early in the week, forcing delays later in the week. Thunder Radio sports will keep you up to date.

Coffee County’s Red Raider boys basketball team put the finishing touches on the regular season with a 53-44 win over visiting Gordonsville Saturday afternoon in Manchester.

Tied after three quarters, the Raiders outscored the Tigers 20-11 in the final 8 minutes to pull away.

The Raiders got a big second half from CJ Anthony, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half, including three 3-pointers. Trenton Scrivnor led the Raiders with 16 points, 10 coming in the second half.

Hayden Hullett sunk three 3-pionters, Phineas Rollman added 8 points and Connor Shemwell 6 to go along with Brady Nugent’s 2 and Tyler Taylor’s 1.