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STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: Raiders take on Dobyns-Bennett Wednesday in Murfreesboro
The community is invited and encouraged to send off the CHS Red Raider basketball team on its way to the state tournament Wednesday morning (March 16, 2022).
The Raiders will be leaving Coffee County High School from the bus loading zone and get a police escort down McMinnville Highway (State Hwy. 55), past Raider Academy to Interstate-24 Westbound.
The team will leave the high school at 11 a.m.
“Businesses and the public are encouraged to line the side of Highway 55 from the high school to Raider Academy in support of these young men,” said the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department.
Coffee County (24-9 overall) will open the tournament at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 16 against the Indians of Dobyns-Bennett High School (30-6) out of Kingsport. The game will be played at MTSU’s Murphy Center.
Tickets will be available at the gate but can also be purchased in advance through gofan.co. Reserved seating is available for $25 and general admission is available for $12 per seat (on gofan, $15 at the gate). Click here to purchase tickets for Wednesday, March 16.
The tournament is single elimination. If the Raiders beat Dobyns-Bennett, they will play the winner of Bartlett and Beech at 1:15 p.m. Friday. The winner of that game will play for a state championship at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 19th.
If you can’t make the trip, you can listen to the games on your home for all Red Raider athletics – Thunder Radio – 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, streaming on the Manchester Go app and thunder1320.com.
PREP SCOREBOARD: March 15, 2022
AREA SCORES FROM TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2022
WMS Baseball 8, Moore County 3
Westwood picked up a sweep of Moore County with an 8-3 win in Manchester Tuesday night.
The Rockets got 3 hits and 3 RBIs from Davis McKenzie in the win. The Rockets also got 3 hits from Carter Bell.
Kaysen Lowery earned the win on the mound for the Rockets. Lowery allowed just 1 unearned run on 3 hits over 4 1/3 innings while striking out 5.
CMS SOFTBALL 9, Franklin County Middle 7
Coffee County bounced back from a tough Monday night loss and handled Franklin County 9-7 on Tuesday on the road.
CMS got 2 hits, 3 RBIs and a run scored from 7th grader Cara Newlin. Hayleigh Skipper and Dani Hillis also had RBIs on teh night.
Kaylee Buckley earned the win in the circle. She allowed 7 runs (6 earned) over 6 innings of work. Newlin tossed a scoreless inning.
CHS BASEBALL 8, NOLENSVILLE 17
A nightmare top of the sixth inning that saw Nolensville’s Knights push 8 runs across the plate cost the CHS Red Raiders Tuesday afternoon in Smyrna.
Coffee County fell 17-8 and dropped to 1-1 on the season with the loss.
After trailing all game, the Raiders rallied with 4 runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a brief 8-7 lead. But that quickly fell apart when Nolensville added 8 in the sixth and 3 more in the seventh. The Raiders committed 4 errors in the loss and managed just six hits.
Jacob Sherrill had another big night at the plate – he had two hits, a run scored and a pair of RBIs
John McKelvey was hit with the loss for CHS. He allowed 6 runs (3 earned) on three hits over 1/3 inning of work.
HS SOFTBALL: Timely big hits lead Lady Raiders to 4-3 win over Rockvale in season opener
Senior Olivia Evans kept hitting the ball hard, but couldn’t get any good luck. Until the bottom of the sixth inning.
The senior center fielder dropped a double in the left-centerfield gap to push Chesnie Cox across the plate with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and the Coffee County Lady Raider softball team went on to open the season with a 4-3 win over Rockvale Tuesday night, March 15, 2022 in Manchester.
Evans’ double capped a night that included two hard hit balls for her that went right to defenders.
THIS GAME WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON THUNDER RADIO. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO REPLAY.
The Lady Raiders (1-0) got plenty of other big hits on the night, too. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Cheyenne Vickers blasted a home run over the center-field fence to tie the game. Then a 2-out hit by Cox set the stage for Evans.
In the fourth inning Emily Schuster also launched a home run – a line drive over the right-center field fence that tied the game at 2-2 at the time.
The Lady Raiders’ other run came in the first when Kiya Ferrell reached on an infield single and later scored on a throwing error.
CHS outhit Rockvale 10-4 in the night.
The Lady Raiders did have some issues with errors – committing 4 in the season’s first game that were costly.
Coffee County’s Channah Gannon picked up the win in relief – allowing no runs over two innings of work while only giving up 1 hit.
Gannon hit Rockvale’s Jessie Condren to leadoff top of the 7th, but got out of trouble when Alivia Reel snagged a line drive at third and doubled off Condren at first base.
Kaitlyn Davis pitched the first 5 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits and 3 strikeouts. She got a no decision.
Coffee County will return to action Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. at Tullahoma.
Kiya Ferrell 
Cheyenne Vickers 
Kiya Ferrell 
Kaitlyn Davis 
Chesnie Cox 
Emily Schuster 
Jada Bowen
Alivia Reel 
Madison Pruitt 
Haidyn Campbell
Birthdays- March 15
Jamie Ranie- 38
Dax Carney- 11- Pizza Winner!
Samantha Cothran- 15
Bradley Howard- 41
Paul Gann- 84
Adam Teal
Kylie Evans
Less than 3 weeks remain to register to vote in May primary
The deadline to register to vote in the upcoming May 3 Coffee County Primary is fast approaching.
Anyone wishing to vote in the May 3 primary must be registered by Monday, April 4. You can register by visiting the Coffee County Election Commission on McArthur St. You can also register to vote from your computer – just click here. Early voting will be April 13 through April 28.
Bill would increase punishment for assaulting first responders in Tennessee
A bill strengthening the punishment for assaulting a first responder advanced out of the Tennessee House Criminal Justice Subcommittee last week.
House Bill 2247 expands the offenses of assault and aggravated assault against a first responder or nurse to include offenses committed against any licensed emergency healthcare provider. It also increases the mandatory minimum jail sentence for each offence.
“My purpose (with) this bill is to draw attention to the fact that evil doesn’t discriminate against only policemen,” State Rep. Kevin Vaughan, R-Collierville, told members of the subcommittee. “It discriminates against anybody in a uniform doing their job. We’d like to call attention to that fact… and then put evil where it belongs.”
The legislation was prompted by a fatal shooting at a grocery store in Collierville last fall that left two people dead, including the shooter, and a dozen others injured.
According to the bill, assault of a first responder or other licensed emergency healthcare provider would be a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a mandatory $5,000 fine and minimum sentence of 90 days in jail. Aggravated assault would be a Class C felony punishable by a mandatory $10,000 fine and minimum 180 days in jail.
Any aggravated assault that resulted in the death of a first responder or other licensed emergency healthcare provider would be a Class A felony. It would carry a mandatory $50,000 fine and mandatory minimum jail sentence of 15 years.
House Bill 2247 will now go to the full House Criminal Justice Committee for consideration. More information about the legislation can be found here.
TN legislature strengthens punishment for certain violent offenders
The Tennessee General Assembly approved legislation last week that eliminates the possibility for parole for first-degree murderers in rape cases.
House Bill 2269 requires that a person be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole if they are convicted of first-degree murder while committing or attempting to commit aggravated rape, rape, rape of a child and aggravated rape of a child.
The legislation now heads to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his signature. More information about House Bill 2269 can be found here.
William Ronald Whitehead
Whitehead, William Ronald , of Tullahoma, passed this life on Saturday, March 12 th , 2022 at Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital at the age of 80. Mr. Whitehead was born in Maryville, Tennessee to the late Benjamin and Ethel Sellers Whitehead. He played football and was an all-state player for Blount County High School and was also a graduate of Park University in Missouri. Mr. Whitehead served his country proudly in the United States Air Force, where he played football and served during Vietnam. He retired from the Air Force after 22 years of service to his country and went on to work in logistics at AEDC from which he retired as well. He was a member of Faith Lutheran Church, as well as the American Legion and loved fishing and various sports. Mr. Whitehead is survived by his wife, Marga Whitehead; two sons, Andre’ Whitehead and Anthony Whitehead; one brother and one sister, Mack (Becky) Whitehead and Christine (Charles) Huskey; and two grandchildren, Hanna Neese and Ainsley Whitehead. Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 17 th , 2022 at Kilgore Funeral Home from 12:00-2:00pm with the funeral to follow at 2:00pm with Rev. Marty Nutter officiating. Interment with full military honors will be held at a later date at Chattanooga National Cemetery.
Kilgore Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Michael Albert Beaulieu
Beaulieu , Michael Albert, of Tullahoma, passed this life on Friday, March 11 th , 2022 at Vanderbilt Tullahoma-Harton Hospital at the age of 63. Mr. Beaulieu was born in Manchester, New Hampshire to the late Ubald and Liliane Labrecque Beaulieu. During his life, he worked in general labor for Nissan. In addition to his parents, Mr. Beaulieu was preceded in death by one son, Michael John Beaulieu; and one brother, William “Billy” Beaulieu. He is survived by two daughters, Ashley (Tracy) Rose, and Fallon (Lucas) Schmidt; one son, Michael Beaulieu; four sisters, Anita Tate, Sue (David) Wagner, Gloria (Bobby) Lowe, and Rita (Randy) Bell; five brothers, Richard (Pat) Beaulieu, Alan (Cindy) Beaulieu, David (Judy) Beaulieu, Danny Beaulieu, and Chip (Chris) Beaulieu; and one granddaughter, Katelyn Lowe. Visitation will be held on Friday, March 18 th , 2022 at Kilgore Funeral Home from 5:00-8:00pm. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, March 19 th , 2022 at 11:00am in the Kilgore Funeral Home Chapel with his brother, Chip Beaulieu officiating. Burial will follow at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens.
Kilgore Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Joyce Ann Bentley
Joyce Ann Bentley , 84, of Tullahoma, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on March 13, 2022. She was born in Franklin County, November 30, 1937, to the late John Henry and Birdie May. Joyce was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Kind and considerate to everyone she met, Joyce loved spending time with her family, reading the Bible, and playing word games on the computer. Joyce was preceded in death by her brothers: Ben May, JB May, James May and Thomas May; her sisters: Mary Lou Kirby, Elma Beavers, Winnie Parks, Ruby Galligan, and Wilma Roberts. She is survived by her husband, Milton; her son Terry (Mihee) Bentley; her daughter Debbie (Tim) Henson; her grandchildren: Daniel (Becca) Bentley, David Bentley, and Stephen (Courtney) Bentley; and seven great-grandchildren. Visitation will be held on Friday, March 18 th , 2022 at Kilgore Funeral Home from 1:00-3:00pm with the funeral to follow at 3:00pm with Lynn Riddle officiating. Burial will follow at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens. Kilgore Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.