Coffee County Central Red Raider cheerleaders will host a youth cheerleading clinic from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 11.
Registration begins at 7:45 a.m. The clinic will be held at Raider Academy gym on McMinnville Highway.
Cost to attend is $25. Clinic hosted by CHS Red Raider cheerleaders. A clinic t-shirt is included in registration. Contact Christy Clouse at clousec@k12coffee.net for more information.
Coffee County baseball to host youth camp in June
Coffee County Central baseball team will host a youth camp June 20-22.
Cost is $50 per player. Kids entering grades 4-5 will have camp from 9-11 a.m. each day, while those entering 6th-8th grades will go from 1-3 p.m. each day.
Each camper should bring baseball pants, glove, bat, helmet and cleats. A camp shirt is included.
Please pre-register by clicking here.
Extra registration day added for summer bball camp
Kids entering kindergarten through 8th grade who love basketball will have a chance to learn from the best this summer.
Coach Cope and Coach Taylor’s Basketball Camp 2022 will be June 8-10 from 8-10:30 a.m. each day at the Central High School gymnasium.
The camp is for boys and girls entering grades K-8 next school year.
Campers will be placed in groups by age and skill level and work on basketball fundamentals with Lady Raider head coach Joe Pat Cope and Red Raider boys basketball coach Andrew Taylor, as well as assistant coaches, current and former players.
The Lady Raider basketball program has won 5 consecutive district championships. Meanwhile, the Raider boys are fresh off a trip to the TSSAA State Tournament.
Campers will be working on dribbling, shooting, passing, offense and defense each day. Each camper will receive a t-shirt. Cost is $60 per player.
Due to overwhelming demand, an extra registration day has been added. Campers should pre-register from 8-9 a.m. Saturday, June 4 at the CHS gymnasium. Campers MUST pre register to receive a shirt. Anyone with questions should contact Cope at copej@k12coffee.net
CHS basketball programs announce 3-day summer kids camp
Kids entering kindergarten through 8th grade who love basketball will have a chance to learn from the best this summer.
Coach Cope and Coach Taylor’s Basketball Camp 2022 will be June 8-10 from 8-10:30 a.m. each day at the Central High School gymnasium.
The camp is for boys and girls entering grades K-8 next school year.
Campers will be placed in groups by age and skill level and work on basketball fundamentals with Lady Raider head coach Joe Pat Cope and Red Raider boys basketball coach Andrew Taylor, as well as assistant coaches, current and former players.
The Lady Raider basketball program has won 5 consecutive district championships. Meanwhile, the Raider boys are fresh off a trip to the TSSAA State Tournament.
Campers will be working on dribbling, shooting, passing, offense and defense each day. Each camper will receive a t-shirt. Cost is $60 per player.
Pre-registration for a guaranteed t-shirt has already passed. Campers can still register late by contacting Cope at copej@k12coffee.net
Lady Raider softball tryouts are May 31, June 1
Tryouts for the 2023 Coffee County Central Lady Raider softball team will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday (May 31 – June 1).
Those wishing to tryout should bring a glove, bat, cleats and an updated physical form. If you plan to tryout, click here to fill out a form prior to arrival.
Tryouts on Tuesday, May 31, will be broken into two sessions: 4-5:30 p.m. and 5:30-7 p.m. The student athlete should choose their session in the form here.
Tryouts to be held at Terry Floyd Field, behind Coffee County High School at 100 Red Raider Dr. in Manchester.
SPRING FLING CENTRAL: Coffee County athletes fight through rainy conditions Thursday
Coffee County Central track & field and tennis athletes traveled to Murfreesboro Thursday to compete in the TSSAA Spring Fling State Championships, fighting through rainy and stormy conditions most all day.
In the girls shot put, Lady Raider senior Elli Chumley placed 12th with a distance of 31-3.50 – just a hair under 3-feet shy of the medal stand.
In boys discus throw, CHS senior Ethan Welch tossed 110-5 to place 14th. Welch also competed in pole vault, clearing 11-0, which was 1 foot shy of the medal stand.
In girls pole vault, senior Madison Rooker knocked out a personal record at 7-6 to place 14th.
The Coffee County 4×800 relay team of Rooker, Chumley, Patricia Barrera and Kailee Rossman finished with a time of 10:28.65 to earn 11th place. They were 18 seconds off the pace to get on the medal stand.
Meanwhile, the CHS tennis team sent the doubles pairing of Rylea McNamara (sophomore) and Lauren Perry (senior) to the state tournament for the first time. The pairing lost 1-0 to Elena Kurowski and Kylee Hockman of McMinn County.
SPRING FLING CENTRAL: Track, tennis to Murfreesboro Thursday
More CHS athletes are headed to the TSSAA Spring Fling State Championships on Thursday.
Coffee County Track and Field will be well represented at the state meet, held at MTSU.
Senior Elli Chumley will throw shot put and senior Ethan Welch will throw discus in the 9 a.m. window on Thursday, May 26. Welch will also do the boys pole vault in the 9 a.m. window. Senior Madison Rooker will participate in the girls pole vault around noon.
Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. the 4×800 girls relay team of Chumley, Rooker, Patricia Barrera and Kailee Rossman will compete. See the full schedule of events here.
Tennis Doubles will hit the court Thursday morning
The CHS doubles team of Lauren Perry (senior) and Rylea McNamara (sophomore) will hit the court at 9 a.m. Thursday. The duo will take on Elena Kurowski and Kylee Hockman from McMinn County. A win in that match would put Perry and McNamara in the semi finals at 2 p.m. and they would need to win that to advance to the championship round at 11 a.m. Friday.
All doubles tennis matches at the Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesboro. Click here for full schedule.
STATE HEARTBREAK: Lady Raiders can’t get bats going, eliminated from spring fling
Everyone was waiting on that one big hit.
But it just never came for the Central High School Lady Raiders in the Spring Fling State Tournament.
Coffee County only mustered 6 hits and stranded 9 runners on base – 6 in scoring position – in a 3-0 loss to Stewarts Creek Wednesday afternoon in an elimination game of the TSSAA Spring Fling in Murfreesboro. The loss ends the season for Coffee County after back-to-back trips to the state tournament.
The bats never really heated up for the Lady Raiders in the tournament. After only scoring 1 run in their first game on Tuesday (a 4-1 loss to Springfield), Coffee County couldn’t push anything across on Wednesday against the Redhawks, giving them a 12 inning scoreless drought to close the season. In fact, before the Lady Raiders got a hit in the fourth inning, they had gone 8 straight innings without a hit dating back to Tuesday.
Against Stewarts Creek, CHS pushed the game into the sixth tied 0-0 before the Redhawks finally broke through with a 2 run sixth inning. SC added a home run with 2 outs in the 7th for insurance.
THIS GAME WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON THUNDER RADIO. CLICK HERE FOR THE BROADCAST REPLAY.
At the plate, Coffee County threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning after Kiya Ferrell reached on a leadoff single and Olivia Evans moved her over on a bunt. Ferrell scooted over to third on a wild pitch with just the one out and Haidyn Campbell walked. But two pop ups on the infield killed the threat.
CHS stranded 2 more in each of the 5th and 6th innings. Trailing 3-0, the Lady Raiders loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh but Haidyn Campbell’s flyball was caught to close the game.
Although tougher pitching in the state tournament certainly had something to do with Coffee County’s offensive woes, it was rare this season to see the Lady Raiders held scoreless. You have to go back to a 3-0 loss to Columbia Academy on March 21 to find the last shutout loss for CHS.
Coffee County finishes 24-16 on the year with a regular season District 6-4A title and a region 3-4A championship.
The loss ends the high school career for 5 seniors: Kiya Ferrell, Olivia Evans, Haidyn Campbell, Jada Bowen and Emily Schuster. Of those – Campbell, Evans and Schuster will move on to play collegiate softball. Ferrell will play college volleyball at Cumberland.
Kaitlyn Davis 
Emily Schuster 
Olivia Evans 
Chesnie Cox
Thunder Radio photos by Holly Peterson
STATE TOURNAMENT: Bats go cold in Lady Raider loss to Springfield
Coffee County could only muster four hits and went cold in the final few innings in a 4-1 loss to Sprinfield in the opening round of the TSSAA State Tournament Tuesday night, May 24, 2022.
Springfield starting pitcher Brie Asmondy kept the Lady Raiders off balance most of the night.
Coffee County managed only 4 hits – 3 coming in the second inning – in the loss. In fact, after the Lady Raiders scored a run on 3 hits in the 2nd, Asmondy went on to retire 13 consecutive Lady Raiders and 16 of the last 17. The only glitch was a hit batsman in the 7th inning.
THIS GAME WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON THUNDER RADIO. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO REPLAY.
The lone CHS run came in the 2nd when Jada Bowen knocked in Paisley Campbell on a double deep in the outfield. That tied the game at 1-1 at the time. The Lady Raiders had another run cut down at the plate in the inning when Channah Gannon tried to score in a first-third situation but was called out in a bang-bang play.
After that CHS went cold – not getting a single runner on base until Gannon was hit by a pitch in the 7th.
Meanwhile, a couple of home run balls by the Yellow Jackets stung the Lady Raiders. Lauren Nicholson hit a two-out blast in the first inning. Then another two-out homer came in the fourth inning on a shot by Elaina Goodfred. That home run came after the Lady Raiders missed a double-play opportunity. Springfield added a run in the sixth on an error when CHS miscommunicated on the infield and let a ball drop.
The Yellowjackets outhit Coffee County 7-4. The top four spots of the Coffee County lineup, which is usually very potent, was 1-for-12 with no runs scored, no RBI and 4 strikeouts.
Kaitlyn Davis was tagged with the loss in the circle. She allowed 7 hits and struck out 2.
With the loss, Coffee County has a lot of work ahead to navigate through the tournament. Weather permitting, the Lady Raiders will play Stewarts Creek at (approximately) 11:30 a.m. approximately Wednesday (May 25) weather permitting. That game will be at Starplex Field #2 in Murfreesboro. If Coffee County wins that game, the Lady Raiders will turn around and play at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday evening at Starplex Field 4. If they can win both of those Wednesday, they will need 4 more wins to win a state championship.
Wednesday’s games will be broadcast live on Thunder Radio – 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM, Manchester Go app and thunder1320.com.
Coffee Middle defeats Tullahoma in CCJG Championship
Coffee County Middle golf got contributions from every group on the course and that was enough for a 7 flags to 5 win over Tullahoma Monday, May 23 in the Coffee County Junior Golf Invitational Championship at WillowBrook.
The CMS teams of Cade Williams and Skylar Releford and Noah Costello and Luke Lowe made the difference on the scorecard. Team Williams-Releford outplayed its group by 2 flags, 2.5 to 0.5. Meanwhile, team Costello-Lowe outplayed Jack Hill and Eli Lewis 2 flags to 1.
That was enough for the championship for CMS.
The Raider team of Tallan Crosslin and Lucas Turner split 1.5 to 1.5 against their opposing group. Brayden Kesling and James Bradley lost 2 flags to 1.
The tournament win completes the spring season for Coffee Middle Golf.