Coffee County softball is back in a familiar position.
The CHS Lady Raiders exploded for 7 runs in the last three innings to beat Walker Valley 8-2 in the Region 3-4A semi-finals Monday night on the road.
Now, Coffee County will advance to the Region 3-4A Championship Wednesday at Warren County – first pitch is at 6 p.m. That game will be broadcast live on Thunder Radio. If the Lady Raiders win Wednesday, they will host the state sectional on Friday. If they lose Wednesday, they will travel on Friday. A win Friday will put the Lady Raiders in the state tournament next week.
Monday in Walker Valley, Coffee County trailed 2-1 when Jalyn Moran connected on a 3-run blast. And from there, CHS broke out the big bats – Channah Gannon and Jada Bowen each blasted home runs for Coffee County and Chesnie Cox doubled for the Lady Raiders, who outhit Walker Valley 12-6.
Kaitlyn Davis was solid in the circle for Coffee County, allowing 1 earned run on six hits. She struck out three batters in the win.
BASEBALL: Raiders dropped 12-2 in region semi-finals to end season
Coffee County struggled to get anything going Monday night, managing just 4 hits and issuing multiple walks in a 12-2 loss to Bradley Central in the Region 3-4A Semi-Finals in Manchester.
The loss ends the season for the Raiders. Bradley Central advances to the region championship against Walker Valley.
Coffee County fell behind 2-0 in the first inning against the Bears Monday night in Manchester and never recovered. Coffee County struggled on the mound – going through five different pitchers. The CHS pitching staff issued 13 walks and hit 3 Bradley Central batters on the night.
Aiden Robertson started and was pulled after two innings – he allowed 1 earned run on two hits and 3 walks The CHS pitching staff only struck out 4 Bear batters.
Four Raiders managed one hit apiece – the only extra base hit an RBI double from freshman Cole Pippenger down the third base line in a 2-run bottom of the fifth for the Raiders.
CHS finishes the season 16-17 overall.
FOOTBALL: Raiders to wrap spring practice with Monday scrimmage
Coffee County’s Red Raider football team will hold its 10th and final spring practice on Monday, May 16 in scrimmage form.
Marshall County will travel to Manchester for a spring scrimmage workout with the Raiders and the public is invited to attend.
The scrimmage will start at approximately 6 p.m. at Carden-Jarrell Field (behind Raider Academy). Coach Doug Greene said the teams will scrimmage for a little over an hour, with no kickoffs or punts.
Admission is a donation to the Isaiah 117 House – monetary donations or toiletries accepted.
The Raiders will wrap spring practice after the scrimmage and take two weeks off before beginning summer workouts on May 31. The 100th season of Raider football will kickoff on Friday, August 19th when Franklin County comes to town.
You can listen to the Red Raiders on Thunder Radio this fall – 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM, Manchester Go app and thunder1320.com.
REGION TOURNAMENT: Raider baseball, softball play in region semi-finals Monday
Both the Coffee County Central baseball and softball teams will play in the Region 3-4A semi-finals Monday night, May 16.
These are elimination games. If they win, they will play for a region championship Wednesday and a sectional game Friday for a chance to go the the TSSAA Bluecross Spring Fling next week. A loss Monday ends the season.
Baseball to host Bradley Central
After winning the District 6-4A championship with two wins over Franklin County on Wednesday of this past week, the Raider baseball team has earned the chance to host the region semi-finals.
Coffee County will host Bradley Central out of District 5. The bears are 22-13 on the year and finished 11-3 in their district.
First pitch is at 6 p.m. from Powers Field and you can hear the game live on Thunder Radio: 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM, Manchester Go smartphone app and thunder1320.com
The Red Raider soccer team lost to Shelbyville 3-0 tonight in the district championship game. Bodey Todd was named goalkeeper of the year in the district. Josue Salinas and Aidan Abellana were named first team all district. John Martinez and Manny Gonzalez were named 2nd team all district. The Raiders will play at Ooltewah in the regional semifinals on Tuesday at 6:00 central time.
If the Raiders win on Monday, they will host the region championship Wednesday if Franklin County beats Walker Valley; or they will travel if Walker Valley beats Franklin County.
Softball Lady Raiders at Walker Valley
After finishing runner-up in the district to Warren County, the Lady Raiders are forced to travel in the region semi-finals. They will go to Walker Valley on Monday for a 5 p.m. (Central) first pitch.
Walker Valley (27-13 / 8-4) beat Coffee County 14-10 in the regular season. However, neither team started their top pitcher in that game.
If the Lady Raiders win to keep their season alive, they will travel on Wednesday in the region championship to either Warren County or Rhea County.
SOCCER: Raiders shutout in district title match; 5 named all-district
Coffee County Central soccer fell 3-0 Thursday night in the soccer District 6-4A championship in Shelbyville.
However, the Raiders did earn a bid to the Region 3-4A semi-finals by way of their runner-up finish. They will play at Ooltewah at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 7 (central time). That is an elimination match.
Five different Raiders received honors after the district title game.
Bodey Todd was named goalkeeper of the year. Aidan Abellana and Josue Salinas picked up first-team all-district honors. John Martinez and Manny Gonzales earned 2nd team all-district honors.
First ever Thundies Sports Awards are sold out
The Dream for Weave Foundation and Thunder Radio will be hosting the first ever “Thundie Sports Awards” for the Coffee County community on Saturday, May 21.
Tickets to the event have sold out.
The inaugural sports awards will honor the best athletes, coaches and teams of Coffee County Central High School, Westwood Middle School and Coffee Middle School. Doors for the red carpet event will open at 5:15 p.m. at First Baptist Church Gymnasium (1006 Hillsboro Blvd). Middle Tennessee State University head softball coach and the pioneer of the CHS Lady Raider softball program, Jeff Breeden, will deliver the keynote address.
Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. with awards to follow. Approximately three dozen awards will be handed out, as well as approximately $13,000 in scholarship funding from the Dream for Weave Foundation
“This is the type of event that Holly, myself and the foundation board envisioned when the Dream for Weave Foundation launched back in late 2020, it has just taken us some time to get there,” said Josh Peterson, vice president of Thunder Radio and treasurer of the Dream for Weave Foundation.
“We put a great emphasis on local sports coverage at Thunder Radio with our broadcasts, our daily sports coverage, photos, Thunder The Magazine and our weekly coaches show,” added Peterson. “As everyone saw last spring when the Lady Raider softball team made a deep run in the state tournament and just recently when the Red Raider basketball team reached the state tournament – athletics are very important to our community. This event is perfect to recognize and honor them.”
The Thundie Sports Awards are driven by Al White Ford Lincoln — the presenting sponsor.
Sponsor Peoples Bank & Trust is providing meals and t-shirts for winning athletes, and Unity Medical Center is providing dessert and admission for award-winning athletes. All athletes who are set to be honored have been contacted and invited to the event free of charge thanks to these generous sponsors. Awards will be decided based on decisions of the awards committee.
“There are multiple people who are putting in so much of their time to make this event possible for our athletes and if not for them and our great sponsors, it simply would not be possible,” said Rob Clutter, president of the Dream for Weave Foundation.
Dream for Weave Foundation
The foundation was formed in October of 2020, just 3 months after the sudden passing of Thunder Radio sports director Dennis Weaver after complications from a routine operation.
Beloved by all, Weave as the play-by-play voice for Coffee County athletics and one of the key contributors to the rise of the CHS softball program in the 90s. He was a graduate of Central High School.
His love for sports and the athletes who played them led to the formation of the foundation, which aims to ensure all children who want to play sports have the means and equipment necessary to play. The foundation also strives to provide scholarship funding to athletes departing CHS and pursuing higher education – whether in the college or technical fields.
About Keynote Speaker Jeff Breeden
Jeff Breeden is currently coaching his 10th season as Head Softball Coach at Middle Tennessee in 2022 and has seen improvement in his team in each of the nine previous years.
MT finished at 26-22 overall in 2021, including an 11-8 mark in Conference USA play, leading the Blue Raiders to their first winning record in league play since 2007.
Breeden is a high school state championship softball coach in Tennessee with over 700 career wins. He is largely credited with helping to build the Coffee County Central Lady Raider softball program, which had 1 win before his arrival. Breeden coached with Weaver for many years and together the two helped to build the softball complex where the Lady Raiders now play. He earned 341 wins as Lady Raider head coach from 1990-2003, and made two state tournament appearances before leaving for Riverdale.
GOLF: Coffee County Middle takes first place for regular season; waiting on opponent for championship
Coffee County Middle’s Golf team has wrapped up its regular season and found to be atop the standings among all CTC Golf teams.
The Raiders have now advanced to the tournament championship after a forfeit in the tournament. Now Westwood and Tullahoma will play at WillowBrook on Monday (May 16) to see who will meet Coffee County for a championship match, which is scheduled for May 23.
MIDDLE SCHOOL BASEBALL: Coffee County season ends after first ever sectional appearance
The first ever trip to the state sectional tournament ended in a tough 3-2 loss to Spring Station for the Coffee Middle Red Raider baseball team.
The loss ends the season with an 11-10 record for CMS.
Spring Station (no. 1 seed) was tied up with Coffee County before scoring a run on a ground out fielder’s choice in the bottom of the sixth.
Austin Gipson was stellar for the Raiders on the mound in the loss – allowing three runs on four hits over six innings while striking out five. Gipson went 2-for-4 at the plate – accounting for 2 of Coffee County’s 6 hits.
BASEBALL: Raiders win 2 over Rebels to claim first district tournament title since 2011
It’s been a long wait for the Raider baseball program to claim a district title.
Coffee County Central needed to beat Franklin County twice Wednesday to win the first ever District 6-4A championship and the Raiders did just that, staving off a rally in game one for a 6-5 win and pulling away in game two for an 18-8 run-rule shortened win as both teams began running short of pitching late in the tournament.
Game 1: Raiders 6, Rebels 5
Franklin County scored 2 in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying run on the way to the plate, but Coffee County cut down Gattis Henley at the plate to end the game with the Raiders on top.
A two-hit, 2 RBI performance by Jacob Holder and an RBI to go along with a double by Nolan Jernigan provided most of the offense for the Raiders, who took the lead in the first inning 3-1 and never trailed.
Jayden Fellers earned the win, pitching 6 and 2/3 and allowing 4 earned runs on 6 hits. Cole Bryce got the final out.
Game 2: Raiders 18, Rebels 8
The Raiders saw an 11-0 lead dissipate to 11-8 by the top of the fourth inning, but CHS put the gas back down and ended the game 18-8 with a six-run spot in the bottom of the fifth.
Multiple Raiders notched extra base hits in the game: Jacob Sherrill (2), Holder, Aiden Robertson, Nate Rutledge and Cole Pippenger all doubled. Holder and Sherrill added triples and Pippenger lifted a home run.
First title in a while
The championship for Coffee County is the first in the new district. It also marks the program’s first district tournament title since 2011, when CHS won its last of a run of three tournament titles in a row from 2009-2011.
With the win over Franklin County, the Raiders (16-16) are the no. 1 seed in the Region 3-4A semi-finals and will host Bradley Central (22-13 overall) Monday, May 16. That is an elimination game. The winner of that game will play in the region championship Wednesday and the state sectional on Friday. The Raider baseball team hasn’t played in the state sectional since 2010, when they won and advanced to the program’s only state tournament trip.
Franklin County will travel to Walker Valley for the region semi-finals.
SOFTBALL: Lady Raiders lose lead, district title chance in late innings
Coffee County led 3-0 in the first inning and held it until the sixth – then the wheels came off.
Warren County used a pair of walks, a double and two bloop singles to push 4 runs across the plate in the bottom of the sixth and beat the Coffee County Lady Raiders 4-3 in McMinnville Wednesday – a game you heard live on Thunder Radio. Coffee County needed to beat Warren County twice to win the district championship after losing to the Lady Pioneers last week in the winner’s bracket finals.
Now the Lady Raiders will be the no. 2 seed and have to travel Walker Valley – the top seed out of District 5-4A – in the Region 3-4A semi finals on Monday, May 16. That is an elimination game. Warren County will host Rhea County.
Wednesday in McMinnville, the first three Lady Raider batters – Kiya Ferrell, Olivia Evans and Haidyn Campbell – all reached base and scored. The Lady Raiders wouldn’t score again. In fact, Warren County starting pitcher Madison Hollis retired 13 straight CHS batters before an Olivia Evans single in the sixth. Evans had two of Coffee County’s 4 hits. CHS was outhit 8-4 in the loss.
Kaitlyn Davis was tagged with the loss – allowing 4 runs, which all came in the sixth, in 4 walks and 8 hits. She struck out 6.
notes
Multiple Lady Raiders were named District 6-4A All-District team. Haidyn Campbell was named district MVP. Also named to the all-district team were Olivia Evans, Kiya Ferrell, Channah Gannon, Kaitlyn Davis and Chesnie Cox.
Photos and graphics by Holly Peterson, Thunder Radio