Category: Sports

Freddie Freeman had his finest day of the season, but it was his preseason pick for the National League MVP Award who really stole the show as the Braves swept a seven-inning doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday.

“I don’t think Ronald [Acuña Jr.] needed anybody else on his team today,” Freeman said. “He took care of everything today. He’s pretty amazing to watch. He’s a talent that doesn’t come around in this game. It seems like he does more special things every year. You could tell he was about to get hot.”

Acuña quadrupled his season home run total as he went deep three times on the day, including twice during the Braves’ 8-0 win over the Phillies in Game 2. His fifth-inning go-ahead homer sparked Atlanta to a 5-2 win in the first game.

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1st National Bank and Thunder Radio will once again join forces this fall as we continue to highlight local athletes and teams. The highly acclaimed 1st National Bank Hometown Sports Series returns for its 7th season as we highlight middle school football action from Westwood and Coffee County Middle, along with girls’ soccer and volleyball at the middle schools and at Coffee County Central High.

Beginning on August 12th and continuing through the end of September, Thunder Radio will bring you a series of 20 regular season contests as we strive to spotlight Manchester’s incredible school and community spirit.  The Hometown Sports Series will continue into the postseason for the high school volleyball and soccer teams as well as any middle school football championship games in October.   Just another example of why Thunder Radio is your leader in Manchester and Coffee County sports coverage.

Tentative schedule below (subject to change)

A date has been set for Westwood Middle School baseball tryouts under first year head coach Reed Wolfe.

The Rockets will have tryouts from 5-7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28 at Fred Deadman Park, according to Wolfe. Potential players will need an updated physical for tryouts. For more information, contact head coach Reed Wolfe at rwolfe@k12mcs.net

Westwood Middle School has released its football schedule for 2020.

The Rockets will host their annual Blue-White intra-squad game at 7 p.m. Aug. 13. After that the Rockets will open the season at home at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20 against Fayetteville.

The Rockets have a seven game schedule and are attempting to finalize an eighth game. See the full schedule here:

Tune into the Coffee Coaches Show from 10-11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8 on Thunder Radio.

We will be broadcasting live from Al White Ford Lincoln and will have several coaches and athletes on hand, including CHS football coach Doug Greene, CHS cheer coach Christy Clouse and WMS volleyball coach Laura Freeze, as well as several athletes. Listen at 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM and stream at www.thunder1320.com

The Coffee County Central High School Lady Raider soccer team has finalized its 2020 schedule after some adjustments due to COVID-19.

The Lady Raiders will open up the season Aug. 18 and immediately get into District 8-AAA play, traveling to Lincoln County. CHS will be on the road for their first three games before returning home on Sept. 1 to host Tullahoma in the annual Coffee Cup rivalry. CHS will also not be playing any regular season JV games.

Had the Braves’ rotation not been fractured over the past few weeks, Sean Newcomb may have already been moved back to the bullpen.

But with limited options, the Braves are left hoping Newcomb extends the progress he showed in the Braves’ 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday night at Truist Park. The lefty still hasn’t completed five innings through any of his first three starts, but he’s steadily moved closer toward reaching that modest benchmark.

“I obviously want to go out and go more than five [innings] and have a better start, but there’s definitely been progress,” Newcomb said. “The offspeed is getting better, and these have been my first three starts in over a year and a half. It’s been a little bit of an adjustment. But I think I’m starting to click again using the whole repertoire.”

Once a top pitching prospect, Newcomb debuted in 2017, made an early All-Star bid in ‘18, then was optioned to Triple-A after just three starts in ‘19. He’s 27 years old now. There may not be many more chances for him to prove himself as a starter.

And quite frankly, he may not even have this current chance had the Braves not seen Mike Soroka, Mike Foltynewicz, Cole Hamels and Félix Hernández removed from their rotation plans at various points since the start of July.

So yes, there was reason for the Braves and Newcomb to feel some satisfaction after this latest outing, in which he was charged with two earned runs and five hits over 4 2/3 innings.

“That was encouraging tonight from Newk,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It was a lot better than his first two [starts]. So hopefully he figures some stuff out.”

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Viktor Arvidsson scored the lone goal for the Predators on Wednesday afternoon, and the Arizona Coyotes earned a 4-1 win in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead in their Stanley Cup Qualifier with Nashville. 

The result means Friday’s Game 4 is a must-win for the Preds in the best-of-five scenario.

In the postseason, all that matters is the result. Predators Head Coach John Hynes has preached throughout the series that the best-of-five set is just that – an up-and-down, back-and-forth battle. That’s what makes Wednesday’s score tough to accept. 

The Predators did just about everything but find the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes, as Arizona netminder Darcy Kuemper stopped all 19 Nashville shots he faced. Instead, the Coyotes scored on their first shot of the game – a redirection from Christian Dvorak – and took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.

“It’s frustrating right now,” Predators Captain Roman Josi said of the result. “Especially in the first [period], I thought we played really well. We created a lot of chances, had a lot of shots, a lot of zone time; obviously, we couldn’t get a goal, but I think it was a really good first period for us… But looking back, in the first, I wish we got some goals.”

Nashville remained on the attack despite the setback. Finally, in the second period, Ryan Johansen stole the puck from two Coyotes in the neutral zone and started an odd-man rush. Filip Forsberg then slipped a pass over to Arvidsson, who tallied his second goal on a slap shot in as many days to even the score at 1-1.

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The Red Raider and Lady Raider golf teams both dropped matches to Cookeville and Upperman Tuesday. But individual scores did improve for many of the Coffee County golfers from their opening match last week.

The Raider boys shot a 390 – led by Logan Hale, who carded an 86. Blake Perry was close behind with a 92, Zack Tidwell shot 102 and David O’Connor finished with a 110.

Cookeville won the boys match with an impressive 301.

Meanwhile, the Lady Raider golfers finished just 9 strokes behind Upperman for third place, shooting a 216. Cookeville won the match with a 157.

Cadie Prater led the way for Coffee County with a 106, followed by Maggy Crouch with a 110.

Coffee County will stay on the road, traveling to take on Franklin County next Tuesday, Aug. 11. CHS will host for the first time on Thursday, Aug. 13, when Shelbyville travels to WillowBrook