Former Coffee County Central Lady Raider Haley Hinshaw delivered big time for her college softball team in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Softball Tournament.
With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Hinshaw (a senior) ripped an RBI single up the middle for a walk-off win in the conference tournament.
The win gave TN Wesleyan a birth to the next round of the playoffs. It was Hinshaw’s only walkoff of her softball career. TN Wesleyan is a top 20 NAIA team in the country.
Three Rocket baseball players named to all conference team
Coming off the program’s first winning season in well over a decade, a third place finish in the D.R.V.C tournament last year, and an unusually shortened season the previous year, the Westwood Rockets Baseball team continued to add firsts to their program resume.
After going 12-7 in the 2021 season, the Rockets followed up this year with an overall record of 11-7 and a 5th place tournament finish.
The 2022 season was marked with the first double digit regular season win total, at 10. Although, the Rockets placed 5th in the D.R.V.C. tournament, for the first time in school history they acted as the tournament host at Fred Deadman Park. Voted unanimously by the conference coaches to host, the Rockets completed their 2022 season and tournament on May 4th. Three Rockets were named to the D.R.V.C. All-Conference team: Davis McKenzie, Ethan McKenzie, and Kaysen Lowery.Â
Preds in 3-0 hole, brink of elimination
Nashville and Colorado combined for six power-play goals in Game 3, but it was the Predators who fell to the Avalanche by a 7-3 final on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds now on the brink of elimination as they trail 3-0 in the Round One series.
Matt Duchene, Eeli Tolvanen and Roman Josi all tallied for Nashville in Game 3, but four of Colorado’s seven goals came with the man advantage as the series shifted back to Tennessee. The Predators say their 5-on-5 play was the best they’ve seen in the series, but the Avalanche took advantage of their chances to ultimately hand the Preds their third loss in as many tries.
“Tough loss,” Josi said. “Special teams were a huge factor tonight… We’ve got to be better on the power play, and be better on the penalty kill. Special teams are always a big factor. To get out of the box is always a big factor.”
“We did a really good job on the 5-on-5, and we know that we can play against these guys 5-on-5,” Tolvanen said. “We took way too many penalties. They scored four power-play goals. That’s one thing we have to clean up.”
Colorado had a 2-0 lead in the game’s first 16 minutes with a pair of power-play goals, but the Preds got on the board before the opening period was out courtesy of Duchene picking a corner on Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper to bring Nashville to within one goal. Then, late in the period, Kuemper caught an inadvertent stick through a hole in his mask and left the game with backup netminder Pavel Francouz taking over
Hear Predators Hockey on Thunder Radio thanks to realtor Charlie Gonzales with Weichert Realtors, Joe Orr & Associates.
Raiders open District 6-4A tournament with 5-3 win over Warren County
Coffee County took the lead in the first inning and never looked back Saturday. Behind a strong outing on the mound from Aidan Robertson and a two-run home run from Caleb Moran, the Raiders dropped Warren County 5-3 in the first round of the District 6 -4A tournament at Powers Field in Manchester.
The Pioneers mounded a two-out rally in the top of the seventh inning to make things interesting. Warren County loaded the bases and got a bases-clearing double from Easton Denning to cut the Raider lead to 5-3. But Brady Nugent entered and put out the fire, enticing Will Vance to ground out and end the game.
Nugent got the save for Robertson, who went the first 6 and 2/3 but couldn’t close out the game. Robertson was cruising until two outs in the seventh. He earned the win – allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. He did walk 5 and hit a pair of Pioneer batters and struck out 5.
The Raider defense played remarkably well behind Robertson considering the muddy and rainy conditions – with the only error on a catcher’s interference.
At the plate, Coffee County took the lead in the first inning on a two-run home run from Caleb Moran to right field. The Raiders added 3 more in the third – a 2 RBI single from Robertson and an RBI single from older.
The second game of the tournament: Shelbyville and Franklin County, was postponed due to weather and will now be played at 4:30 Monday. The loser of that game will play Warren County at 7 p.m. Monday night. Meanwhile, the Raiders will play the winner of that game at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. All district tournament games at Powers Field in Manchester.
Cole Pippenger 
Aiden Robertson 
Caleb Moran
Lady Raiders can’t push runs across plate, fall into loser’s bracket of district tournament
It seemed everything Coffee County hit hard during big situations found the glove of a Lady Pioneer Friday night.
That combined with base running mistakes and a pair of errors cost the Lady Raiders a 3-1 loss in the winner’s bracket finals of the District 6-4A tournament in Manchester – a game you heard live on Thunder Radio.
It marks the first district loss of the season for the Lady Raiders, who had swept Warren County during the season. It also puts Coffee County’s season on brink of elimination – as the Lady Raiders will have to win in the loser’s bracket finals Tuesday at home to keep their season alive. If they win that, they will need to beat Warren County twice in McMinnville to claim a district title.
Friday night in Manchester, Coffee County looked poised to make rally in the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, the Lady Raiders got runners on second with no outs and Kaitlyn Davis ripped a line drive. But Warren County’s shortstop Alyssa Mosely snagged the ball in the air and doubled Ava McIntosh off of third base.
Then in the seventh back to back singles by Jalyn Moran and Chesnie Cox with one out put the winning run at the plate. Kiya Ferrell lifted a well-hit ball into left center that was caught on a diving play by Marli McBride, who popped to her feet and doubled Madison Pruitt of of second base to end the game.
Coffee County’s lone run came in the third, Olivia Evans singled home Chesnie Cox to tie the game at 1-1.
Only one of Warren County’s runs was earned thanks to a pair of CHS errors. Warren County scored its first run on a freak play. McBride stole second after a wild pitch. The throw down to second made it into center field and all the way to the fence after Olivia Evans slipped and fell on the slick playing surface.
Kaitlyn Davis was tagged with the loss in the circle despite allowing only 4 hits. She struck out 6 Lady Pioneer batters. Coffee County outhit Warren County 8-4.
The loss for Coffee County is the first to Warren County since 2018. Warren County locked up a trip to the Region 3-4A semi-finals with the win.
Predators fall behind 2-0 in first round
Connor Ingram made 49 saves, but the Nashville Predators fell to the Colorado Avalanche in overtime by a 2-1 final in Game 2 on Thursday night at Ball Arena. The result sees the Preds trail by a 2-0 count in the Round One series with Games 3 and 4 ahead in Nashville.
Yakov Trenin scored the lone goal for the Predators on the night, and Ingram, who made the first postseason start of his career, produced one of the more epic playoff performances from a Nashville goaltender in franchise history.
But ultimately, the Preds were unable to tally for a second time, and the visitors were left with a result they were hoping to avoid before heading home.
“I don’t think it really matters individually at this point,” Ingram said when asked of his emotions following the loss. “I mean, it’s a playoff series. If you don’t come out with wins it doesn’t really add up to much, and that’s the beauty of playoffs. For Game 1, it was 7-2, today it’s 2-1. On Saturday it’ll be a brand new day again. That’s the beauty of it. We can pack this one away and move on to the next one.”
“Connor played great,” Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. “He had a great goaltending performance tonight. He made lots of saves at key times, and it was nice to see him be able to play to his ability. Against a high-powered offensive team you’re going to need excellent goaltending to be able to win games. He certainly provided that tonight.”
Nathan MacKinnon gave Colorado a 1-0 lead when he beat Ingram short side just over five minutes into Game 2, but before the opening period was out, Trenin converted on a 2-on-1 and snapped a shot past Darcy Kuemper for his first of the postseason to even the score.
Both clubs traded chances in the second stanza, and Ingram made 21 saves in the period for the Preds, and then Nashville’s netminder stopped 13 more Avalanche shots in the final frame to single handedly lead his club to overtime.
Hear Predators Hockey on Thunder Radio thanks to realtor Charlie Gonzales with Weichert Realtors, Joe Orr & Associates.
Alontae Taylor throws out first pitch of district softball touranment
Coffee County Red Raider football alum Alontae Taylor stopped by Terry Floyd Field Thursday to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Lady Raiders opened the District 6-4A tournament against Shelbyville.
Taylor tossed the first pitch then hung around all evening to watch the Lady Raiders win 13-3.
Taylor, who played quarterback for the Red Raiders before going on to play defensive back for the University of Tennessee Volunteers, was drafted in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints. He was the 49th overall selection.
CHS tennis shows out at district tournament
Coffee County Central tennis team showed out at the district tournament Thursday, May 5, 2022 in Shelbyville.
The doubles team of Lauren Perry and Rylea McNamara were crowned doubles district champions for the second year in a row.
The boys doubles team of Krish Patel and Liam Brown took second. Jonathan Nelson finished second in the district in singles.
McNamara, Patel, Brown and Nelson were all selected to the all-district team. Perry was named District MVP.
Everyone advances to the region tournament.
Lady Raiders blast 3 home runs to open district tournament
Coffee County’s Lady Raiders brought their big bats to the ballpark Thursday.
Three different Lady Raiders launched home runs as CHS went on to run rule Shelbyville 13-3 in the opening round of the District 6-4A softball tournament in Manchester.
Freshman Channah Gannon lifted a 3-run home run, senior Haidyn Campbell blasted a 2-run shot and senior Kiya Ferrell lined a solo bomb – all over the centerfield fence. Gannon also doubled home a run.
Ferrell finished 4-for-4 with 3RBI and a couple of runs scored. Coffee County outhit the Eaglettes 15-6 in the win. Jada Bowen and Madison Pruitt each punched out three hits for the Lady Raiders, Pruitt knocked in a a pair of runs. Emily Schuster also had a pair of RBI.
Kaitlyn Davis earned the win in the circle – scattering 6 hits and striking out 4. None of the 3 Shelbyville runs were earned, as the Lady Raider defense made six errors.
Coffee County will play again at 6 p.m. Friday at home (weather permitting) in the winner’s bracket finals. Hear the game live on Thunder Radio – 107.9 FM, 1320 AM, 106.7 FM, Manchester Go app and thunder1320.com.
Raider soccer downs Tullahoma in PKs to retain Coffee Cup
Tullahoma scored within the games first 19 seconds in the battle for the annual Coffee Cup Tuesday night (May 3).
But the Raiders shut them down after that. Coffee County tied the game and went on to win in a shootout over the Wildcats in Manchester to claim the soccer Coffee Cup for the 8th time in the past 9 years.
Down 1-0, Mike Arrunada tied the game for the Raiders to force a penalty kick shootout.
Izick Sierra nailed a kick to keep the Raiders alive, Tullahoma missed and that setup the winning goal for senior Josue Salinas. John Martinez and Manny Gonzales made the other two goals for the Raiders.
