Category: Sports

The Coffee Middle School soccer team opened their season on Monday taking on conference rival North Franklin.  The Lady Raiders struggled mightily in the 1^st half as they fell behind 5 nil at intermission.  Coffee County tightened the defense in the 2^nd half but could not get on the scoreboard falling 6 to 0.  Sydney Gilley had 8 saves in goal for the Lady Raiders.  The JV Lady Raiders trailed 4 to 2 at the half before North added 5 2^nd half goals to grab the 9 to 2 win.  Andrea Lopez had both goals for the Lady Raiders and Tara Demonbreun notched both assists.

The Lady Raiders return to the pitch on Thursday when they visit McMinnville to take on Warren County.  That match kicks off at 5:30 PM.

The Coffee CHS golf hosted a 4 team match on Monday at Willowbrook.  Hosting Tullahoma, Cannon County and Van Buren County, the match got underway under hot and humid conditions.  As is sometimes the case on summer afternoons, lightning moved into the area midway thru the round forcing a postponement.  A date to resume the match has not yet been secured.

The Coffee County golf teams will now be off until next Wednesday, August 28^th, when they host their annual Golden Classic at Willowbrook.  The invitational tournament features teams from all across the state of Tennessee.  That tournament tees off at 9 AM.

The Nashville Sounds scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back in a road trip-opening 11-5 win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers Monday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Matt Davidson started the offensive barrage with a three-run homer off Oklahoma City starter J.D. Martin in the first inning. Andy Ibanez joined the home run derby with a solo blast in the second inning and Patrick Wisdom launched a two-run shot in the eighth. For Davidson, it was his team-leading 28th of the season. Wisdom is one shy of Davidson with 27.

The Sounds led the game from start to finish despite Oklahoma City’s four-run outburst in the second inning. After the Ibanez homer gave the Sounds a 6-0 lead, the Dodgers recorded four hits in the second inning off Nashville starter Austin Bibens-Dirkx, including three doubles to trim the deficit to 6-4.

Wisdom and Davidson were at it again in the top of the fourth. After Christian Lopes started the frame with a double off the wall in left-center, Wisdom knocked him in with a single to right field. Wisdom swiped second base, then came home when Davidson singled to right.

Oklahoma City tallied a run in the fifth and Nashville followed suit in the sixth. Bibens-Dirkx allowed five runs (four earned) in five innings and was followed by four scoreless innings from the bullpen.

Wisdom put a stamp on his huge game with a knockout blow in the eighth – the two-run blast to center field to give Nashville and 11-5 lead. Davidson and Wisdom combined for six hits, six RBI and four runs scored.

Kyle Bird tossed the sixth and seventh, Reed Garrett took the eighth, and Jake Petricka finished the game with a zero in the ninth.

Games two and three of the five-game series are scheduled for Tuesday night. The Sounds and Dodgers will resume a suspended game from May 10, then play another nine-inning contest. First pitch of the resumed game is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

– With Monday’s 11-5 win, the Sounds improved to 57-67 in 2019.

– The Sounds hit three more home runs Monday and have now homered in 20 consecutive games. The team has hit 37 home runs during the 20-game stretch.

– Andy Ibanez was hit by a pitch in the second inning to extend his on-base streak to 19 games.

– Matt Davidson hit his 28th home run of the season in the first inning. The 28 home runs are tied for 8th-most by a Sound in a single season.

– Nick Solak’s 18-game hitting streak came to an end with a 0-for-3 night before he was pulled in the sixth inning.

– Kevin Mendoza collected the first Triple-A hit in his career with a single in the ninth.

Monday Prep Schedule

4:00 PM – CHS Golf HOSTS Tullahoma/Cannon Co/Van Buren at Willowbrook

4:30 PM – CCMS Girls’ Soccer HOSTS North Franklin

5:00 PM – CCMS Volleyball HOSTS Harris

6:00 PM – CHS Volleyball HOSTS Tullahoma – 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series broadcast on Thunder Radio

6:30 PM – WMS Football HOSTS Cannon Co

The Coffee County CHS and Coffee County Middle School cross country teams hit the ground running on Saturday night as they opened the cross country season at Siegel.  Competing in the annual Siegel “Under the Stars” race series, both boys’ and girls’ teams posted strong performances.

The CCMS runners competed in the 1.5 mile heats.  Sophie McInturff turned in the best performance of the night capturing the race win with a time of 10:08.43.  Greenlee Woods finished 3^rd in that heat and 4^th overall with a time of 10:27.18 out of a field of 117 runners.  Ella Arnold posted a time of 14:02.63 and Mary Lynn Colter completed the race in 16:32.76.

For the CCMS Red Raider runners, Lucas Beaty set the pace with a time 9:12.48 finishing in a 3^rd place tie in the top heat and ended up being good enough for 3^rd overall out of 165 runners.  Manny Gonzalez came in 12^th in his heat with a time of 9:51.37.  Bradley Escue was 13^th at 9:52.55.  Another pair of Raider harriers were right on their heels as Brayton Anderson ran a 10:01.95 for 15^th place and Hunter Chapman was 16^th at 10:03.39.  Clayton Bryant finished in 19^th place in his heat with a time of 11:12.90 and Cole Bryan captured a 21^st place finish with a time of 13:57.78.

The Coffee County CHS runners competed in a series of 2 mile heats that featured 245 male runners and 174 female racers.  Jacob Rutledge posted the low time of the night as he led the Red Raiders with a 22^nd place finish with a time of 10:32.7.  Renato Ayala ran the race in 11:44.0; Bodey Todd finished with a time of 12:04.9; Ethan Welch finished at 12:05.4; Garrett Masters had a time of 12:12.1; Christian Alvarez ran a 12:12.9; Jacob Slabaugh ran a 12:51.0; Jacob Melton had a 13:47.8 and Holden Shew has a time of 16:10.2.

For the Lady Raiders, Patricia Barrera was the top finisher coming home in 33^rd place with a time of 13:26.2.  Madison Rooker had a final time of 14:55.5; Nayeli Cano finished in 15:43.5; Jayda Wright crossed the tape at 15:58.7; Zoe Mills posted a time of 16:20.1; and Haley-Koren Sherrill had a time of 18:23.9.

The Coffee County CHS cross country team will be back in action on Saturday, August 31^st. They will travel to Hermitage to take part in the Voyles Classic.  The Coffee County Middle School harriers will hit the course on Thursday, September 5^th in a meet in Bell Buckle at Webb School.

Members of the CCMS Soccer team in their pink “Kickin Cancer” t-shirts on Saturday

The Coffee County Middle School soccer team hosted their 15^th Annual Kickin Cancer Playday at CCMS on Saturday.  12 teams did battle on the hot day before a huge crowd.  At the end of the day, a portion of the gate proceeds will benefit a local cancer charity.

The Lady Raider varsity team struggled in their 2 games as they were shut out twice.  The varsity team was shut out by North Franklin 2 to 0 in the opening game of the tournament.  They dropped their final match 4 to 0 to Rockvale.  For the JV team, they opened up with a 1 nil loss to Thomas Francis.  They closed out the day with a 2 to 0 win over DeKalb County Lola George had both goals for the Lady Raiders.

The Lady Raiders will open the season on Monday when they play host to North Franklin.  Their match will get underway at 4:30 PM at CCMS.

written by Lawrence Phillips

Opening day for the 2019 SMTYFA season had the Manchester Red Raiders hosting the Franklin County Rebels at Carden Jarrell Field.
In Division 1 action Avery Hodges and Karson Wimley had two touchdowns each and Davion Dycus added a score. All five extra points failed but the Division 1 Raiders cruised to a 30-0 victory.

In the Division 2 game Levi Scott ran for three scores and threw a touchdown pass to Treyvion Mathis and Michael Palmer added an extra point as the Division 2 Raiders bested the Rebels 26-0.

In the final game of the day the Division 3 Red Raiders started out by kicking off to the Franklin County Rebels and then enlisting a smothering defense causing a turnover on the opening possession followed by a touchdown run from Landen “Train” Abellana with the extra point being run in by Kaysen Lowery. After that it was all Raiders with a pick six by Abellana and a Lowery extra point. Mathew White scored and Gabriel Hambly ran for the extra point. Abellana had another interception for a touchdown and Jace Cashion scored the extra point. Cashion followed up with a touchdown run and Lowery threw the two point conversion to Tyler Martin. Isaiah Robledo scored with the extra point bring punched in by Gus Sherrill. Cashion scored again and Lowery ran in the extra point. Caiden Martin returned a fumble for a score and Gus Slone put in the extra point. The final play of the day was a pass from Lowery to Tyler Martin for six as the time expired as the Red Raiders defeated the Rebels 63-0.
The Manchester Red Raiders next game is Saturday August 24th on the road against the Shelbyville Golden Eagles at Shelbyville Central High School. Division 1 play begins at 10:00 am followed by Division 2 at 11:30 am and rounding out the day with Division 3 at 1:00 pm.

The Sounds were unable to complete a four-game sweep against Omaha Sunday night, losing 7-4. Nashville scored runs in the eighth and ninth inning but were unable to stage a comeback.

Nick Solak led off the bottom of the first inning with the second inning. Scott Heineman scored Solak with his eighth home run of the season. That put Nashville up 2-0 early.

Taylor Featherston scored the first run of the game for Omaha with a solo home run in the top of the third inning. It was his first hit this season for the Storm Chasers. That cut Nashville’s lead 2-1.

There wouldn’t be another score until the sixth inning, where Omaha took the lead. Erick Mejia led off with a single and scored on a triple by Jorge Bonifacio. He scored the go-ahead run when Erick Weiss hit a single to put the score at 3-2, Omaha.

Eric Skoglund settled in for Omaha after allowing the home run to Heineman. He retired 15-straight hitters from the first inning to the middle of the sixth inning. He finished with 7.0 innings and allowed just the two runs in the first. He struck out three Nashville hitters.

Another run crossed the plate for the Storm Chasers in the seventh inning. Professional baseball’s stolen base leader Nick Heath walked and proceeded to steal second and third base. He scored on a wild pitch to make it a 4-2 game in Omaha’s favor.

Nashville was able to scratch across a run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Zack Granite tripled in the bottom of the eighth inning and scored on an infield single by Solak. That cut Omaha’s lead 4-3.

The Storm Chasers would respond to the Nashville’s late comeback attempt by adding three runs in the top of the ninth. Matt Davidson hit a solo home in the bottom of the ninth but that would be it, as Omaha finished off the Sounds 7-4.

The Sounds hit the road Monday for a 12-game, 11-day road trip the starts with a five-game series at Oklahoma City. With first pitch at 7:05 p.m., with right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx (0-3, 7.94) starting for the Sounds and will face Dodgers’ right-hander J.D. Martin (3-0, 5.40).

Post-Game Notes

– With Sunday’s 7-4 loss, the Sounds drop to 56-67 in 2019.

– The Sounds five-game winning streak was snapped Sunday, making it the third time this season Nashville couldn’t reach six-straight wins.

– After hitting his home run in the bottom of the first inning, Scott Heineman was replaced defensively in the second inning by Patrick Wisdom in right field.

– Matt Davidson’s home run was his 27th of the season, setting his single season career-high.

– Wes Benjamin recorded his fifth quality start of the season.

Quarterback Marcus Mariota and running back Jeremy McNichols both somersaulted into the end zone for scores in the team’s 22-17 preseason loss to the New England Patriots on Saturday night at Nissan Stadium.

The flips provided a pair of highlight-reel plays on a night when the Titans showed some encouraging signs in preseason game No.2, despite losing the lead late when back-ups entered the contest.

“Hat’s off to those guys for leaping and stuff,” a smiling A.J. Brown said of the flips. “That was pretty crazy. But I’m going to stay on the ground.”

With a pair of preseason games and three weeks before the team’s regular season opener in Cleveland, however, there’s still plenty of work to be done for the Titans, who finished 9-7 a year ago and out of the playoffs during a year when the Texans and Colts from the AFC South advanced into the postseason.

At this point, the Titans want to keep building positive momentum, with plans to take flight in Cleveland during the regular season opener on September 8. On Saturday night, they made plays on offense and defense, but they also made some blunders.

Mariota completed 6-of-9 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown – an 11-yard strike to tight end Delanie Walker — to give the Titans an early lead. Mariota added a two-point conversion in spectacular fashion, which made it 8-0.

On the play, Mariota flipped over the goalline after being hit by Patriots defensive back Duron Harmon, causing fans at Nissan Stadium to hold their collective breath. But Mariota was just fine, and his passer rating (123.8) in three series of action was good, too. Mariota played just one series in the preseason opener at Philadelphia.

“I was getting more grief from my teammates – they told me not to do it again,” Mariota said of the leap, and landing. “I was trying to make a play. In the moment, I played instinctively and tried to get the points.”

Walker’s touchdown was one to celebrate – it was his first game back since Week One of last season, when he suffered a broken ankle in the regular season opener at Miami.

“It felt good just to be out there and get that old feeling back,” Walker said. “I never doubted it.”

Not to be outdone by Mariota’s flip into the end zone, McNichols had an acrobatic score as well, as he flipped into touchdown territory on his 15-yard touchdown catch on a ball thrown by quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who replaced Mariota at the start of the second half. The score gave the Titans a 15-8 lead, and they expanded on that lead with a safety in the second quarter after New England was called for holding in the end zone.

On his score, McNichols dove from the two-yard line and crossed the goalline as he sailed out of bounds, an athletic move that drew smiles from everyone, including Mariota, who watched the rest of the game in a baseball cap after an early departure.

“I felt like I was in the air for 10 minutes,” McNichols said. “I didn’t know if I’d scored until I heard the crowd. My teammates were like: ‘Good job, good job.”

Like Mariota, Tannehill played well, completing 7-of-11 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown, with a passer rating of 117.2.

Mariota was happy with the way the first team offense ended the night, but he wants to see more consistency. The Titans went three-and-out on their first two drives.

“It wasn’t real good to start off,” Mariota said. “I thought we put together a nice drive at the end, but we have to come out better.”

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady did not play in the game.

Instead, Brian Hoyer got the start – and a tough welcome into the game. Titans cornerback Logan Ryan intercepted Hoyer on the second play of the game, and the Patriots didn’t get their first score until after Tennessee’s first-team defense had left the field.

New England first scored on a one-yard touchdown run by Brandon Bolden in the first half. Running back Nick Brossette’s one-yard touchdown run in the second half cut Tennessee’s halftime lead from 17-8 to 17-15 in the third quarter.

The Patriots took a 22-17 late in the fourth quarter on a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jarrett Stidham to receiver Damoun Patterson, and the Titans couldn’t rally.

Titans coach Mike Vrabel said the work against New England this week – the team practiced against the Patriots twice leading up to last night’s game – was beneficial.

“It was great,” Vrabel said. “To have a team come in here that is a proven winner, a proven organization, how they operate and how they do things. For us to be able to compete against them for two days and then play a game against them, is always going to be beneficial.”

The Titans face the Pittsburgh Steelers in preseason game No.3 next Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

The game was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning and Tim Federowicz picked the perfect time to hit his first home run of the season for the Sounds. The solo blast gave the Sounds a 4-3 lead and the win on Saturday night.

The first run of the game was scored by the Sounds in the bottom of the first inning. Nick Solak led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. After a Ronald Guzman walk, Solak scored on an RBI single by Matt Davidson for the Sounds’ early 1-0 lead.

Solak also led the third inning off with a single and Andy Ibanez followed him with his own single to make it first and third with nobody out. Solak scored after Guzman grounded into a double play. It was then 2-0, Nashville.

Omaha scored their first run in the top of the fourth inning. Former Sound Chase d’Arnaud hit a two-out single. On a hit-and-run, d’Arnaud scored on an RBI double Erich Weiss to cut Nashville’s lead 2-1.

The Storm Chasers tied the game at 2 in the top of the sixth inning on three singles. Erick Mejia led off with the first single and Kelvin Gutierrez followed to put runners on first and second. Mejia scored after d’Arnaud dropped in his third single of the game.

Nashville came right back in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the lead. Eli White led off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Federowicz walked and Solak walked to load the bases with one out. Omaha brought in Andres Machado to halt Nashville’s offense but Ibanez was able to ground into a fielder’s choice to score White. It was then 3-2, Nashville.

The game was tied again by Omaha in the top of the eighth inning. After Jorge Bonafacio walked, he scored on a double by Gutierrez to tie things up at 3.

Federowicz made the magic happen in the bottom of the eighth inning. With one out, he blasted a solo home run on top of the Hyundai Deck to grab the 4-3. Reed Garrett came in to close in the ninth inning to seal the victory.

The Sounds look to sweep Omaha in Sunday night’s game. With first pitch at 6:15 p.m., left-hander Wes Benjamin (6-5, 6.01) starting for Nashville and will face Storm Chasers’ starter Eric Skoglund (1-4, 6.59).

Post-Game Notes

– With Saturday’s 4-3 win, the Sounds improved to 56-66 in 2019.

– The Sounds are now 14-5 when Seth Maness starts on the mound.

– Nick Solak extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a single in the seventh inning. Solak is hitting .420 (29-for-69) with 15 runs scored, 4 doubles, 6 home runs and 18 RBI during the streak.