Category: Sports

The Coffee County Claybusters continued to grab titles last week in the Amateur Trapshooting Association AIM State Championship at Nashville Gun Club.  The Claybusters Team #1 captured the state title in the Junior Division.  The Claybusters Team #2 finished in 2^nd place in the Sub-Junior category.

Team #1 outdistanced 2^nd place Cannon County in the Junior Division(doubles) by 11 targets.  The Claybusters were led by Hayden Jacobs and Colter Smith who hit each 194 out of 200 possible targets.  Tucker Carlton and Victoria Majors each shattered 191 clays.  Cheyenne Martin dropped 174 to give the Claybusters a team score of 944.

Team #2 finished 10 targets behind Tennessee Smoke in the Sub-Junior Division(doubles) by 10 clays.  The Sub-Junior team was led by Logan Meadows who scored 191 out of a possible 200.  Emma Mathews dropped 189 clays while Landon Meadows shattered 187.  Jonah Wyatt finished with a final score of 173 just ahead of teammate Aubrey Payne who scored 172.

Individually, Hayden Jacobs 194 score was good enough for the individual class championship in the Junior AA Class.  Victoria Majors captured the Junior Lady’s championship.  Landon Meadows won the Subjunior Doubles Championship and Jacob Anderson won the Pre-Sub Class A championship.  A pair of Claybusters captured 5^th place finishes as well.  Colter Smith, in the Junior singles(200 shot) class and Emma Mathews in the Subjunior Handicap class.

The Claybusters return to the Nashville on Tuesday for the Tennessee Scholastic Clay Target Program(SCTP) Championships.   The SCTP Championships run through Saturday.  The SCTP Championships will be contested at the Nashville Gun Club.

The Coffee County Lady Raider basketball team will open the final 3 days of their summer schedule on Monday in Murfreesboro.   Competing in the MTSU Team Camp, the varsity and JV Lady Raider teams will both be in action.  Each team will play a pair of games each day.

On Monday, the varsity team opens up play at noon in the Alumni Memorial Gym taking on Lebanon.  They close out the day at the Recreation Center at 3 PM taking on Stewarts Creek.  The JV will play both of their games in the Murphy Center Auxiliary Gyms.  They open up at 10 AM taking on Cascade in Gym #1.  They close out the day at 1 PM in Gym #2 against Gibson County.

The Coffee County CHS volleyball team will be hosting the 2019 Little Lady Raiders Skills Camp.  The skills camp will be held on Monday, June 17^th thru Wednesday, June 19^th from 1 PM to 3 PM.  The camp is open to girls who will be in 3^rd thru 8^th grades and will be held at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  Cost of the camp is $30 and there is a sibling discount.   If you have questions, contact head coach Andrew Taylor at 931-273-2863 or coach Jon Spears at 931-212-4264.  Coach Andrew Taylor will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about the camp.  The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday at 10 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln.  The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.

Former Coffee County CHS Lady Raider golfer Savannah Quick captured an 8^th place finish on Thursday in the 87th Tennessee Women’s Amateur Championship.  The 54 hole event was contested at the Black Creek Club in Chattanooga.  Quick finished the tournament with a 3 day total of 4 over par score of 220.

Quick, a 2017 graduate of Coffee County, shot a 2 over par 74 on Thursday as she finished in a 2 way tie for 8^th place.  Hanley Long of Clarksville won the event as she won by 1 stroke with a 5 under par 211.  Franklin County’s Malia Stovall finished in a tie for 2^nd place.  Quick just completed her sophomore season at MTSU where she is a member of the Blue Raider golf team.

The SEA (South Eastern Academy) soccer team recently competed at the Alabama State Games and came in third in their division with a record of 3 and 1.  SEA started off slow falling 2 nil in their first match.  They followed that up with match wins by scores of  6-2, 8-1, and 2-0.  The performance qualifies them to play in the State Games of America in Virginia.

SEA was one of three Tullahoma Action indoor teams to qualify.  SEA’s players are a mix of Tullahoma, Manchester and Winchester players born in the years of 2006 and 2007. SEA will be having tryouts this Saturday from 5-7 at the Manchester soccer fields across from J&G Pizza.  The tryout is for kids born in the years of 2006 through 2011.

Four errors cost the Nashville Sounds multiple runs in a 9-4 loss to the Las Vegas Aviators in front of a sellout crowd of 10,434 at First Tennessee Park Thursday night.

Nashville’s defense committed two errors in the first inning, helping Las Vegas to a 1-0 lead, and two more errors in the eighth inning as the Aviators extended their lead from 7-4 to 9-4. Las Vegas committed three errors in a sloppy contest.

Esmerling Vasquez started for Nashville and committed both miscues in the opening inning. Jorge Mateo reached safely on a throwing error to start the game, then moved up two bases on another throwing error by the right-hander. Mateo later scored on a sacrifice fly by Franklin Barreto.

Las Vegas built a 4-0 lead before Nashville scored three in the bottom of the third to make it a game. Las Vegas committed all three of their errors in the frame. Mixed in were run-scoring singles by Willie Calhoun and Matt Davidson. Calhoun joined Nashville on a Major League rehab assignment and went 1-for-3 with and RBI and run scored in five innings.

The Aviators offense never slowed down. They plated three more runs in the fifth and two more in the eighth to pull away. Barreto, Sheldon Neuse, Skye Bolt and Eric Campbell had hits in the three-run fifth. Las Vegas had 12 hits and went 5-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

Nashville’s offense went quiet after the three-run third. They had two hits the rest of the way – a single by Adam Moore in the fourth and a single by Patrick Wisdom in the eighth.

The series finale between the two teams is Friday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Seth Maness (4-1, 3.77) starts for Nashville against right-hander Paul Blackburn (6-1, 4.55) for Las Vegas. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

– With tonight’s 9-4 loss, the Sounds dropped to 26-40 on the season.

– First baseman Matt Davidson extended his on-base streak to 19 games with a single in the third inning.

– The four errors committed by Nashville matched a single-game high (5/6 vs. Memphis) in 2019.

– Willie Calhoun extended his hitting streak with the Sounds to 16 games with a single in the third inning.

– The 10,434 in attendance marked the eighth sellout of the season at First Tennessee Park.

The 2019 season is the 42nd in Nashville Sounds franchise history and first as the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

A pair of Coffee County CHS softball players received postseason honors on Wednesday.  Seniors Katie Rutledge and Haley Richardson were honored by the members of the Tennessee Softball Coaches Association.  Rutledge was selected to the TSCA All Star Game representing Middle Tennessee.  Richardson was selected to the TSCA All-State Team.

Richardson finished the season batting .433 with 3 home runs and 30 RBI.  Richardson was 2^nd on the team in singles and doubles with 33 and 8 respectively.  Richardson was also 2 and 2 on the year pitching for the Lady Raiders.  Richardson has signed to play college softball at Trevecca Nazarene University.

Rutledge led the Lady Raiders in average(.468), hits(51) and runs scored(40).  Rutledge finished the year with a pitching record of 3 and 2 on the season.  Rutledge has signed to play college softball at Blue Mountain State in Mississippi.

Both Richardson and Rutledge will be honored at the TSCA All-Star Game on Thursday at Cumberland University in Lebanon.  The first All-Star Game will begin at 11 AM with the awards to be presented around 3 PM.

Tim Dillard and a trio of Nashville Sounds relievers held the Las Vegas Aviators to two hits to help the Sounds to a 2-0 win in front of 8,994 fans at First Tennessee Park Wednesday night.

Dillard continued his strong 2019 campaign with 5 2/3 shutout innings. He held Las Vegas to just two hits and allowed three walks. The right-hander struck out a pair and earned his fifth win of the season.

Nashville got Dillard a run to work with in the fifth inning. Las Vegas starter Jake Buchanan was tough as well, holding the Sounds to two runs on four hits in six innings. Tyler Pill walked to start the bottom of the fifth and moved to second on a base hit by Carlos Tocci. Two batters later, Chase d’Arnaud’s sacrifice fly to center scored Pill to make it 1-0.

The Sounds were at it again in the sixth when Eli White started the frame with a booming home run to straightaway center field. White’s ninth home run of the season gave Nashville a 2-0 lead.

Dillard turned it over to Locke St. John in the sixth. Pitching at First Tennessee Park for the first time in his career, St. John retired all four batters he faced and struck out two.

Right-hander Jake Lemoine took the eighth inning and worked around a two-out walk to put up a zero. He handed it off to Josh Fields who tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his fifth save of the season.

Nashville pitchers benefited from several stellar defensive plays throughout the night. Andy Ibanez made a diving catch in the sixth inning and Tocci made a diving catch in the ninth.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for Thursday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Esmerling Vasquez (1-0, 0.00) starts for the Sounds against left-hander Tyler Alexander (2-3, 6.24) for the Aviators. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

– With tonight’s 2-0 win, the Sounds improved to 26-39 on the season.

– First baseman Matt Davidson extended his on-base streak to 18 games with a walk in the fourth inning.

– Starter Tim Dillard threw 5 2/3 shutout innings. Nashville starters in the month of June have compiled a 4-1 record with a 2.87 ERA (47.0 IP/15 ER).

– The shutout thrown by the Sounds was the second of the season by Nashville pitchers.

The 2019 season is the 42nd in Nashville Sounds franchise history and first as the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

The Coffee County Red Raider basketball team wrapped up 2 days of competition in the MTSU team camp on Tuesday.  The varsity Raiders and JV Raiders each played 3 games on the day.   The varsity team finished the day with a win and 2 losses.  The JV team was unbeaten in their 3 games.

Coffee County opened the day on the main floor at the Murphy Center on Tuesday morning against Independence.  Coffee County came up short to the Eagles before bouncing back with a win over White House.  In the final game of the day, the Red Raiders lost to Harrison, GA.   The varsity squad ended the camp with a record of 4 and 2.  The JV scored wins on Tuesday over Perry County, Gilmer, GA and Clinton.  The JV finished the camp with a record of 6 and 0.

Coach Micah Williams was pleased with the chemistry of his team so far this summer.  “We need to keep on sharing the ball and get a little more consistent offensively.  We will also need to work on our transition defense” added Williams.

The Red Raiders will take some time to hit the practice floor before concluding their summer season next week.  Coffee County will host a team camp at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym next Thursday.  That schedule will be posted next week.

The Coffee County CHS softball team held their annual Awards Banquet on Monday night.  Celebrating their 2^nd straight District 8AAA title, Coach Brandon McWhorter presided over the festivities.  District award winners and individual team award winners were announced.  The complete list of honorees is:

All-District: Haley Richardson, Katie Rutledge, Sarah West and Keri Munn;

Varsity Defensive MVP’s : Keri Munn and Ashley Evans;

JV Defensive MVP: Eliza Carden;

Varsity Offensive MVP’s : Sarah West and Katie Rutledge;

JV Offensive MVP: Kyla Craig

“Team First” Player of the Year: Lexi Holder;

Lady Raider Award: Haley Miller