Category: Sports

The Round Rock Express got out of town with a 13-12 win over the Nashville Sounds in 13-inning marathon Tuesday night at First Tennessee Park. The game took 4 hours and 36 minutes to complete and finished with a pair of position players on the mound for their respective team.

Both teams scored in the 11th, 12th and 13th innings, but Round Rock scored three in the 13th and the Sounds answered with only two to ultimately come up short.

The back-and-forth scoring by both clubs started in the first and lasted until the final frame. Round Rock out-hit Nashville, 22-16. Despite being out-hit by six, the Sounds had a whopping 28 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Trailing 7-5 in the bottom of the eighth, Delino DeShields’ second hit of the night was a two-out, two-run single to score Carlos Tocci and Adam Moore to even the game at 7-7. Neither team scored in the ninth or tenth despite multiple chances for each club.

It looked like Nashville had the game won in the 10th and in the 12th. With one out and Tocci at third in the 10th, Sounds newcomer Tyler Pill lined a fly ball to right field. Round Rock’s Kyle Tucker caught it but Tocci failed to tag up on what could have been the winning run.

Round Rock held a 9-7 lead in the top of the 11th only to give up a game-tying, two-out, two-run homer to Andy Ibanez in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 9-9 game.

The odd ball continued in the 12th as Round Rock once again took a 10-9 lead. Nashville’s Adam Moore tied the game with a fielder’s choice and was standing at first base when Pill’s deep fly ball to right field bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double, thus preventing Moore to score with what would have been the winning run.

Round Rock scored three in the top of the 13th off Nashville infielder Tyler Depreta-Johnson and the Sounds came up short after plating two runs off Express catcher Jamie Ritchie.

The Sounds welcome the New Orleans Baby Cakes to town for a four-game series set to begin Thursday night. Right-hander Pedro Payano starts for Nashville against right-hander Dustin Beggs for New Orleans. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

– With tonight’s 13-12 loss, the Sounds are now 21-32 on the season.

– Delino DeShields, Andy Ibanez, Patrick Wisdom, Carlos Tocci and Tyler Pill had multi-hit games.

– The Sounds are now 1-3 in extra-inning games. All four games have come against Round Rock.

– Tonight’s game was the last between Nashville and Round Rock in 2019. Round Rock won the season series, 9-7. The two teams played 16 times in the last 51 days.

Stellar pitching by Nashville’s pitching staff helped keep Round Rock at bay as the Sounds won 4-2 on Tuesday night at First Tennessee Park. Seth Maness earned his third win of the season and while David Carpenter earned his seventh save of the season.

The first score of the game came from Round Rock when Alex De Goti hit an RBI single in the top of the third to make it 1-0, Express.

Nashville tied the game in the bottom half of the third when Zack Granite scored on an error by Round Rock starter Akeem Bostick.

Two more runs were scored in the fourth inning for Nashville. Patrick Wisdom scored after an error by Round Rock’s Anibal Sierra. Zack Granite hit in the second run on a single that scored Hunter Cole. Eight batters came to the plate in the inning as Nashville took the lead 3-1.

Maness pitched into the sixth inning for the Sounds but found himself in trouble. Round Rock started the inning with a single and double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Jamie Ritchie hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored AJ Reed and Taylor Jones at third. Brett Martin came in to relieve Maness and struck out Sierra and was able to get De Goti to ground out to get out of the jam. The score was 3-2, Nashville after the top of the seventh.

An insurance run was scored for Nashville when Carlos Tocci hit an RBI single that scored Chase d’Arnaud to make it a 4-2 game. That would be enough as Carpenter completed a four-out save to finish the game for the Sounds.

The six-game series will be finalized Wednesday night with first pitch being at 6:35 p.m. The Sounds will start left-hander Wes Benjamin (1-5, 7.33) while the Express will start left-hander Ryan Hartman (5-1, 4.19).

Post-Game Notes

– With Tuesday’s 4-2 win, the Sounds are now 21-31 on the season.

– Hunter Cole extended his season-long hitting streak to 12 games. He is hitting .533 (24-for-45) with 14 runs, four doubles, four home runs and 12 RBI in that span. Cole was pinch ran for in the fifth after stretching a single into a double and left the game due to injury.

– Sounds starter Seth Maness went a season-long 6.1 innings and allowed just two runs. It was his second quality start of the season.

– In Carpenter’s seventh save of the season, his 1.1 innings was the longest outing of his season.

Nashville Soccer Club keeper Matt Pickens was named the USL Championship’s Player of the Week following two clean sheets on the road last week, earning Nashville SC four points and vaulting it to second place in the Eastern Conference standings. The honor is Pickens’ first as a member of Nashville SC as he received 67 percent of the poll conducted by a national panel of independent media representing every USL Championship market.

The two clean sheets last week give Pickens four in eight starts in 2019, tied for the seventh-most clean sheets in the USL Championship. To add more context, Pickens’ eight starts are the fewest of any USL Championship keeper with four or more clean sheets.

As the first signing in Nashville SC history, the MLS Cup-winning veteran Pickens has exceeded all lofty expectations with 18 clean sheets in 39 appearances, allowing just 34 goals, fewer than one per match. The 18 total clean sheets are the most in the USL Championship for any keeper the last two seasons in the league.

Nashville SC will return to action on Wednesday night in the Third Round of the U.S. Open Cup in Murfreesboro at Hayes Stadium at 7:30 p.m. against the Charleston Battery. A win would advance Nashville to play a Major League Soccer team in the Fourth Round.

The Coffee County Central High School Lady Raider basketball team will host the 2019 Lil Raider Camp on Tuesday, May 28th thru Thursday May 31st. The camp is open to boys and girls ages 5 to 15 and will be held at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.

Campers will be placed in groups by age and skill level and will work on basketball fundamental with head coach Joe Pat Cope and assistant coach Matt Vinson as well as Coffee County Middle School coach George Pearson and former and current Raiders and Lady Raiders.  Each kid will receive a camp t-shirt.  Cost is $60 per player.  For more information, contact Joe Pat Cope at: copej@k12coffee.net

The Round Rock Express outlasted the Nashville Sounds and came away with a pair of wins Monday afternoon at First Tennessee Park. The Express got a dominant performance from pitcher Cy Sneed to earn a 2-0 win in game one and got a clutch two-run double from Anibal Sierra to help grab game two, 8-4.

Game one of the doubleheader was a continuation of the suspended contest between the two teams on April 18. Nashville reliever Tim Dillard put forth a tremendous effort with seven innings in relief, but the offense went silent with only two hits.

Yordan Alvarez’s monster season continued when he hit a solo homer to give the Express a 1-0 lead. It was the 20th home run of the season for Alvarez who got a ball up into the wind and watched it sail over the wall in left-center.

Round Rock got a sacrifice fly from catcher Jamie Ritchie in the top of the fourth to make it a 2-0 game. From there, Dillard allowed only four baserunners the rest of the way. He was tagged with a tough loss after allowing two runs on six hits in seven innings. He struck out six and didn’t walk any batters.

Game two was a back-and-forth affair until the ninth inning when Round Rock plated five. Nashville jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second thanks to back-to-back doubles by Andy Ibanez and Hunter Cole, and a run-scoring groundout by Adam Moore.

Round Rock evened the game at 2-2 in the third and then took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on an RBI double by Alvarez. Nashville came right back with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning to even the game at 3-3.

It stayed tied until Round Rock erupted for five runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Game five of the six-game series is scheduled for Tuesday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Seth Maness (2-1, 4.50) starts for the Sounds. The Express have not announced a starter. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

– With today’s 2-0 loss and 8-4 loss, the Sounds are now 20-32 on the season.

– Pitcher Tim Dillard struck out Kyle Tucker in the second inning of game one to set the all-time strikeouts record by a Nashville Sounds pitcher. It was Dillard’s 533rd strikeout as a member of the Sounds.

– Dillard threw 7.0 innings in relief – the longest outing by a Nashville reliever in 2019.

– Hunter Cole extended his season-long hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI double. He is hitting .512 (22-for-43) with 14 runs scored, 4 doubles, 4 home runs, 13 RBI and 4 walks during the streak.

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 B.A.S.S. High School Nation has allotted the final number of seats for the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series National Championship.  Final qualifier slots were announced by Tennessee Bass Nation High School on Friday.  The Coffee County Youth Bass Club garnered 3 slots in the field for the prestigious tournament.

Three boats from the Coffee County Youth Bass Club will be in the field as part of 17 qualifiers for the Central Tennessee Region of the Tennessee Bass Nation High School trail.  The teams of Briley Sain/Kaden Freeze, Colby Thurmond/Jacob Garms and Branson Wells/Dawson Wells will represent Coffee County in the August National Championship.

The Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series National Championship presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods will be held on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tenn.  The prestigious national championship for 2019 will take place August 8th thru August 10th.  300 boats from across the nation are expected to take part in the 3 day event.

The Sounds lost the first game of a six-game series 11-5 on Saturday night against Round Rock. The Express offense was hot, hitting four home runs off Nashville pitchers.

Garrett Stubbs hit a two-run home run to get Round Rock on the board first in the third inning.

Zack Granite hit a triple in the bottom half of the third and scored on a passed ball to give the Sounds their first run of the game.

Round Rock scored five runs in the top of the fourth. AJ Reed hit a two-run homer. Taylor Jones doubled and scored on a Nick Tanielu single. The Sounds would walk in three more runs to extend the Express lead 7-1.

The Sounds scored one in the fourth when Nolan Fontana reached on a fielder’s choice to score Andy Ibanez. It was still 7-2, Round Rock.

Nashville continued to crawl back in the fifth with two more runs. Eli White hit a triple down the left field line that scored Scott Heineman. White would score on a Matt Davidson ground out to cut the Round Rock lead 7-4.

The Express continued to hit as they led off the sixth with back-to-back home runs by Alex De Goti and Kyle Tucker. Reed would get another RBI on a single and he would score on a Taylor Jones double to give Round Rock the 11-4 lead.

White made some noise for Nashville when he hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh but that is all the Sounds would get as they lost 11-5 to Round Rock.

Tomorrow’s game will be the first night game on a Sunday this season for the Sounds. With first pitch at 6:35 p.m., Nashville right-hander Phillips Valdez (0-6, 5.50) will face off against Round Rock right-hander Rogelio Armenteros (1-3, 4.91).

Post-Game Notes

– With today’s 8-5 win, the Sounds are now 19-28 on the season.

– Hunter Cole extended his season-long hitting streak to nine games. He is hitting .514 (18-for-35) with 11 runs, two doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI.

– Zack Granite and Eli White tripled tonight, give Nashville their first game with multiple triples in one game.

– Sounds starter Ronald Herrera lasted 3.2 innings, his longest outing of the season.

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.

Against one of the elite teams in the USL Championship, on the road, in its seventh match in 21 days, Nashville Soccer Club grinded out a 0-0 against Indy Eleven on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. While the match wasn’t always pretty on the turf with football lines, Nashville SC extended its streak without a loss to five straight results.

Nashville’s best look of the match was also its first shot as midfielder Lebo Moloto chipped a ball over the backline in the 16’ minute to forward Tucker Hume who was able to poke a shot on target. The ball found Indy keeper Evan Newton’s leg, however, and was turned aside.

Much of the rest of the match was spent defending as Indy controlled much of the possession at home, with a 62-38 advantage over NSC. The defense held strong however, earning the sixth clean sheet for the season and the fourth for keeper Matt Pickens in eight matches played. The defense held the potent Indy offense to just 10 shots and on three on target in the 90 minutes.

Here are three takeaways from the hard-earned draws.

1) Defense Locking In – It’s taken a bit for Nashville SC’s defense to round into form, but after two consecutive clean sheets and only two total goals allowed in the last four USL Championship matches, it appears that the defense has returned to its 2018 form. The defense has now gone 255 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal. Pickens also appears to be hitting his stride, with four clean sheets in eight starts in net for Nashville.

2) Squad Rotation Continues – With so many matches the last three weeks, head coach Gary Smith made significant changes throughout his Starting XI. Tucker Hume and Ropapa Mensah got their first start as a combination up top in the 3-5-2. MLS-signed midfielder Derrick Jones got his first start in the midfield in a Nashville SC uniform. Smith also opted to go back to three centerbacks against the Indy offense and it worked, limited Indy to just three shots on target.

3) Road Form Shines – Nashville SC has now played seven matches on the road, and has earned results in six of the matches with a 3-1-3 road record. Outside of its loss, a 3-1 defeat at Charleston Battery, Nashville has allowed just three other road goals. It’s a good sign as Nashville will stay on the road for its next two USL Championship matches, at Bethlehem Steel FC and Hartford Athletic.

Nashville remains in second place in the Eastern Conference with the point earned and will have a much deserved break in USL Championship action after a month that saw Nashville play six league matches. The Boys in Gold will return to the USL Championship pitch in 15 days when it plays at Bethlehem Steel FC in Philadelphia on June 9.

Six athletes from Coffee County Central High School competed on Thursday in the TSSAA Spring Fling state meet at MTSU’s Dean Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium in Murfreesboro.  Three Raider harriers competed in the field events in the morning session while the boys’ 4×400 relay team was in action in the running session on Thursday night.

The morning started strong for sophomore Lady Raider Macy Tabor in the high jump.  Coming in at a starting height of 4’8” was higher than Macy normally starts but she “felt good” clearing the first height on her 1^st attempt.  “Maybe I should always start at that height” quipped Tabor after the event.  Tabor cleared 4’10” in her 1^st attempt before scratching on all 3 attempts at 5’.  After reaching the state meet and medaling in middle school, Tabor admitted that the excitement and nerves were pretty high on Thursday.  “Normally I don’t get nervous, but today my heart was racing.  It sure was an experience” added Tabor.

While Tabor was high jumping, Trace Bryant was pole vaulting.  After picking up the event in his junior year, this was Bryant’s first exposure to the state meet in the pole vault.  After scratching on his 1^st attempt, Bryant cleared 9’6” and then backed that up by clearing 10’ on his 1^st attempt.  When attempting his personal record of 10’ 6”, Bryant scratched all 3 times to finish short of the medal stand.  “I definitely think I could have done a whole lot better” said Bryant.  “I definitely had an off day; but at the end of the day I made it to state….nothing to bad sad about that” added Bryant.

At high noon, the 2 week career of Chloe Haggard in the pole vault hit center stage at MTSU.  Haggard, who first trained for the pole vault earlier this month, entered the state meet short on experience but long on athleticism and determination.  After opening up with a clean jump at 6’, Haggard turned around and cleared her personal best of 6’6” a mere 3 minutes later.  Chloe followed that up with her 3^rd straight successful jump of 7’ to set a new personal record.  Haggard scratched in all 3 attempts to clear 7’6” to end her senior season in 15^th place in the state.  “It’s fun, really wished I could have (picked up the sport) sooner.  It is really fun and I enjoyed getting to come to state” said Haggard after the event.

The boys’ 4×400 team of Trace Bryant, Renata Garcia, John Dobson and Kelvin Verge closed out the long day for the Raider harriers.  The quartet becomes the first Coffee County boys’ relay team to qualify for state in what is believed to be at least 8 years.  The group ran a new personal best time of 3:32.73 which was good enough for 15^th place.

There were few chances for either side on Wednesday night in Birmingham, but Nashville Soccer Club made the most of a penalty kick in the second half to pull out a 1-0 road victory over Birmingham Legion FC on national TV. Forward Daniel Ríos tallied his eighth goal of the season on the penalty kick to give Nashville SC its third road victory in six matches away from home this season.

Goals

63’ NSH – Daniel Ríos (PK)

First Win on National TV

Nashville SC has been unlucky when featured on the USL Game of the Week and national TV, going 0-3 before Wednesday night’s victory. The win over Birmingham tonight on ESPNews broke the streak and gave Nashville SC fans across the country three points to cheer for. There are currently no more national TV games on NSC’s schedule, but that could change later in the season.

Ríos Keeps Scoring

MLS-signed forward Daniel Ríos keeps finding the back of net for Nashville SC. His penalty kick goal in the 63’ minute was his eighth goal of the season, the second-most in the USL Championship, and by far the most on Nashville SC. In just 12 matches, Ríos is the third-highest scorer in Nashville SC history. He has three match-winning goals in 2019 and has converted both PKs he has taken this season.

Fifth Clean Sheet

Nashville SC had gone four consecutive matches without a clean sheet, but earned its fifth of the season on Wednesday night in the Magic City. Goalkeeper Matt Pickens made two saves to earn his third clean sheet of the season. Nashville’s five clean sheets are tied for the third-most in the USL Championship.

Jones Makes USL Debut for NSC

Nashville’s newest MLS signee, midfielder Derrick Jones, made his USL Championship debut for the club as a second half substitute. Jones subbed on in the 64’ minute and helped lock down the 1-0 win. He completed nearly 83 percent of his passes, the second-highest completion percentage on the team tonight.

Up Next

Nashville SC continues its torrid stretch of games with another road match on Saturday night. NSC will travel up I-65 to face Indy Eleven in a matchup of two of the Eastern Conference preseason favorites. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on MyTV30 and online at ESPN+.