The Westwood Middle School softball team opened their season on Thursday night in Woodbury taking on Cannon County. In a game you heard here on Thunder Radio, Emma Kidder pitched a no-hitter striking out 8 to start the season on a strong note. The Lady Rockets banged out 8 hits in the 3rd inning to lift Westwood a 17 to 0 Mercy Rule victory.
Westwood finished the game with 5 extra base hits as they crushed the Lionettes. The Lady Rockets finished the game with 14 hits and 5 walks as they made short work of Cannon County. Emmalise Ramer led the way with 3 hits, including a double, and 3 RBI. Paisley Campbell had a double and a triple and 4 RBI. Kidder added a triple and a single and 2 RBI.
Westwood will host their first home game of the year on Tuesday when they welcome Fayetteville to Lady Rocket Field. First pitch is set for 5 PM.
Coffee County Middle School baseball team traveled to McMinnville looking for their second straight season sweep on Thursday night. Taking on a tough and talented Warren County team, the Raiders used a huge 7th inning rally to coast to a 9 to 1 win over the Pioneers.
Leading 4 to 1 entering the 7th inning, the Raiders sent 10 batters to the plate as they scored 5 runs to put the game out of reach. Aiden Robertson and Jack Anderson combined to pitch a 4 hitter as they struck out 9. Coffee Middle banged out 9 hits on the game led by Jacob Holder who had a pair of singles. England Bryan had a double and 2 RBI while Cole Pippenger added a single and a pair of runs batted in.
Coffee Middle will hit the road again on Monday when they travel to Shelbyville to take on Harris. First pitch is set for 5 PM.
Coffee County Middle School softball team opened their conference series with Warren County on Thursday night in McMinnville. With the Lady Raiders, looking to capture their 7th win on the season, Coffee Middle got a sterling performance from Lady Raider pitcher Katelyn Davis in a 1 to 0 win over the Lady Pioneers.
The Lady Raiders banged out 6 hits on the game led by Chloe Gannon who had a single and a double. Aleayia Barnes added a pair of singles and Madison Pruitt ripped a triple for the Lady Raiders. Davis pitched a complete game allowing just one hit and striking out 2.
The Lady Raiders return home on Friday night to take on Warren County in the 2nd game of the season series. First pitch is set for 5 PM at Coffee County Middle School.
Hosting their first home match of the year, the Coffee County Middle School soccer team took on Warren County on Wednesday afternoon. In a match you heard here on Thunder Radio, the Red Raiders used some outstanding passing to run their record to 2 and 0 on the season. Coffee Middle won by a final score of 5 to 2.
Javier Rodriquez had the big game for the Raiders as he scored 4 goals. Brayton Anderson had a goal and an assist while Manuel Gonzalez and Isaiah Campbell each added assists.
Rodriquez got Coffee County on the board in the 4th minute as he connected from 20 yards out to give the Red Raiders the early lead. After Warren County leveled the match in the 17th minute, Anderson pressed the attack and corralled a loose ball in front of the Pioneer keeper and buried it in the back of the net to give Coffee Middle a lead they would not surrender. Rodriquez added a goal in the 25th minute on the feed from Campbell to give Coffee County a 3 to 1 lead at intermission.
In the 2nd half, Rodriquez scored on a pair of long through balls as he converted a feed from Anderson in the 43rd minute and a pass from Gonzalez in the 49th minute. Warren County added a goal in the 59th minute as Raider keeper Joseph Galindo finished with 11 saves.
Coffee County will be back at home on Friday as they play host to North Franklin. That match will get underway at 4:45.
Pitching has been the strong suit for the Coffee County Middle School baseball team all season long. Never was that more evident than Wednesday night as Jacob Holder and Jack Anderson combined to throw a no-hitter against Warren County. The Raiders made the most of their 3 hits to capture a 3 to 0 conference win.
Hayden Garr had a pair of singles and scored a run to lead the Raider hitting attack. Cole Pippenger had the other Raider hit. Holder and Anderson each drew a pair of walks. Holder struck out 16 Pioneer batters in 6 innings to get the win. Anderson retired Warren County in order in the 7th with 2 strikeouts to capture the save.
The win moves the Red Raiders record to 3 and 0 in the season with all 3 victories coming in conference games. The Raiders will travel to McMinnville on Thursday for a rematch with Warren County in the 2nd game of the season series. First pitch is set for 5:30 PM at Warren County Middle School.
Haley Hinshaw of Motlow Lady Bucks softball[Photo courtesy of MotlowAthletics.com]
The Motlow Lady Bucks will face their toughest test of the young 2019 softball season this weekend when they welcome defending TCCAA champion Chattanooga State to the Moore County campus. The Lady Tigers are ranked No. 16 in the preseason NJCAA poll.
Motlow (2-2, 7-8) went on the road to Memphis last weekend and split a four-game series to open conference play. Friday the Lady Bucks won the series opener 9-6 before losing the nightcap 4-0. Saturday, Motlow dropped a 3-0 decision to the Lady Saluqis in the first game before capturing the series finale 8-4.
The Lady Bucks jumped out front 4-0 after two innings in the opener, but the Saluqis fought back and tied the score in the bottom of the fifth. Motlow put the game away with three runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh.
Samantha King, Haley Hinshaw and Jesse Beasenburg all homered for the Lady Bucks, while Kendall Durard drove in three runs. King got the win in the circle, pitching five innings and allowing one earned run with eight strikeouts. Autumn Davis and Heidi Durham each pitched an inning in relief.
Game two on Friday featured a great pitching performance by Southwest, allowing Motlow only five hits. Hinshaw had three of those hits, including two doubles, but the Lady Bucks couldn’t put a rally together. Jennifer Corbitt started in the circle, going five innings and allowing only two earned runs. Durham pitched a perfect final inning with two strikeouts.
In Saturday’s game one the Lady Bucks could not muster much offense with only five hits. Motlow wasted an excellent effort from King in the circle as she allowed only two earned runs and had 14 strikeouts while pitching a complete game.
The series finale featured a return to offense for Motlow. Hinshaw slammed a home run and added a double. King and Madison Hopkins joined her in driving in two runs each. Durham started in the circle and got the win, allowing four hits in four innings with five strikeouts. Davis got her first save of the season, allowing just one hit over the final three innings.
Minnesota tied it late, but Nashville prevailed in the shootout again as the Predators defeated the Wild by a 5-4 final on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result gives the Preds a sweep of their home-and-home set with Minnesota, the second time Nashville has topped Minnesota in a shootout in as many tries.
After a 3-2 result on Sunday, the Preds returned to Nashville to host the Wild once more in a game which saw former Predators winger Kevin Fiala tally twice, including the tying goal with just over two minutes to play.
But, in the end, the shootout worked again for the Predators, and it was No. 92 who waited out Devan Dubnyk to claim not only the extra point, but first in the Central Division once more.
“It’s nice to get two wins,” Johansen said. “They played really hard, and they are missing a few guys too, so I have to give them credit. They played two hard games, but it was nice to get four points out of the two games.”
“It was a good win for us, a good shootout win against a tough team,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “They’re fighting for their playoff lives, and we’re fighting to move up in the standings. It was two good games. We’re very happy with the four points.”
The Preds didn’t waste much time taking the early lead – just 1:48 into the contest, to be exact – when Craig Smith converted on a rebound to beat Devan Dubnyk and give the home team a 1-0 advantage. Before the opening period was out, Fiala beat Pekka Rinne to even the score at one all.
More than 13 minutes into the second, the Preds served up a Brian Boyle classic. The massive centerman parked himself in front of equally tall, 6-foot-6 Dubnyk and redirected a P.K. Subban shot past the goaltender – on the power play – to give Nashville their lead back.
“It’s always a work in progress,” Boyle said of the power play. “You find some chemistry and certain things that might give you a few more looks, some confidence, a little trust and watch some video on it, and then you want to execute so you can have the opportunity to go out on the power play. That’s probably the most fun thing you can do during the game, and it’s a boost for the club.”
But late in the second, another former Pred converted as Pontus Aberg evened the score once more.
As the third frame began, Eric Fehr put Minnesota on top for the first time, but Roman Josi tied things at three less than a minute later when he equaled a career high with his 15th goal of the season. Then, Viktor Arvidsson found a hole through Dubnyk and put the Preds back up by one before Fiala could tie it again.
“We didn’t want him to score, but he’s been here for a while,” Josi said of Fiala. “He can take the two goals. We’ll take the two points.”
Overtime solved nothing, and neither did the first three rounds of the shootout with the goaltenders staying perfect until Johansen waited to deke out Dubnyk for the win.
A home-and-home sweep over any club would be considered a success, but at this time of the year, and against an opponent in the division fighting for their playoff lives, well, it makes things just a bit sweeter.
“It’s big, especially against a desperate team like that,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “You have to give them a lot of credit, they played really hard in two games and kept fighting the whole way. Our guys just kept pushing back.”
Patience, My Friend:
Across the NHL, most shootout participants try to not give the goaltenders much time to think before they fire the puck.
Ryan Johansen might be trying to lull them to sleep.
Whatever he’s doing, it’s working.
Twice in two games Johansen has pulled off similar moves – starting with speed before almost coming to a complete stop – and then making the goaltender look silly before depositing the puck into a yawning cage.
So, what exactly is going through Johansen’s mind at that moment?
“I can’t tell you what I am thinking,” he laughed.
“Yeah, I taught him that,” Brian Boyle deadpanned when asked of Johansen’s shootout wizardry.
Call it what you want, but Johansen, who is now a perfect 3-for-3 in the shootout this season, is converting, and that’s all that really matters.
“Methodical,” Laviolette said of the move. “Some guys come in and they may give it one push and make their move. I think he just tries to wait it out.”
“I don’t know how he does it,” Josi said. “I would be way too nervous to hold on to the puck for that long, but he does it every game and he’s pretty good at it.”
Notes:
Preds defenseman Yannick Weber missed Tuesday’s game due to an upper-body injury, with Matt Donovan taking his spot in the lineup.
Brian Boyle returned to the Nashville lineup after missing Sunday’s game with a lower-body injury.
The Predators will now have a bit of time to rest a recuperate before hosting Carolina on Saturday to close out their two-game homestand.
Claybuster individual winners from Saturday. From left, Garret Taylor HCP Runner up, Riley Bellomy Sub Junior Champ, Xavier Bartley Class D Champ, Tucker Carlson B class 3rd. Landon Meadows Sub Junior 3rd, Logan Meadows Sub Junior 2nd, Hayden Jacobs Junior and Doubles Champion, Lexi Stacey lady 2nd, Victoria Majors Lady Champion with a 100 straight! and Jonah Wyatt Class C Champion. [Photo Provided]
The Coffee County Claybusters once again posted another dominant performance on Saturday at Big Springs in Christiana. Competing against more than 120 shooters, a program record 11 different Claybusters captured hardware as individual winners. Additionally, all 3 Claybuster teams won their respective class at the ATA/AIM shooting event.
The Claybusters Team #1 won the Junior Division with the high overall score of 475 outdistancing 2nd place Middle Tennessee Christian by 19 clays. Team members, with their score in parentheses were: Victoria Majors(100), Lexi Stacey(98), Hayden Jacobs(97), Tucker Carlton(92) and Regan Crouch(88).
Claybusters Team #2 won the Sub-Junior, Class A division with a High Overall Score of 462. Team members were: Jonah Wyatt(95), Xavier Bartley(95), Landon Meadows(95), Logan Meadows(95) and Dylan Hickerson(82).
Claybusters Team #4 won the Sub-Junior, Class B division with a score of 440. Team members were: Riley Bellomy(96), Emma Mathews(94), Braden Davenport(85), Garrett Taylor(84) and Jacob Anderson(81).
Individual winners were: Hayden Jacobs, Junior Division AND Doubles champion; Victoria Majors, Lady’s champion; Jonah Wyatt, Class C champion; Xavier Bartley, Class D champion; Riley Bellomy, sub-junior champion; Emma Matthews, Class C runner-up; Lexi Stacey, Lady’s runner-up; Logan Meadows, sub-junior runner-up; Garrett Taylor, handicap runner-up; Landon Meadows, sub-junior 2nd runner-up; and Tucker Carlton, Class B 2nd runner-up;
The Claybusters are back in action on Saturday, March 16th when they return to Big Springs for a Scholastic Clay Target Program(SCTP) shoot. Shooting will begin around 9 AM at the Christiana range.
