The Coffee County Central High School athletic department has partnered with Jiffy Burger restaurant to acknowledge the hard work and dedication that our student-athletes put into their sports. At the end of each month, each in-season head coach will be able to submit the name of one athlete who had a standout performance and demonstrated excellent leadership during that month. The head coaches and the administration will be given the opportunity to vote for one male and one female athlete to be named athlete of the month.
Last week, the CHS athletic department announced the selection of Darius Rozier and Bella Vinson as the student-athletes of the month for the month of January.
Darius is a senior captain for the Red Raider basketball team who led the team in scoring for the 2018-2019 season. Darius was named the District 8AAA Player of the Year. Darius was also selected to the District 8AAA All-Tournament and Region 4AAA All-Tournament teams.
Bella is a sophomore member of the Lady Raider basketball team who was among the team leaders in scoring for the 2018-2019 season. Bella was named the District 8AAA Player of the Year. Bella was also selected to the District 8AAA All-Tournament and Region 4AAA All-Tournament teams.
The Coffee County Middle School softball team visited Shelbyville on Saturday for 4 games. The Lady Raiders erupted for 51 runs in the 4 games as they pushed their season record to 6 and 0 on the season. Coffee Middle got wins over Rockvale, Liberty, Community and Columbia Academy.
The Lady Raiders opened with a 13 to 4 win over Rockvale. A 7 run first inning by Coffee County paved the way to a 13 to 4 win over the Rockets. Willow Carden had a pair of doubles and 8 RBI to lead the Lady Raider hitting attack. Kaitlyn Anderson added a double and 2 singles with 2 RBI. Samantha Cothran got the win in the circle for Coffee Middle.
A 10 run outburst in the 3rd inning helped the Lady Raiders roll to a 17 to 3 win over Liberty. Savannah Cooper had a pair of doubles and a pair of singles with 6 RBI to lead Coffee Middle at the plate. Cooper also got the win in the circle. Channa Gannon had a double and a single with 3 RBI.
Against Community, Kaitlyn Anderson pitched a shutout with 5 strikeouts. Chloe Gannon had a double and 2 singles and 3 RBI to lead the Lady Raiders offensively. Katelyn Davis had a double and a single while Anderson added a pair of singles.
Against Columbia Academy, sisters Chloe and Channa Gannon combined to throw a 1 hit shutout. At the plate, Coffee Middle banged out 10 hits. Aleayia Barnes, Katelyn Davis, Channa Gannon all had 2 hits. Barnes and Channa Gannon each had 2 RBI while Davis hit a double.
The Lady Raiders return home on Monday night for a conference matchup with old rival Warren County. First pitch is set for 5 PM and Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the Gilley Crane Hometown Sports Series. Jonathan Oliver will have the play by play beginning with the pregame show at 4:50.
The Coffee County CHS baseball team welcomed Central Magnet to Powers Field on Saturday for a scrimmage. Using the opportunity to play all of their players, the Raiders and Tigers squared off in a 15 inning contest. Coffee County used a late inning rally to capture a 9 to 6 win.
After jumping out to a 2 to 0 lead in the first inning, the Red Raiders needed a rally in the 14th inning to capture the win. With Central Magnet leading 6 to 5 entering the bottom of the 14th, Coffee County got a 2 RBI triple from Wyatt Nugent to recapture the lead and their 2nd straight scrimmage win.
Trey Rogers was the only Coffee County player with 2 hits as he had a pair of singles in 3 at bats. Kael McCall, Hayden Skipper and Remington Banks each had a double. Coffee County finished with 13 stolen bases led by Braden Brown and Skipper each had 2 stolen bases. Coffee County used 13 pitchers on the day led by Brown and John McKelvey who each pitched 2 innings each. Hayden Hullett and Luke Beachboard each had a pair of strikeouts in 1 inning of work.
The Coffee County Youth Bass Club braved some cold temperatures on Tims Ford Lake on Saturday. Seven high school teams and a junior division team represented the Raider anglers well on the day. Coffee County came home with top 5 finishes in each division.
The junior angler team of Kylan Mantooth and Lance Marcom continued their strong season as they came home in 2nd place. Kylan and Lance landed the biggest fish in their division with a 4.43 pound lunker. They finished with 2 fish totaling 6.56 pounds to capture 2nd place. For the season, Mantooth are Marcom sit atop the region standings.
In the high school division, Isaiah Owens and Garrett Davis were the top finishers on the day as they finished in 4th place with a 5 fish stringer totaling 13.17 pounds. Colby Thurmond and Jacob Garms were close behind in 7th place as they caught 4 fish weighing 11.62 pounds. Adam Petty and Jayden Yates finished in 16th place as they landed 2 fish totaling 6.85 pounds. Branson and Dawson Wells came in 27th place, Curtis Tudor and Sawyer Banks finished in 42nd place and the team of Briley Sain/Kaden Freeze finished in 46th place out of 65 boats. In the region standings, the Raider anglers have 3 teams in the Top 10. Colby Thurmond and Jacob Garms are currently in 3rd place. The Wells brothers sit in 5th place and the defending region champion team of Owens and Davis is in 9th place.
Members of the Coffee County Youth Bass Club will be back in action on Saturday for a State Trail event on Nickajack Lake. The next region event is scheduled for March 23rd on Percy Priest Lake.
2019 Lady Raider softball team following Midnight Madness
The Coffee County CHS softball team got their first scrimmage action of the year on Saturday as they traveled to Hendersonville. Coffee County got in 18 innings of work as they tangled with 5 different opponents. The Lady Raiders tinkered with their lineup combinations as they went 2 and 3 on the day.
Coffee County opened against Blackman as they were held to 1 hit in a 10 to 1 loss to Blackman. Haley Richardson had the lone hit as she laced a double. Ashley Evans scored the lone Lady Raider run on a Gracie Pippenger ground out. Coffee County bounced back with a 5 to 1 win over Beech. Keri Munn got the win in the circle as she struck out 4 in 4 innings of work. Munn also had a double and a single with 4 RBI. Coffee County followed that up with a 9 to 4 win over Gallatin. Richardson got the win in the circle and had a home run. Kiya Ferrell had a pair of hits and scored twice.
The Lady Raiders closed out the day with a pair of losses. Against Westmoreland, Coffee County surrendered 7 unearned runs in a loss. Ferrell had a double and a single and 1 RBI. Kyla Craig drove in 2 runs with a double. A late rally against Spring Hill came up short in a 4 to 3 loss. Katie Rutledge finished with a triple and a single and 1 RBI. Haidyn Campbell added a pair of singles.
Coffee County will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Shelbyville for a scrimmage playday. Thunder Radio will post the schedule later on this week.
Filip Forsberg tied it late, and Ryan Johansen took his time to win it.
Juuse Saros stopped three of the four shots he saw in the shootout, before Johansen ended it and the Nashville Predators defeated the Minnesota Wild, 3-2, on Sunday night at Xcel Energy Center. The result snaps a two-game skid for the Preds and gives the visitors the victory in the first half of the home-and-home set.
Minnesota, a team on the second half of a back-to-back, had a 2-1 lead over the Preds entering the third period, but Nashville outshot the home club by a 14-3 margin in the final 20 minutes, and Forsberg eventually got one to go to help the visitors prevail.
“We’ve been facing a lot of adversity lately, and there’s a lot of expectations outside our room and in our room,” Johansen said. “Tonight’s another great example of our team coming together. It’s about finding ways to win, and we’ve just got to continue to doing that. Tonight was a great result, and we’re happy.”
Nick Bonino gave the Predators a 1-0 lead when he cashed in on a feed from Wayne Simmonds in front halfway through the first period. The assist was the first point for Simmonds in three games as a member of the Preds.
Nashville had their one-goal lead until the 16:35 mark of the second stanza when Eric Fehr and Jason Zucker combined to give Minnesota a pair of tallies before the fame ended.
That 2-1 advantage held up for the Wild for most of the third, but it was Forsberg who knocked a loose rebound home with less than five to play in regulation to even the score.
After an extra session that saw both teams get their chances, Ryan Ellis and Johansen scored in the four-round shootout to give the Preds a win to conclude their two-game trip.
Johansen and his mates will now return to Nashville to host the Wild on Tuesday for the second of three meetings between the two this month.
With just 14 games remaining for the Preds in the regular season and the trade deadline passed, finding consistency is paramount for the group in the days and weeks to come. Now that they know what their roster will look like down the stretch, the Predators are anxious to come together with everyone contributing.
And, most importantly at this time of the year, two points in the standings are better than one, no matter how they come.
“All I can say is Nashville’s put their band together, and we’re ready to play,” Johansen said.
Notes:
Forward Craig Smith returned to the Nashville lineup after missing six games with a lower-body injury. Smith started the game on a line with Kyle Turris and Mikael Granlund.
Forward Brian Boyle missed Sunday’s game due to a lower-body injury.
In addition to Boyle, Cody McLeod and Matt Donovan were scratched for the Preds on Sunday.
The Predators will return to Tennessee for a two-game homestand, beginning on Tuesday when the Wild come to town (at 7 p.m. CT). The Preds will then host Carolina on Saturday before a California trip next week.
Mikael Granlund recorded an assist in his Nashville debut and P.K. Subban scored on the power play, but the Winnipeg Jets completed the comeback to defeat the Predators by a 5-3 final on Friday night at Bell MTS Place. It’s Nashville’s second-straight loss overall and their second defeat to the Jets on the season.
The Predators had a 2-0 lead in the second period, but the Jets tied the game before the third, and then took the lead in a battle between the top two teams in the Central Division.
“They were better in the small areas,” Preds defenseman P.K. Subban said. “We had our chances…but it just didn’t feel that we really got enough going. We generated some opportunities, but we have to keep the game simple. Nothing’s free and you have to earn everything. It’s a tough game, and we’re going to have to learn from this and get a whole lot better.”
The Predators have struggled to score in the first period as of late, but it was Viktor Arvidsson who found twine at 15:21 of the opening frame to give his club a 1-0 advantage. Winnipeg thought they had tied the game moments later, but the Predators won yet another offside challenge and the call was overturned.
Nashville’s first power-play opportunity of the evening came in the second stanza, and although the first chance didn’t produce a tally, a unit with Granlund and Wayne Simmonds produced a number of quality looks. The second man advantage of the night for the Preds cashed in, however, with a Subban blast from the point and a Brian Boyle screen in front.
Before the second act was completed, the Jets evened the score with goals from Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor to see the two clubs enter the third period tied at two apiece.
With less than six minutes to play in regulation, Blake Wheeler gave the Jets their first lead of the night, and after Winnipeg got their first empty-netter, Mattias Ekholm gave the Preds life again when he potted his eighth of the season. It wasn’t meant to be as the Jets put one more into the empty cage before the night was done.
In addition to his assist on Ekholm’s goal, Granlund finished with three shots and two hits in 18:28 of ice time in his first game as a member of the Predators.
The Predators will complete their two-game trip on Sunday night in Minnesota when they face Kevin Fiala, Anthony Bitetto and the Wild.
“It’s the little things that are costing us right now, and the upside of this is we can clean those things up,” Subban said. “We’re going to have to play our best game of the season [on Sunday], and why not start there? Then we go home and get some rest and we continue on.”
On a cold and drizzy Thursday night at Dyer-Bouldin Field, the Westwood Rocket soccer team had no trouble getting warmed up for their season opener. In a match you heard here on Thunder Radio, the Rockets got 5 first half goals to roll to a 7 to 1 win over Lincoln County.
Westwood got on the board in the 3rd minute as Izick Sierra drilled home a pass from Ian Weldon to put Westwood on top 1 to 0. The Rockets then got 3 goals in a 3 minute period as Weldon scored in the 8th minute, Nico Sanfilippo netted a pass from Noah Wilder in the 9th minute and Caleb Cargile scored unassisted in the 10th minute. Weldon finished with 3 goals and an assist. Trevor Bellamy added a goal and an assist and Cy Brody Dyer had a 2nd half assist.
Westwood is scheduled to travel to Tullahoma for a second straight non-conference friendly on Friday. The match is set to kick off at Tullahoma at 6 PM.
