Category: Sports

The Nashville Sounds got five shutout innings from 20-year-old Jesus Luzardo to help extend their winning streak to eight games with a 6-0 win over the Sacramento River Cats Monday night at First Tennessee Park.

In his Triple-A debut, Luzardo scattered eight hits, all singles, and struck out six. He threw 52 of his 76 pitches for strikes.

The lefty received early run support in the first inning when Boog Powell, Steve Lombardozzi and Anthony Garcia collected base hits. Garcia’s line drive up the middle plated Lombardozzi to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead.

Luzardo struck out the side in the fourth and added his sixth punch out of the night when he got Orlando Calixte for the second out of the fifth. After a base hit by Peter Bourjos, Luzardo retired Mac Williamson on a fly out to right field to end his night.

J.P. Sportman gave the Sounds some breathing room in the home half of the fifth when he drilled a solo blast into the Hyundai Deck in left field to make it 2-0.

Southpaw Eric Jokisch relieved Luzardo and retired six of the first seven batters he faced. A four-run bottom of the seventh for Nashville put the game out of reach. Beau Taylor, Bruce Maxwell, Sportman and Lombardozzi notched hits in the frame. Lombardozzi’s two-run single to left field gave the Sounds a 6-0 lead.

Jokisch worked the eighth and ninth without much resistance. Pitching in relief for only the second time in 21 games this season, he allowed one hit in four shutout innings. The four relief frames earned him his first save.

The fourth and final game of the series is scheduled for Tuesday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander James Naile (6-10, 4.58) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Tyler Herb (1-4, 5.70) for the River Cats. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• With tonight’s 6-0 win, the Sounds improved to 58-55 on the season.
• The Sounds extended their season-best winning streak to eight games and have matched their high-water mark of three games over .500.
• Nashville’s shutout win was their ninth of the season. The nine shutouts are tied for the most in the Pacific Coast League.
• Jesus Luzardo earned the win in his Triple-A debut (5.0 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K).
• Second baseman J.P. Sportman hit a solo home run in the fifth inning. It was the first Triple-A home run of Sportman’s career.

The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41^st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Coffee County Claybusters pose at the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) Grand American World Trapshooting Championships at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex (WSRC) in Sparta, Illinois.

The Coffee County Claybusters enjoyed their most successful performance ever in the annual AIM Grand Championship which concluded on Tuesday.  Four of the five squads competing placed in the national event held annually in Sparta, IL.  The Claybusters came home with an impressive three 1^st place team finishes and a runner-up.

The Junior Gold Division(18 to 22 year olds) captured a national title as they bested Dirty Mike & the Boys from Arkansas 970 to 968.  The Junior Gold team was led by Jordan Osborne who had rounds of 99 and 07 to score 196 out of 200 clays.  Mikayla Dickson and Travis Dickson each shattered 194 clays.  Neil Slone and Tanner Carlton powdered 193 targets.

The Sub-Junior Division(ages 12 to 14) Class A team also captured a national title as they out shot the Hardin County Hitmen from Savannah 958 to 947.  The leading shooter for the Sub-Juniors was Tucker Carlton who shot a 197, including a perfect round of 100 on Tuesday.  Landon Meadows hit 195 while twin brother Logan shot down 191 clays.  Jonah Wyatt blasted 188 out of a possible 200 while Lexi Stacey shattered 186.

The Junior Division(ages 15 to 17) also captured a first place trophy as they beat Frederick County 4H out of Maryland by 10 targets.  The Claybusters were led by Victoria Majors who dropped 195 targets.  Cheyenne Martin hit 187, Dylan Hickerson dumped 11 clays, Xavier Bartley shot down 180 and Emily DeFord powders 166.

The Sub-Junior Division(ages 12 to 14) Class C team captured a runner-up finish as they fell to Southwest out of Missouri by a final tally of 874 to 869.  Leading the way was Brason Fletcher who shot a 179.  Brayden Davenport dropped 176 clays while Aubrey Payne shot 174.  Garrett Taylor finished with a score of 171 and Blaine Schreck had a 169

To get more information about the Claybusters, you can visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/145542225487727/  The Claybusters are coached by Scott Dickson, Barry Carlton, and Heath Jacobs.

Konor Heaton(#7 in white) takes the toss from Westwood QB Eli Felice(#11) against Eagleville on Friday night at the Cascade Jamboree

Konor Heaton scored a 9 yard TD run on the final play from scrimmage to lift the Westwood Rockets to a 14 to 12 scrimmage win over Eagleville on Friday.  The Rockets used their patented ball control offense for a pair of 70 yard drives in the game to capture the win in the Cascade Jamboree in Wartrace.  Westwood played nearly error-free football as they did not have a turnover or negative yardage play and were only penalized 1 time for 5 yards.

The Rockets controlled the time of possession as they held the ball for 23 minutes of the 30 minute period.  Heaton led the Rockets in scoring as he had 91 yards on 9 carries.  He added the game winning touchdown and a successful 2 point conversion.  Fullback Connor Smith carried the ball 6 times for 33 yards and a TD.  Ian Weldon added 16 yards on 4 carries.

Coach Chad Dyer said that the Rockets will work on containment on defense and filling gaps and shuffling the lineup prior to the season opener.  The Rockets will open the regular season on Thursday at home when they welcome Cannon County to Dyer-Bouldin Field.  Kick-off is set for 6:30 PM.

Emilee Roberson(in white) of CHS soccer battles for a ball in the midfield against Community on Saturday

The Coffee County CHS soccer team played host to the Lady Raider Soccer Play Day on Saturday at the Raider Academy.  The varsity and JV teams were in action alongside 10 other teams.  The varsity squad was 2 and 1 in their 3 matches.  The JV team got a win and a pair of draws.

The highlight of the day for the JV was a 4 to 0 win over the Tullahoma JV.  The Lady Raiders also got a pair of 1 all draws.  Coffee County fought to even match decisions against Community and Mt. Juliet.

The varsity team opened the day with a 1 nil win over district foe Franklin County.  The Lady Raiders fell to an impressive Mt. Juliet 2 nil in their second match.  In their final match of the day, it was a quick start against Community that propelled the Lady Raiders to a 3 to 0 win.  Emilee Roberson drilled home a crossing pass in the 3^rd minute to give the Lady Raiders a 1 nil lead.  Jessica Barrera hammered home an unassisted goal from outside the penalty box in the 19^th minute before Coach David Amado began substituting liberally.  Nayeli Ramirez converted on a cross from Diana Ramirez in the 29^th minute to close out the scoring.  Keeper Megan Jones stopped the only shot she faced to record the clean slate.

Coffee County will host Siegel on Tuesday in a preseason scrimmage beginning at 7 PM.  The Lady Raiders open the season on the road on Monday, August 13^th when they travel to Unionville to take on Community.  That match will kick off at 7 PM.

Madison Neel of CCMS volleyball goes up for a spike on Saturday

The Westwood Lady Rocket and Coffee County Middle School Lady Raider volleyball teams ended their preseason on Saturday as they each took part on the CHS Middle School Play Day.  Originally scheduled for the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym, a plumbing problem at CHS forced the relocation of games.  Westwood played their games at Westwood Elementary while Coffee Middle hosted their games at CCMS.

The Lady Raiders of Coffee Middle were originally going to field a varsity and JV team in the scrimmage play day.  With the revised schedule, Coffee County was only able to use one team for the event.  Coach Malaysha Pack swapped out varsity and JV teams in each match to gain the most possible playing time for her young squad.  While capturing some set wins, the Lady Raiders dropped all 3 matches on the day losing to Tullahoma, Fayetteville and Flintville.

Anna Johnson of Westwood volleyball serves during Saturday’s scrimmage playday

The first year Lady Rocket program was able to get in 6 matches with the varsity and JV each going 1 and 1 on the day against other competition.  The Lady Rocket varsity team swept the JV in a match between the 2 squads.  The Lady Rocket varsity captured a win over South in 3 sets and lost to North in straight sets.  The JV fell to South before dumping North.

Westwood will open the season on the road on Monday, August 13^th when they travel to Decherd to take on North Franklin.  First serve is set for 5 PM. The Lady Raiders will open the regular season on Monday, August 13^th when they host Harris in a conference match.  That match will get underway at 5 PM.  Westwood and Coffee Middle will square off at CCMS on Thursday, August 16^th.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you that match as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  First serve is set for 4:30 PM; the pregame show will begin at 4:15.

A pair of boats from the Coffee County Youth Bass Club hit the waters of Kentucky Lake on Thursday.  The team of Isaiah Owens and Garrett Davis, along with the team of Colby and Braeden Thurmond, competed in the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series National Championship on Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley.  This is the 2^nd consecutive year at the Nationals for the Thurmond brothers and the first year for Coffee County to field 2 boats.

The 3 day event featured 337 teams from across the nation fishing out of Paris Landing State Park.  The top 12 finishers in the first 2 days of the event competed in the final day for the national title.  While neither Raider team advanced to Saturday’s finals, each team finished in the top 200.

Colby and Braeden Thurmond came in 124^th place with a total catch of 8 pounds and 10 ounces.  After landing a pair of fish of Thursday, which weighed in at 3 and a half pounds, the Thurmonds added a much bigger pair of Friday tipping the scales at 5 pounds and 2 ounces.

Davis and Owens got a decent start on Thursday with a pair of fish totaling 4 pounds even.  A tough second day say the duo able to only land 1 fish that weighed in at 1 pound, 11 ounces.

The Nationals ends the season for the Coffee County Youth Bass Club.  To get more information about the Coffee County Youth Bass Club, you can visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/coffeecountyfishing/  The Coffee County Youth Bass Club is coached by Phil Petty.

The Nashville Sounds extended their season-best win streak to seven games as they held off the Sacramento River Cats 6-4 Sunday night at First Tennessee Park.

As Sounds starter Daniel Mengden routinely sent Sacramento hitters back to the first base dugout shaking their heads in frustration, the Sounds offense collected hit after hit. Mengden set a new season-high by collecting seven punch outs in his 6 2/3 innings of work. The offense tallied six runs on 17 hits in the game, one shy of the season-high.

Sheldon Neuse matched a career-high by tallying three hits while J.P. Sportman’s three hits matched a season-high. Neuse knocked in runs in the fifth and eighth innings respectively.

Nashville scored a pair of runs in the first inning as Beau Taylor cranked a two-run double to the wall in left center field. The Sounds added another in the second. Steve Lombardozzi tripled over the head of center fielder Peter Bourjos to get the frame started. Two batters later Boog Powell scorched a base hit passed the outstretched arm of first baseman Myles Schroder to drive in Lombardozzi from third.

Neuse extended Nashville’s lead in the fifth with a run-scoring single through the left side of the infield and Sportman cracked a gapper to right field for an RBI-double in the sixth.

The River Cats broke through on Mengden in the seventh inning. Schroder and Ryder Jones each singled to begin the inning and both came around to score on a double by Miguel Gomez who was thrown out attempting to stretch his double to a triple. Mengden retired one more batter before making way for Carlos Ramirez. Ramirez got the final out of the seventh inning and shutout the River Cats in the eighth before allowing a pair of runs in the ninth inning. It was the first save of the season for Ramirez.

Game three of the four-game series between the Sounds and River Cats is scheduled for Monday night at First Tennessee Park. Oakland’s top prospect, left-hander Jesus Luzardo (0-0, –) starts for the Sounds in what will be his Triple-A debut against right-hander Shaun Anderson (1-1, 5.00) for the River Cats. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• With tonight’s 6-4 win, the Sounds improved to 57-55 on the season.
• The Sounds extended their season-best winning streak to seven games.
• With his two-hit night, Dustin Fowler now has 17 multi-hit games in his 33 total games with the Sounds this season.
• Mengden became the fifth straight Sounds starter to go at least six innings. It was the 46^th time this season the Sounds have gotten at least six innings out of their starting pitcher.

The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41^st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

The Nashville Sounds continued their winning ways Saturday night as they upended the Sacramento River Cats 3-1 in front of 10,811 fans at First Tennessee Park. The Sounds have now won six games in a row to set a new season-long winning streak.

Chris Bassitt put in a sterling effort on the mound for the Sounds as the right-hander matched a career-high by spinning eight innings of one-run baseball. He yielded just three hits and fanned six in his eight innings of work.

Sacramento took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a Ryder Jones solo shot but the lead was short-lived as Nashville responded with a run of its own in the home half. Sheldon Neuse and Melvin Mercedes each collected base knocks before Boog Powell lifted a bloop double into shallow left field to drive in a run.

The Sounds took the lead in the next inning as Neuse was again in the thick of the action. Dustin Fowler got the inning started with a base hit and was stuck at first for two outs. Neuse then stepped to the play and drove a double to the deepest part of the ballpark in right center field to score Fowler from first base.

Bruce Maxwell gave the Sounds some insurance in the seventh inning with a run-scoring double to left field. Josh Lucas shut the door on Sacramento with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his fifth save of the campaign

Game two of the four-game series between the Sounds and River Cats is scheduled for Sunday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Daniel Mengden (2-1, 4.43) starts for the Sounds against left-hander Daniel Camarena (0-6, 5.37) for the River Cats. First pitch is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• With tonight’s 3-1 win, the Sounds improved to 56-55 on the season.
• Tonight’s crowd of 10,811 was the 16^th sellout of the season and 71^st all-time at First Tennessee Park.
• The Sounds are back above .500 for the first time since June 8 are on their longest winning streak of the season at six games.
• With his two-hit night, Dustin Fowler now has 16 multi-hit games in his 32 total games with the Sounds this season.
• Bassitt became the fourth straight Sounds starter to go at least six innings. It was the 45^th time this season the Sounds have gotten at least six innings out of their starting pitcher.

The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41^st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Ropapa Mensah of Nashville SC

A late goal by the bane of all FC Cincinnati fans, Tucker Hume, sealed a road result for Nashville SC against top of the table FC Cincinnati. The goal in the 86’ minute, assisted by Ropapa Mensah, leveled the game at 1-1 and gave Nashville a much-deserved point at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati on Saturday night.

FIRST COME FROM BEHIND RESULT

Tonight’s draw was the first time Nashville SC had earned a result after falling behind at any point in a match. Previously, Nashville was 0-6-0 when falling behind.

DOMINATING THE STAT SHEET

Nashville outplayed Cincinnati for much of the match after FCC opened the scoring just 29 seconds into the match. Nashville beat Cincy in possession (52.4-47.6), shots (19-4), crosses (31-11) and chances created (16-4).

 DEFENSE AGAINST CINCY

FC Cincinnati, which boasts the top scoring offense in the USL, has scored two or more goals in every USL match since May 12 except for its two matches against Nashville SC. In Nashville on July 7, Nashville SC held Cincinnati scoreless in a 0-0 draw. Tonight’s 1-1 tie continued to tell the tale of Nashville’s great defense.

ANOTHER LATE GOAL

Hume’s late equalizer was Nashville SC’s 10^th goal after the 75’ minute in all competitions. Nashville has outscored its opposition 10-4 in the final 15 minutes of a match.

A NEW MONTH

After a disappointing July that saw Nashville SC score just one goal and acquire four points, Nashville matched its goal total and got another point from the top team in the USL.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Nashville will have its only Friday night home game next week when it plays Ottawa Fury FC at home at 7:30 p.m. at First Tennessee Park on August 10.

The Nashville Sounds led from start to finish in a 6-2 win over the Fresno Grizzlies in front of a sellout crowd of 11,227 at First Tennessee Park Friday night. The victory extended Nashville’s winning streak to five games.

The win completed a three-game sweep of the Grizzlies – the first three-game series sweep for the Sounds since the 2007 season.

Starters Frankie Montas of Nashville and Brady Rodgers of Fresno started the game locked in a pitchers’ duel. Both right-handers put up zeroes in the first three innings.

Nashville struck first in the fourth when Steve Lombardozzi and Dustin Fowler sparked a rally with back-to-back one-out singles. Anthony Garcia followed with a run-scoring base hit to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead and Sheldon Neuse knocked in a run with a single to make it 2-0.

Lombardozzi, Fowler and Garcia were at it again in the sixth with three consecutive one-out singles. Garcia’s drove in Lombardozzi to give Nashville a 3-0 lead. Lombardozzi went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, Fowler went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and Garcia knocked in a pair of runs to bring his RBI total to 68.

It was plenty of run support for Montas who went on to throw six shutout innings. He limited Fresno to four hits and one walk. He struck out seven in his third win of the year with the Sounds.

After Fresno’s Garrett Stubbs launched a two-run homer off Dean Kiekhefer in the seventh to make it 3-2, Nashville added three insurance runs in the eighth for good measure.

The Sounds welcome the Sacramento River Cats for a four-game series set to begin Saturday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Chris Bassitt (3-4, 5.34) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Casey Kelly (10-8, 4.82) for the River Cats. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• With tonight’s 6-2 win, the Sounds improved to 55-55 on the season.
• Tonight’s crowd of 11,227 was the 15^th sellout of the season and 70^th all-time at First Tennessee Park. It’s the 10^th-largest crowd in ballpark history.
• The Sounds are back to .500 for the first time since June 10 and have matched their longest winning streak of the season at five games.
• Nashville’s win tonight completed a three-game sweep of Fresno. It’s the first three-game series sweep for the Sounds since June 27-29 of 2007 at Albuquerque.
• Tonight’s win for Nashville completed their second sweep of the season. The Sounds swept Oklahoma City in a four-game series June 26-28.
• Frankie Montas logged his fourth quality start (6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K) with Nashville. It was his first start of 6+ IP and 0 R allowed with Nashville in 2018.

The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41^st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.