The Coffee County Middle School golf team saw their season come to a close on Thursday afternoon. The Raiders traveled to Shelbyville to take on Liberty at Riverbend Country Club. Liberty defeated the Raiders by a score of 7 ½ to 4 ½ in the Junior PGA flag scoring format.
The Coffee Middle team of Logan Hale and Avery Hill got a 3 to 0 sweep in their matchup to lead the Raider team. Zack Tidwell and Austin Dockrey captured a half flag and the team of Xavier Bartley and Kolby McCormick got the other win for Coffee County. The loss ends the season for the Raiders in the 2nd round of the conference tournament.
A 5-1 victory for the Winnipeg Jets in Game 7 on Thursday night in Nashville saw the visitors advance to the Western Conference Final, while the Predators’ franchise-best season came to an early conclusion.
It never gets any easier to be on the wrong end of a handshake line, and the Predators were left feeling the disappointment of a game that simply didn’t go their way.
“It’s difficult,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was almost a fluky start more than anything else. Just the goals, the way they went in, it’s a little bit fluky… Not only are [the Jets] a good offensive team but they’re a good defensive team as well, and we just found it difficult to get going the way we might like to.”
In the first period, Tyler Myers and Paul Stastny scored just over two minutes apart, and Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette made the decision to pull starting goaltender Pekka Rinne in favor of Juuse Saros.
Before the opening period was out, P.K. Subban tallied for Nashville on the power play to give the Preds some life, but a second stanza controlled mostly by Winnipeg saw Mark Scheifele give the Jets a 3-1 lead at the 17:50 mark before they tacked on two more in the final frame.
Rinne was particularly disappointed in the Nashville locker room after the fact, feeling he had let the team down with the two goals he surrendered in the first period, a situation especially tough to handle in a Game 7.
“I feel very responsible for our season ending at this point,” Rinne said. “It’s tough to swallow. It’s tough to understand. I can’t point at anything. I felt good and had no injuries and totally healthy. [I had] ups and downs throughout the playoffs. It’s a terrible feeling when you let your teammates down. That’s what happened tonight. It’s tough to swallow.”
But Laviolette and the rest of the Preds were quick to stick up for their netminder, making sure it was known they were owning the Game 7 defeat as a team, not even entertaining the thought of placing the blame on one person.
“This isn’t about Pekka,” Laviolette said. “It didn’t work out today. He shouldn’t talk about things like that on his own; this is on all of us. It was a series we wanted to move forward on, we ran into a good team and they’re moving on.”
And that’s what it came down to – the two best teams in the League, battling through a seven-game series that lived up to the hype. It just didn’t go Nashville’s way.
Now, as the offseason arrives in its very early stages, the Predators will take the coming days to hold exit meetings, to reflect on the past and begin initial preparations for 2018-19 campaign that will be here soon enough.
Of course, they had hoped for more, expected more, it just wasn’t meant to be on this night.
The season may pass, but the dream doesn’t die.
“I’m so proud of this team,” Rinne said. “It’s like a family. It wasn’t a fluke that we won the Presidents’ Trophy. We had such a good season. It’s so hard to wrap it together at this kind of moment, but I love this team.”
“We have a lot of time now to think about it, to heal up and rest,” Subban said. “For us, we’re going to have to use this summer to be even better for next year. We have to go train and rest and recover, get faster and stronger and better and be ready to win a championship next year.
Notes:
Predators center Mike Fisher did not play in Game 7 due to a lower-body injury. Ryan Hartman replaced Fisher in the lineup.
With an assist on P.K. Subban’s goal, Filip Forsberg has tied not only his career high for playoff points in a single postseason, but he has also tied the franchise’s all-time postseason high (16).
Nashville is now 1-2 in Game 7s in franchise history. This was their first Game 7 on home ice.
The Nashville Sounds jumped out to an 8-0 lead after the first inning and held off the Colorado Springs Sky Sox en route to a 12-7 win Thursday night.
Anthony Garcia led the way offensively for the Sounds with five RBI. The right fielder picked up a two-run single in the first, belted a two-run homer in the fourth, and recorded a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
The Sounds built a large cushion with an offensive explosion in the first inning. Nashville sent 12 batters to the plate and tallied eight runs on nine hits to put the game out of reach. The first six batters in the order got a hit off former Sounds pitcher Michael Brady. Nick Martini and BJ Boyd each collected a pair of hits in the frame.
Daniel Gossett was the recipient of the large lead and cruised through the next two innings before hitting a snag in the fourth. The Sky Sox cut the lead in half with RBI hits from Jacob Nottingham, Kyle Wren, and Gabriel Noriega.
For the second straight game Garcia used the long ball to light up the score board. In the bottom of the fourth inning with Franklin Barreto on first base, Garcia blasted a 1-1 pitch off the batter’s eye in straightaway center field.
Gossett lasted seven innings for the second straight outing and finished the night allowing five runs on eight hits while striking out seven.
Nashville extended its lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Slade Heathcott worked a one-out walk and swiped second base. Sheldon Neuse then cranked a double off the wall in center field to push the lead to 11-5.
Emilio Pagán entered the game for Gossett in the eighth and promptly surrendered a solo home run to Nottingham. The Sky Sox plated another run in the inning, an unearned run thanks to a Heathcott error at first base, to push the score to 11-7. Garcia’s eighth inning sacrifice fly capped the scoring for the evening.
The four-game series concludes Friday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Kendall Graveman (1-0, 6.00) starts for Nashville against right-hander Corbin Burnes (1-0, 4.55) for Colorado Springs. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Post-Game Notes
With tonight’s 12-7 win, the Sounds improved to 16-17 on the season.
The eight-run first inning was the highest-scoring inning for the Sounds this season.
Nick Martini and BJ Boyd each collected a pair of hits in the first inning to become the first Sounds players since Kenny Wilson on July 26, 2017.
Martini extended his consecutive on-base streak to 21 games when he led off the game with a base hit to right field. in the second inning. Since April 14, Martini has reached safely in every game he has played in.
Anthony Garcia homered for the second straight game, becoming the first Sounds player to homer in back-to-back games this season.
The Sounds scored at least 10 runs for the fourth time this season.
The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41st 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.
2018 District 8AAA Softball Tournament(updated 5-9-18)
District tournament action continues tonight here on Thunder Radio as the Coffee County Central High School Lady Raiders take on Lincoln County. Thunder Radio will be on hand bringing you live coverage of the District 8AAA Championship matchup between Lincoln County and Coffee County tonight from Lincoln County. First pitch is set for 5 PM, Lucky Knott will bring you live coverage from Fayetteville beginning with the pregame show at 4:45.
Thunder Radio will join the Nashville Predators Radio network broadcast of the Stanley Cup playoffs immediately following Coffee County softball
The Colorado Springs Sky Sox took advantage of two Nashville Sounds errors and grabbed a 6-5 win at First Tennessee Park Wednesday night.
Home runs by Nick Martini and Anthony Garcia, along with a strong performance by starter Frankie Montas helped the Sounds build a 5-2 lead through six innings.
The wheels fell off in the seventh as Colorado Springs started the inning with three consecutive hits. The third hit of the inning was a run-scoring double by Nate Orf to trim Nashville’s lead to 5-3. Keon Broxton followed with a fly ball down the right field line that was dropped by Garcia. Another run scored to make it a 5-4 game.
Eric Sogard followed with a sacrifice fly to even the game at 5-5. Ji-Man Choi came up with a runner at third and one out and hit a ground ball to first. Slade Heathcott’s throw home was wild and allowed Broxton to score the go-ahead run and give Colorado Springs a 6-5 lead.
The defensive mistakes came after Nashville entered the game without committing an error in the last 60 innings.
Martini belted a solo home run in the fourth and Heathcott knocked in a run with a single. Garcia’s two-run homer to deep left field gave the Sounds a 5-2 lead in the fifth. The offense went quiet for the final four frames.
Montas was brilliant for the second consecutive start. After his first six-inning start since 2015, he struck out a season-high 10 batters over six innings. He allowed two runs on five hits in the no-decision.
The four-game series continues Thursday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Daniel Gossett (2-0, 1.05) starts for Nashville against right-hander Michael Brady (0-1, 8.04) for Colorado Springs. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Post-Game Notes
With tonight’s 6-5 loss, the Sounds dropped to 15-17 on the season.
Starter Frankie Montas struck out a season-high 10 batters tonight, just one shy of his career-high 11 set in 2014 with Winston-Salem. It’s the most strikeouts a Sounds pitcher has recorded this year.
When right fielder Anthony Garcia dropped a fly ball in the seventh, it broke a streak of 66 1/3 innings without an error by Nashville’s defense.
Left fielder Nick Martini hit his first home run of the season tonight – a solo blast in the fourth inning.
Martini extended his consecutive on-base streak to 20 games when he walked in the second inning. Since April 14, Martini has reached safely in every game he has played in.
The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41st 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 Soccer Club will honor mothers with flowers during their Mother’s Day game at First Tennessee Park. Nashville is scheduled to host Louisville City beginning at 5 PM.
All moms will receive a flower upon arrival and recognized during the game. Those planning to attend the game will also receive a specially-priced ticket by using the code “MOM18.”
Nashville is coming off a draw on Sunday with the New York Red Bulls II. Nashville SC took the offense to one of the best offensive teams in the USL, but had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the final game of three-game stretch away from home at New York Red Bulls II. The visitors peppered the net throughout the second half, but were unlucky not to find a winner on the road.
90 in a nutshell
A frenetic first 45 minutes saw Nashville SC score and concede. Nashville’s leading scorer Ropapa Mensah scored in the 7’ minute after picking the pocket of a NYRBII defender and slotting it in for his third goal of the season. Less than 20 minutes, Red Bulls II equalized after a through ball found the foot of Vincent Bezecourt who beat Matt Pickens.
The second half was all Nashville SC as the team generated nine shots with three of them on net. Nashville’s best chance of the half came from Lebo Moloto who, after taking a cross from Taylor Washington, hit the near post. With the draw, Nashville SC is the first road team to take points from New York this season.
Quotables
Nashville SC winger Taylor Washington – “Every week we grow and every week we get better. We had a few opportunities today. We will go over the video and come back into training and go to work. It’s good to take a point away from Red Bull Arena, and we are ready to come back and play in front of our fans against Louisville.”
Goals
7’ NSH Ropapa Mensah (unassisted)
27’ NY Vincent Bezecourt (assist from Christopher Lema)
Key Stat
3 goals – Ropapa Mensah. Mensah was brought to Nashville to be a young, goal-scoring threat after scoring 7 in the USL last year for Harrisburg City. The Ghanaian has delivered already with three goals in seven games in 2018.
Standings Update
The draw gives Nashville nine points in seven games, five on the road. That is enough to move Nashville into eighth place in the Eastern Conference, the final playoff position.
Next Up
Nashville will get back to a normal schedule this week as the team will prepare for a second meeting with defending USL Cup champions Louisville City FC on Sunday, May 13 at 5 p.m. at First Tennessee Park. To attend the game and select a specially-priced ticket, go to NashvilleSC.com or call 615-457-8200.
A pair of RBI doubles in the 6th inning and a shutout pitching performance by Keri Munn was the recipe for success on Tuesday night for the Lady Raider softball team. In a game you heard right here on Thunder Radio, Coffee County shut out Lawrence County 2 to 0 to advance to the district tournament title game on Thursday. The win also guarantees the Lady Raiders a spot in next week’s Region 4AAA tournament.
After losing both regular season matchups to Lawrence County, Coffee County seemed to solve Lawrence County pitcher Maci Birdyshaw on Tuesday night. Coffee County was able to get baserunners on base in 5 of the first 6 innings against the junior hurler for the Lady Wildcats. Coffee County broke through in the 6th inning as Sarah West was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. One out later, Munn ripped a double into the left-center gap to score pinch runner Abigail Parker and put Coffee County on the board. Lucky Knott had the call
Haley Richardson added a double to right field with 2 outs to score Munn’s courtesy runner Kyla Craig. Lucky Knott had the call
Coffee County finished with 5 hits including 4 doubles. Munn, Richardson, West and Ashley Evans all had 2 baggers for the Lady Raiders. Katie Rutledge added a single for Coffee County. Coffee County also drew 3 walks and 2 different Lady Raiders were hit by pitches as Coffee County finished the game with 10 baserunners.
Keri Munn threw a complete game shutout in the circle as she scattered 5 hits walking only 2. Munn also recorded 5 strikeouts as she earned the Crazy Daisies player of the game award.
Thunder Radio will bring you live coverage of Thursday’s finals match-up between Coffee County and the winner of Wednesday night’s semifinals from Lincoln County. First pitch is set for 5 PM, Lucky Knott will bring you live coverage from Fayetteville beginning with the pregame show at 4:45.
The Coffee County Central High School Red Raider track team was in action on Tuesday in the TSSAA Sub-Section 2(North) Meet on Monday at Blackman. The 2 day event began on Monday with the pole vaulters as they looked to get one step closer to a state berth.
Raven Weber did exactly that on Monday as the junior finished in a 4th place tie in the pole vault. Weber, in his first year of vaulting, jumped 9 feet.
On Tuesday, a pair of Red Raiders qualified for the sectional meet. Jalen Cummings finished 2nd in the shot put with a toss of 43’ 10” to easily qualify for the sectional meet. Trace Bryant cleared 5’10” in the high jump to finish in 4th place and punch his ticket for the sectional meet.
Nathanial Tate(center) celebrates his baseball scholarship signing with ETSU. Joining Nathanial are (Front row, left to right) Vickie Crosslin, grandmother; Shannon Tate, mother, Nathanial; Terry Tate, father. Back row are CHS assistant coach Parker Gunn and CHS head coach David Martin.
Nathanial Tate has signed a letter of intent to continue his baseball career at East Tennessee State University. Tate celebrated that occasion in a ceremony at Central High School on Tuesday in front of family, teammates and friends.
Tate, who is being recruited as a catcher and pitcher, said he considered ETSU as a good fit both athletically and academically. “They have the medical program I want to pursue” said Nathanial as his career goal is to be an athletic trainer. When asked about the baseball program, Tate was quick to point out that he liked Coach Pennucci. “He is a nice guy and I can tell he knows what he is talking about. He is a real standup guy.”
Coach David Martin of Coffee County admitted that the ETSU program will benefit from a baseball player like Tate. “With Nathanial, talent will not be an issue. Nathanial will be challenged and he is starved for that kind of challenge. His work ethic will be a huge asset and he will impress the coaches with his will to win and get better.”
The senior becomes the first member of the Red Raider baseball team to sign a Division 1 baseball scholarship in recent memory as he inked with the Johnson City university. East Tennessee State University is a member of the Southern Conference and is coached by Joe Pennucci who is in his first year at the helm of the Buccaneers program.
The Colorado Springs Sky Sox had their way in a 9-3 win over the Nashville Sounds in front of 8,069 fans and over 550 dogs at First Tennessee Park Tuesday night.
Nashville held a 2-1 lead after the first inning, but the close game turned into a rout when the Sky Sox erupted for six runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
After Colorado Springs plated a run in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead, Sounds center fielder Dustin Fowler launched a two-run homer into The Band Box in the bottom half of the inning to give Nashville a 2-1 lead.
Run-scoring hits by Tyrone Taylor and Christian Bethancourt in the third put Colorado Springs back on top for good.
Sounds starter James Naile settled in after the third and put up a pair of zeroes in the fourth and fifth. However, four consecutive Sky Sox hits resulted in four runs in the sixth. Tyler Saladino highlighted the frame with a three-run homer. Naile was charged with a season-high seven earned runs and was tagged with his third loss.
Nashville’s offense went silent the rest of the way. Colorado Springs starter Alec Asher allowed two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings and picked up his second win of the season.
The four-game series continues Wednesday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Frankie Montas (1-3, 4.91) starts for Nashville against right-hander Bubba Derby (1-1, 2.84) for Colorado Springs. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Post-Game Notes
With tonight’s 9-3 loss, the Sounds dropped to 15-16 on the season.
With nine more innings of errorless baseball tonight, the Sounds have now played 59 consecutive innings without an error. The team has committed just one error over its last nine games.
Dustin Fowler hit his third home run of the season in the first inning. All three of Fowler’s home runs have been two-run homers. Fowler leads the Sounds with six multi-RBI games.
Catcher Beau Taylor extended his consecutive on-base streak to 17 games when he walked in the seventh inning. Taylor has reached safely in every game he has played in since April 13.
The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41st 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 Coffee County Middle School golf team saw their season come to a close on Thursday afternoon. The Raiders traveled to Shelbyville to take on Liberty at Riverbend Country Club. Liberty defeated the Raiders by a score of 7 ½ to 4 ½ in the Junior PGA flag scoring format.
