Category: Sports

Trailing 3 to 0 in the 3^rd inning, the Coffee County Middle School baseball team scored 10 unanswered runs over the next 3 innings to claim a 10 to 5 win on Monday night.  Hosting the visiting Falcons of Lincoln County, Coffee Middle took the lead in the 4^th inning, then used a 5 run 5^th inning to capture their 9^th win on the season.

Lincoln County got off to a strong start leaving a pair of runners on base in the 1^st inning before plating 2 runs in the 2^nd inning.  Lincoln County added their 3^rd run in the 3^rd without collecting a hit.  Coffee County got on the board in the bottom of the third as a pair of walks and a 2 RBI double from Connor Shemwell made it a one run game.  A pair of walks, a pair of hits and a pair of errors gave the Raiders a 5 to 3 lead heading to the 5^th inning.  In the 5^th, the Red Raider bats exploded for 6 hits as they scored 5 runs and put the game out of reach.

John McKelvey finished the game with 3 singles and 3 RBI to lead the Raider hitting attack.  McKelvey added a pair of runs as well.  Shemwell finished with a single and a double and 2 RBI.  Tristan Grissom added a double and an RBI and Jacob Sherrill scored 3 times for Coffee County.  Jacob Holder went 5 innings on the mound for the Raiders to get the win.  Holder struck out 8 while allowing 2 earned runs.

The Raiders will be at home again on Tuesday when they play host to the Middle Tennessee Monarchs out of Rutherford County.  First pitch is set for 4:30 PM at Coffee County Middle School.

After the weekend rains washed out their games on Friday and Saturday, the Coffee County CHS baseball team welcomed Riverdale to Powers Field on Monday in a makeup of a rainout from March. Six errors by the Raiders led to 5 unearned runs for Riverdale. The Raider offense could not push a run across the plate either as they fell 10 to 0 in 6 innings.
Riverdale scored single runs in each of the first 3 innings making the most of one hit per frame. The Raiders stranded runners at 3rd base in all 3 innings as well. The Warriors exploded for 4 runs in the 4th inning to seal the Red Raiders fate. Coffee County finished with 6 hits but only 2 hits in the final 3 innings.
A.J. Rollman had 2 hits to lead the Raider attack. The senior also walked once as he got on base in all 3 plate appearances. Harley Hinshaw, Hayden Skipper, Nathanial Tate and Jacob Langham all added 1 single.
The Raiders open up a district series on Tuesday when they travel to Shelbyville. First pitch is set for 6 PM. Coffee County is back at home on Wednesday when they play host to Shelbyville. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast of that game. Lucky Knott will bring you all the action, first pitch is set for 6 PM, the pregame show will get underway at 5:45.

The Coffee County Middle School tennis teams welcomed Tullahoma to the Raider Academy courts on Monday.  The Lady Raiders swept their singles matches as they won 7 to 2.  After splitting the singles matches, the Red Raiders ended up falling 4 to 3 to the Wildcats.

Tied at 3 to 3 following the 6 boys’ singles matches, Coffee County fell in the only doubles contest 6 to 1.  Winning in singles for the Raiders were: Jayden Brown(6-0), Connor Fox(6-0) and Leon Mayo(6-4).

The Lady Raiders won all 7 of their singles matches.  Getting wins for Coffee County were: Jayda Wright(6 to 3), Marley Perry(6-0), Anna Amado(6-0), Lucy Riddle(6-1), Paige Meadows(6-1), Kylie Millaway(6-0) and Malle Fletcher(4-0)

The Raider netters will be back at home on Tuesday when they host Warren County.  First serve is set for 4 PM at the Raider Academy.

The Coffee County and Westwood middle school golf teams played host to Harris and Liberty on Monday.  Hosting the 9 holes, flag scoring match at Willowbrook, both the Rockets and Raiders dropped their matches.  The Rockets fell 10 ½ to 1 ½ to Liberty while the Raiders dropped a 7 to 5 decision to Harris.

The Red Raiders won 2 of the 4 head to head matchups as Logan Hale and Austin Dockrey captured 2.5 flags to the Eagles team which got a half flag.  Kolby McCormick and Xavier Bartley won their match 2 flags to 1.  The team of Zack Tidwell and Cole Fowler captured the other half flag for Coffee Middle.

For Westwood Middle, Katie Lawrence earned a flag in a singles match while the team of Macie Lawrence and Chloe Martin nabbed the half flag for the Rockets.

Westwood will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to take on Webb at Riverbend Country Club in Shelbyville.  On Thursday, the Raiders and Rockets will tee off against one another as they will play a 9 hole match at Old Stone Fort.  Start time for both days is 4 PM.

Monday Prep Schedule
4:00 PM – CCMS Tennis HOSTS Tullahoma
4:00 PM – CCMS Golf HOSTS Harris
4:00 PM – WMS Golf HOSTS Liberty
4:30 PM – CCMS Track HOSTS North, Harris, Warren
5:00 PM – CCMS Baseball HOSTS Lincoln Co
5:00 PM – CHS Baseball HOSTS Riverdale

The Coffee County Central High School track teams hosted Oakland and Warren County on Thursday in the Coffee County Relays. The Raider and Lady Raider harriers continued their home field dominance as they each won their respective meets. The Red Raiders outdistanced 2nd place Oakland 53 to 40. The Lady Raiders cruised to an 80 to 30 win.

In the relays, Coffee County captured 1st place in both of the Distance Medley Relays. In the Sprint Medley Relay, the Red Raiders captured first place while the Lady Raiders finished behind the Oakland girls. In the traditional relays, the Red Raiders captured a 1st place finish in the 4x800M relay, 1st place in the 4x400M relay, 1st place in the 4x1600M relay and a 3rd place finish in the 4x100M. The Lady Raiders captured a 1st and 2nd place sweep in the 4x400M relay, 2nd place in the 4×800 relay, 2nd place in the 4x100M relay and 2nd place in the 4x200M relay.

Individual point winners for the Lady Raiders were:
Macy Tabor – 1st, High Jump;
Sarah Pearson – 1st, Shot Put; 2nd, High Jump;
Zoe Mills – 1st, 1000M run;
Ryan Green – 1st, 600M run;
Faith Floyd – 1st, Discus;
Nayeli Cano – 2nd, 1000M run; 2nd, 600M run;
Keisheal Norton – 2nd, Discus; 3rd, Shot Put;
Jasie Willis – 3rd, 1000M run; 3rd, 600M run;
Chloe Haggard – 3rd, High Jump;
Brianna Norton -3rd, Discus;
Carina Majia – 4th, 1000M run;
Lexie Hosea – 4th, Discus;
Laura Bogard – 4th, High Jump;

Individual point winners for the Red Raiders were:
Zach Speegle – 1st, Shot Put; 4th Discus;
Tyer Luttrell – 2nd, Shot Put;
Jalen Cummings – 2nd, Long Jump;
Trace Bryant – 3rd, High Jump;
Eli Norton – 3rd, Shot Put; 3rd, Discus;
Jakovey Robart – 4th, Shot Put;
Bryan Perry – 4th, 1000M run;
Johnny Dulin – 4th, Long Jump;

The Raiders runners hit the track again on Tuesday when they travel to Tullahoma for the All Area Championships. Field events will get underway at 2 PM.

The most successful regular season in Predators history finished with one more exclamation point.

Filip Forsberg recorded a hat trick as Nashville defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets by a 4-2 final on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena. The win adds to Nashville’s franchise-record totals on the season, giving them 53 victories and 117 points to close out the 2017-18 campaign – with the Presidents’ Trophy in the house.

Prior to Saturday’s game, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly was on hand to present the trophy to the Preds for finishing the season with the League’s top record. As Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said following the contest, the team was proud to accept the honor in recognition of the past six months that included milestone after milestone, a way to conclude one chapter before beginning the next.

“It was nice to take a minute just to acknowledge that,” Laviolette said. “Our guys are proud of it. They worked really hard this year. They stayed focused for the entire year, and like I said, it’s all been part of a vision of something bigger than what happened tonight.”

A three-goal first period – one from Austin Watson, and then a pair from Forsberg – gave the Predators a hefty advantage after 20 minutes, and although the Blue Jackets got one in the second and another in the third, one more shot from Forsberg into an empty net sealed the victory.

“We have been trying to work to this point all year,” Forsberg said. “Every team in the League wants to make the playoffs. The longer the season went on – we just kept working hard and we did a lot of good things to put us in the spot where we are.”

Make no mistake, the Predators are incredibly proud of all they’ve been able to accomplish over the past 82 games – numbers even the most positive pundits probably didn’t necessarily think were possible. But now, all that is in the rearview, the slate wiped clean.

For as much as the Preds enjoyed their 53 wins this season, they still want 16 more.

“It’s been so much fun with his whole group, and I thought we played really consistent throughout the whole regular season,” Predators Captain Roman Josi said. “If we had a bad game or two bad games, we always responded with a good game and that’s going to be huge going forward. The ultimate goal remains to win the Stanley Cup, but we’re definitely proud of the regular season.”

“They’re already putting the playoff stickers on the helmets, so here we go,” center Ryan Johansen said. “We can’t wait to get things started.”

Notes:

P.K. Subban skated in his 82nd game of the season on Saturday night, the only Preds player to appear in all 82 contests in 2017-18.

With the 2017-18 regular season complete, the Predators will now begin preparations for the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nashville will host the Colorado Avalanche in Round One, which begins next week. A full schedule and further details will be announced soon.

The Nashville Sounds’ offensive struggles continued in a 4-0 loss to the New Orleans Baby Cakes Sunday afternoon at Shrine on Airline. The Sounds have scored two runs over the last 28 innings of action.
One night after collecting only five hits, the Sounds managed just two against a trio of New Orleans pitchers. Renato Nunez singled in the fourth and Steve Lombardozzi singled in the eighth.
The Baby Cakes were in control from the start with runs in the first three innings. Jon Rodriguez’s RBI groundout gave New Orleans a 1-0 lead in the first. Nashville starter Eric Jokisch had a chance to get out of a bases loaded jam in the second but a throwing error by shortstop Sheldon Neuse allowed the inning to continue with a pair of runs scoring.
Scott Van Slyke launched a solo homer in the fourth to give New Orleans a 4-0 lead. The four runs were more than enough for Ben Meyer, Drew Rucinski and Severino Gonzalez. Meyer threw five shutout innings in his Triple-A debut and yielded only one hit.
The Sounds’ offense never got going with only three opportunities with runners in scoring position.
Nashville and New Orleans conclude the five-game series Monday afternoon at Shrine on Airline. Left-hander Brett Anderson starts for the Sounds while the Baby Cakes haven’t named a starter. First pitch is scheduled for Noon.
Post-Game Notes
• With today’s loss, the Sounds fell to 1-3. They are 2.5 games back of the American Southern Division leading Memphis Redbirds.
• Relievers Kyle Finnegan and Jeremy Bleich combined to throw 3.0 scoreless innings in relief today. The bullpen ERA on the young season is 0.49 (18.1 IP/1 ER).
• INF/OF Renato Nunez had one of the two Sounds hits today. He’s batting .333 (4-for-12) on his MLB rehab assignment.

The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Opening Day at First Tennessee Park is scheduled for Tuesday, April 10 when the Sounds host the Iowa Cubs at 6:35 p.m. Season ticket memberships are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

A windchill below 30 degrees couldn’t keep the Nashville SC (2-1-1) offense from heating up as the hosts dispatched the first-place team in the USL Eastern Conference, Charlotte Independence (2-1-1), 2-0 in the friendly confines of First Tennessee Park on Saturday night. Goals by youngsters Alan Winn and Ropapa Mensah and another shutout by keeper Matt Pickens started Nashville on its first winning streak.

Using the almost 7,500 home fans to its advantage, Nashville started the first half on the front foot, dominating possession and chances early. In the 24’ minute, Winn struck with a left footed shot, perfectly placed in the far corner to give Nashville its first home lead in 2018.

Charlotte’s No. 1-ranked offense looked poised to knot things up in the second half, but Nashville flexed its defensive muscle and Pickens continued to amaze with an incredible save off a Charlotte free kick.

Forward Ropapa Mensah, a second-half substitute, iced the game late in stoppage time of the second half with his first USL goal. It was his second goal in two games at First Tennessee Park, his first coming in a friendly in February, despite coming off the bench each time.

Goals

24’ Alan Winn assisted by Kosuke Kimura

90’ + 1 Ropapa Mensah assisted by Matt Pickens

The shutout is Nashville’s third straight dating back to March 24th. In all, the streak has reached 294 minutes.

Quotables

Nashville SC head coach Gary Smith – “The focal point for the group really coming in to this game was to be as positive, to be as purposeful and to try and start to create and form some foundations for home advantage. That thought was prevalent in the first 45 minutes. The team was very bright. We pressed the Charlotte group very well. I thought we won the ball in some nice areas and certainly created some opportunities.”

Nashville SC goal scorer Alan Winn – “That’s the challenge we had set forth for the game. We knew they were top of the table and that was one of those things where we wanted to step up and make a statement, not only for the fans at home but especially throughout the league. We knew they were top of the table and that was the challenge Gary set forth and said step up to the table and hit one out of the park.”

Standings Update

With the win, Nashville has moved into fifth place in the East with 7 points through four matches. The team is 2 points out of first place.

Next Up

Nashville will start its longest road trip of the season next Saturday up in Indianapolis against Indy Eleven. Kick is scheduled for 11 a.m.

The offense for the Nashville Sounds was silent for the second consecutive night and resulted in a 2-1 loss to the New Orleans Baby Cakes Saturday night.
In a game that was delayed by rain for over 2.5 hours, both teams combined for only eight hits, but it was the Baby Cakes who improved to 2-1 with the one-run win.
The game started in Nashville’s favor as the Sounds scored in the top of the first inning. Jorge Mateo started the game by coaxing a walk off Sandy Alcantara. The speedster promptly swiped second base and scored when Renato Nunez lined a base hit up the middle.
New Orleans came right back and evened the game at 1-1 in the second inning. Nashville starter Trevor Cahill momentarily lost command and issued three walks in the frame, including forcing in a run on a free pass.
An error in the bottom of the fourth proved to be the difference in the game. With two outs and runners at second and third, Cito Culver’s groundball to third was handled by Steve Lombardozzi but his throw was off line and allowed Eric Campbell to score and make it a 2-1 game.
The lead held for New Orleans as the Sounds managed only two hits over the final five innings – a single by BJ Boyd in the fifth, and a single by Beau Taylor in the eighth.
Trevor Cahill started for Nashville and went four innings. He was tagged with the loss after he allowed two runs (one earned). The bullpen trio of Lou Trivino, Jake Sanchez and Bobby Wahl threw four perfect innings in relief.
Nashville and New Orleans continue the five-game series Sunday afternoon at Shrine on Airline. Left-hander Eric Jokisch starts for the Sounds against right-hander Tyler Cloyd for the Baby Cakes. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Post-Game Notes
• With tonight’s loss, the Sounds fell to 1-2. They are two games back of the American Southern Division leading Memphis Redbirds.
• Relievers Lou Trivino, Jake Sanchez and Bobby Wahl combined to throw 4.0 perfect innings in relief tonight. The bullpen ERA on the young season is 0.59 (15.1 IP/1 ER).
• After going 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position in the first game of the season, the Sounds are just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position over the last two games.
• Right-hander Trevor Cahill went 4.0 innings (L, 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) in his first start of the season.

The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Opening Day at First Tennessee Park is scheduled for Tuesday, April 10 when the Sounds host the Iowa Cubs at 6:35 p.m. Season ticket memberships are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.