Despite outhitting Blackman, a 7th inning rally came up short as the Coffee County baseball team fell to Blackman on Saturday evening. The 2 to 1 loss left the Red Raiders with a 1 and 2 record for the tournament against the best competition they have faced this season. As the Red Raiders return to district play on Tuesday, they do so sporting an overall record of 9 and 3 with a district mark of 5 and 1.
On Saturday night, pitchers Scottie Duke and Skylar Bratcher tossed a 4 hitter allowing a single earned run. Coffee County managed 7 hits but got runners in scoring position in 5 of the first 6 innings including leaving the bases loaded in the 5th inning. The Raiders broke through in the 7th inning with 3 straight singles. Jacob Langham scored on a passed ball. A double play and a strikeout ended the Coffee County rally.
Langham led the team with 3 singles as he scored the lone run for Coffee County. A.J. Rollman added a pair of singles. Hayden Skipper and Nathanial Tate collected the other 2 hits for Coffee County.
The Red Raiders will return to the diamond on Tuesday when they travel to Tullahoma to begin next week’s 2 game series with the Wildcats. Tullahoma visits Powers Field for Game #2 on Wednesday. Both games will get underway at 6 PM.
A pair of boats from the Coffee County Youth Bass Club captured Top 50 finishes on Saturday on Kentucky Lake. Fishing out of Birdsong Marina, the Tennessee Bass Nation High School held the 5th tournament of the season. The team of Brandon and Dawson Wells captured a 17th place finish and the team of Isaac Turner and Cam Rutledge came home with a 48th place finish out of 122 teams from across the state.
The Wells brothers netted a pair of fish with a total weight of 5.99 pounds. The 3 pound average was only 12 ounces out of the Top 10. Isaac Turner and Cam Rutledge came home with a 48th place finish as they landed 1 fish weighing in at 1.81 pounds.
The Coffee County Youth Bass Club will hit the water again on Saturday, April 21st for the final region tournament of the year. The Raider anglers will be on Old Hickory Lake as they will put in at Bull Creek Boat Ramp near Gallatin. The tournament will begin at daybreak.
Forsberg scored twice and added an assist as the Nashville Predators defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 4-1 final on Sunday night at Amalie Arena. The victory bumps the Preds to 113 points on the season, a three-point lead over the entire League, and gives them their 51st victory of the campaign, tied for their highest single-season total in club history.
Forsberg now has six points in his last two games, and with a pair of goals on Sunday, including one that will be shown over and over in the coming days, that’s good news for a club gearing up for another postseason run.
“When I watch him play, you watch that [second] goal, he kicked it into another gear and that’s when he’s on his game,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of Forsberg. “When he’s playing fast, when he’s dangerous with his shot, when he plays like a power forward, he becomes really hard to defend.”
And it wasn’t just Forsberg who caused problems for the Lightning, as the Preds rebounded from a lackluster effort less than 24 hours earlier to beat one of the League’s best.
“The guys played smart, and that’s all on them,” Laviolette said. “They had a meeting, they weren’t happy with it and they straightened it out. They played a smart, hard game, especially with the turnaround. Twenty hours later, we’re back in our gear, so it was a good win.”
It was Ryan Johansen, who gave the Predators a 1-0 lead in the first period, when he kept and sniped on a 2-on-1 for his 14th goal of the season. Forsberg made it 2-0 in the second stanza when a fortunate bounce gave him goal No. 22 of the campaign, but before the period was out, Ondrej Palat beat Juuse Saros to get the Lightning on the board.
Forsberg’s second of the evening was one for the highlight reel as the winger took it himself, skated around Bolts defenseman Dan Girardi and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy along the ice to give his club a 3-1 lead. Craig Smith scored the fourth Nashville goal on a partial break, and that was more than enough get the Preds back on the right side of the ledger, thanks in part to No. 9.
“Oh my goodness, unbelievable,” Johansen said of Forsberg’s second strike. “I couldn’t do that if I tried a thousand times. I was in shock on the ice. I don’t know if anybody caught my face, but I was just like, ‘Wow.’ When he’s going, he’s a big time threat out there and a great time for him to start ramping his game up.”
The Predators will now enjoy a well-deserved day off on Monday before skating in the final three games of their season, a chance to clinch the division, the conference and the League.
Nashville’s magic number to clinch the Central Division is two points, meaning if the Winnipeg Jets fall in regulation to the Ottawa Senators on Monday night, the Predators will claim their first Central crown in franchise history.
“We can put [Saturday’s game] right behind us now and just move forward,” Johansen said. “We’ll take a day here tomorrow, get some sunshine and a little vitamin D and get back to work.”
Best of the Best:
It wasn’t difficult for the Predators to get up for this one.
As they headed into Tampa Bay on Sunday evening, just one night removed from a 7-4 defeat at the hands of the club at the bottom of the NHL standings, Nashville skated their way to a 4-1 victory over the third-place club in the League.
“This is a big win,” Forsberg said. “It was a good test for us going up against one of the top teams, and I think we played really good hockey. This is what it’s going to be in the playoffs, just really tough hockey, especially here on the road, and I think we did a good job with that.”
With the postseason looming, a chance to go head to head against a club that could find themselves coming out of the Eastern Conference at the end of May provided quite a gauge for a team hoping to do the same in the West.
And the Preds rose to the challenge, inching closer to their first division title in the process.
“This game was definitely circled on our calendar for a long time,” Johansen said. “We knew this was a great test for us and we’re near the playoffs here and how we match up against these guys. Tonight, we got the better of it. It was a fun game, fun game to be a part of and a great performance by our team.”
Notes:
Forward Viktor Arvidsson did not dress for Sunday’s game and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Nashville’s road trip in the Sunshine State continues on Tuesday when they take on the Florida Panthers (at 6:30 p.m. CT) before heading north to Washington for a date with the Capitals on Thursday (now televised on NBCSN).
The Buffalo Sabres converted on the power play four different times and Sam Reinhart recorded a hat trick as the Nashville Predators fell, 7-4, to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.
The loss ends Nashville’s two-game winning streak, and coupled with other action in the League on Saturday, the Predators will have to wait for their potential Central Division and conference-clinching scenarios.
Nashville held a 4-3 lead late in the second period when Scott Hartnell hit rookie Victor Antipin behind the Sabres’ net. Antipin immediately fell to the ice following the collision and needed a stretcher to exit the playing surface. Hartnell was given a boarding major and game misconduct at 14:09 of the second and the Sabres scored three goals on the subsequent man advantage to take a 6-4 lead into the second intermission.
“It was on the forecheck. I saw the guy reverse the puck. I just tried to rub him out. I think his chin hit the glass,” Hartnell said. “You see the guy laying there – your stomach gets all turned upside down. You see the stretcher and all that kind of stuff and it made it feel worse, so, it was an unfortunate play and I hope Victor’s all right.”
Although the three power-play goals in four minutes gave the Sabres their first and only lead of the night, Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said problems were present in his team’s game prior to the game-defining five minutes.
“It was average at best,” Laviolette said. “The 5-on-5 play I thought was OK. OK, a lot of nights, doesn’t win. We were able to have a lead, but I don’t think [we out-chanced] them or outplayed them at that point, 5-on-5. At the end of the day, you go to the penalty box as much as we did, we’ll lose the game. It cost us tonight.”
“They took it to us from start to finish,” Predators winger Austin Watson said. “They played like a team with nothing to lose. They are well coached. I’m sure [Buffalo Head Coach Phil Housley] had them fired up over there to come in here and play a good game and we didn’t match it.”
Nashville had a 3-1 lead early in the second period, courtesy of goals from P.K. Subban – who set a career-high with his 16th tally of the season – Watson and Kyle Turris, but Ryan O’Reilly scored the first of four power-play goals in the middle frame to pull Buffalo to within one.
Two of Buffalo’s three goals on the major power play came from Reinhart, and he finished off the hat trick in the third as Juuse Saros came in to relieve Pekka Rinne.
The Predators will now have little time to regroup as they have a date with the Lightning tomorrow evening in Tampa Bay, a test against one of the League’s best.
“We have to address it,” Josi said of the result. “It’s a quick turnaround with tomorrow’s game, but we’ll definitely address this. We’re a pretty honest group and we know that wasn’t good enough.”
“It’s a huge game tomorrow,” Watson said. “Everybody knows that. It’s a great opportunity for us to bounce back. I don’t know how much we will look at this or whether we will just look to Tampa – that’s up to the coaching staff. We will do what we have to do to get our minds right and get away from that hockey game and get back to playing Predators hockey because that wasn’t it.”
Notes:
Saturday night’s contest marked the 1,100th career game for Preds forward Mike Fisher.
Preds forward Eeli Tolvanen made his NHL debut on Saturday night, finishing with one hit in 13:34 of ice time.
Nashville will now jet off to Tampa Bay to begin their final road trip of the season. They’ll face the Lightning on Sunday (at 5 p.m. CT) before heading across the state to take on the Panthers on Tuesday. The Preds will then head to Washington for their second to last game of the season for a meeting with the Capitals on Thursday before returning home for the season finale next Saturday against Columbus.
After a last minute schedule change, the Coffee County baseball team hosted 3 games on Friday at Powers Field as part of the Warrior Spring Classic. Coffee County played host to a pair of teams from Illinois. Coffee County dropped a 5 to 1 decision to Glenbrook South in the first game for the Red Raiders. In the nightcap, Coffee County edged Lake Park 3 to 2.
In game #1, the Titans of Glenbrook South were able to cobble together scores in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings to build a 4 to 0 lead. Coffee County was able to get runners in scoring position in each of the 1st six innings but were unable to get a run across the plate. The Red Raiders scratched a run in the 7th inning when Hayden Skipper drove home Jacob Langham with an RBI single. Skipper finished with a double and a single. Langham had a pair of walks and a single and scored Coffee County’s lone run.
In the nightcap, a walk-off single by Nathanial Tate in the bottom of the 7th inning gave Coffee County a thrilling 3 to 2 win. After the Lancers walked Skipper to load the bases, Tate lined a 2 strike pitch to centerfield to score Langham for the win. A.J. Rollman pitched 2 innings of relief with 4 strikeouts to get the win. Rollman also finished with a pair of hits and 1 RBI. Skylar Bratcher had a double and a walk.
The Red Raiders will conclude play in the Warrior Classic on Saturday. Coffee County will take on Blackman at Blackman. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 PM.
The Westwood baseball team welcomed Middle Tennessee Christian to Looney Riddle Field on Friday night. Despite a furious 7th inning rally, the Rockets dropped the conference contest to the Cougars. Westwood fell by a final score of 12 to 8.
Westwood matched MTCS score for score through 4 innings. The visiting Cougars added 3 runs in each of the last 3 innings to build a 12 to 5 lead going into the bottom of the 7th. The Rockets were able to push 3 runs across in the 7th on RBIs from Trent Thompson and Connor Smith before MTCS shut down the rally. Thompson, Brady Nugent and Luke Beachboard all finished with 2 hits.
Westwood returns to the diamond on Monday when Fayetteville comes to Manchester. First pitch is set for 6 PM at Fred Deadman Park.
The Coffee County Red Raider soccer team concluded play in the Myrtle Beach Tournament on Friday with a pair of games. The Red Raiders opened the day with a 2 to 1 win over Belton Honea Path of South Carolina. The Red Raiders dropped the nightcap 7 to 0.
In the morning contest against Belton Honea Path, the Red Raiders got off to a fast start as they got a goal in the 4th minute from Leo Suarez after an assist from Tyler Walker. In the 16th minute, Suarez pushed a corner kick to the front of the net that Briggs Haithcock headed into the goal. The Red Raiders maintained that lead to intermission. The Bears scored in the 68th minute but the Raiders were able to hang on for the win.
In the afternoon contest, injuries and depth issues proved to be too great a handicap as Coffee County fell to the host Seahawks of Myrtle Beach High. Myrtle Beach scored 4 goals in the 1st half and added 3 more in the 2nd half to grab the win.
The Red Raiders return home to return to district action in the coming week. The Red Raiders will host Lincoln County on Tuesday night at the Raider Soccer Field. That match kicks off at 7 PM.
Thursday Prep Results
> CHS Soccer fell to Seneca, SC – 3 to 1 – See the story HERE
> CHS Softball HOSTS Tullahoma – Postponed, Make-up date is TBD
> WMS Baseball at Cascade – Postponed, Make-up date is TBD
Friday Prep Schedule
11:00 AM – CHS Boys’ Soccer vs. Belton Honea Path, SC – Myrtle Beach Tournament
11:00 AM – CHS Baseball vs. IC Catholic, IL – Warrior Classic at Wilson Central
1:30 PM – CHS Baseball vs. Dickson Co – Warrior Classic at Wilson Central
4:00 PM – CHS Boys’ Soccer vs. Myrtle Beach, SC – Myrtle Beach Tournament
5:00 PM – WMS Baseball HOSTS MTCS
The Coffee County Red Raider soccer team opened play in the Myrtle Beach Tournament on Thursday taking on Seneca, SC. The Red Raiders were held scoreless until the 2nd half as they fell 3 to 1.
Seneca got the only goal of the first half in the 30th minute. On the play, Raider keeper Kix Ferrell was injured and had to come out of the contest. Coffee County was able to battle through the remainder of the first half to keep the deficit at 1 nil at intermission.
In the second half, Seneca got a pair of goals in the 41st and 44th minute to put the Raiders in a 3 nil hole. Coffee County got their lone goal in the 53rd minute as Tyler Walker scored an unassisted goal for the Raiders.
On Friday, the Raiders will play a pair of games as they take on Belton Honea Path at 11 AM(EDT) before closing out pool play against Myrtle Beach at 4. The tournament consolation and championship games will be held on Saturday.
The Coffee County Lady Raider volleyball team is teaming up with the Coffee County Youth Bass Club to host a fund-raising fishing tournament on Saturday, March 31st. The one day tournament will be held at Normandy Lake and registration will begin at 5:00 AM. Registration and weigh-in will take place at Fire Lake Boat Ramp.
The tournament is open to all age fishermen and will be a team format with a maximum 3 member team. Cost is $50 per team, plus an additional $10 if you wish to enter the big fish competition. The winning team will pocket $500. Winner will be determined by the total weight of a maximum 5 fish. There will be a penalty for any dead fish.
If you need more information, contact Andrew Taylor at: 931-273-2863 or Shannon Frame at: 931-434-0892.
