Day #2 of the Lady Warrior Classic saw the Coffee County softball team’s bats wake up. Playing a doubleheader at McKnight Park, the Lady Raiders banged out 28 hits, scored 24 runs and had 5 home runs as they split the doubleheader. Coffee County got a 14 to 0 win over Ardmore, Alabama before losing a tough 12 to 10 decision to Carl Sandburg High School out of Illinois.
Against Ardmore, the Lady Raiders had 3 home runs as they scored in every inning to get the 5 inning win. Keri Munn and Haley Richardson combined to throw a no-hitter in the game for Coffee County. Sarah West had a pair of home runs as she finished the game going 3 for 3 with 5 RBI. Katie Rutledge was 3 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBI. Kasarah Scheller and Raven Rogers each finished with 3 hits for Coffee County.
The Lady Raiders turned around to take on Carl Sandburg out of suburban Chicago. In a back and forth affair, the Lady Raiders scored 5 runs in the 5th inning to take a 10 to 8 lead which they held into the 6th. In the bottom of the 6th, Sandburg pushed across 4 runs before the time limit expired. Keri Munn had a pair of home runs for Coffee County as she went 2 for 3 with 4 RBI. Shelby Scrivnor was 3 for 3 with an RBI while Haley Richardson finished 2 for 3 with 3 RBI.
Coffee County returns to Murfreesboro on Saturday for 3 games. The Lady Raiders open up at 8 AM against South Elgin out of Illinois. At noon Coffee County take on Smyrna before the Lady Raiders close out the day at 2 PM against Evansville North out of Indiana. All 3 games will be played at the McKnight Park complex.
Welcoming Liberty to Looney Riddle Field on Friday night, the Westwood baseball team hosted a home conference game looking to bounce back after their first loss of the year on Wednesday. In a thrilling final 2 innings, the Rockets scored in the bottom of the 7th to capture an 8 to 7 win.
Leading 4 to 2 entering the 6th, Westwood had left 8 runners on base including leaving the bases loaded in the 1st and 3rd innings. In the 6th, Liberty plated 4 runs thanks in part to 4 walks and an error. Jonathan Nelson had a 2 RBI single in the bottom of the 6th to put Westwood on top 7 to 6 going to the 7th. It appeared that Westwood had the final out in the top of the 7th but the umpire ruled the Liberty runner safe. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, Trent Thompson got on base will a fielder’s choice and moved to 3rd on a single from Blake Hale. Thompson came across on the next pitch that ended up at the screen to give the Rockets the win.
Nelson finished with 3 walks to go with his hit and 2 RBI. Thompson finished with a double and 2 singles and scored twice. Chris Brown, Kristian Martinez and Blake Hale all finished with 2 hits.
Westwood is back at home on Monday when they welcome Cascade to Fred Deadman Park. First pitch is set for 5 PM.
The Coffee County track team hosted their first meet of the year on Thursday. The Raider thinclads welcomed Cumberland County and Warren County to Carden-Jarrell Field for the 3 way meet. Both teams came up with victories over the visitors.
The Lady Raiders outscored 2nd place Cumberland County 91 to 49. The Lady Raiders got a clean sweep in all 3 relay races as they won the 4x100M, 4x200M and the 4x800M races. In the field events, Macy Tabor won the high jump, Chloe Haggard tied for first in the long jump, and Keisheal Norton won both the discus and shot put. In the running events, Jaden Campbell won the 1600M and Chloe Haggard won both the 100M hurdles and the 300M hurdles.
The Red Raiders outscored 2nd place Cumberland County 79 to 56. In the relay races, Coffee County won the 4x100M and the 4x800M relays while finishing 2nd in the 4x200M race. Jalen Cummings won the long jump as the Red Raiders piled up big points by placing 11 other athletes in the top 4 places in the 5 field events. In the running events, Neil Slone won the 800M while Raven Weber captured first place in the 110M hurdles.
The Raider thinclads return to the track on Thursday, April 5th when they host the Coffee County Relays. That will get underway at 4 PM.
The CHS soccer team opened play in the Cleveland Classic on Friday night in Cleveland, Tennessee. The Red Raiders matched up with East Hamilton in the opening round game. After a scoreless first half, Coffee County rallied for a 1 to 0 win.
Tied through the first 55 minutes, Coffee County was awarded a penalty kick after Paco Barrera was fouled in the box. Briggs Haithcock pounded the free chance past the Cyclones keeper to give Coffee County the only point they would need.
The Raiders return to the pitch on Saturday for a pair of games. Coffee County will take on Walker Valley at 10 AM followed by Howard at 4 PM. Both game times are Eastern Daylight Time.
The Coffee County Middle School baseball opened up play on Friday in the Blackman Blaze Challenge. Coffee Middle tangled with Whitworth-Buchanan in their opening round pool play game. The Red Raiders pounded out 8 hits and the Raider pitchers held the Yellow Jackets to a single hit in a 7 to 1 win.
Coffee County jumped out to a 2 to 0 lead in the first inning on a walk and 2 errors. Connor Shemwell finished the game with 3 singles and 4 RBI. John McKelvey added 2 hits and scored twice. Tristan Grissom, Jacob Sherrill and Aiden Robertson combined to throw the 1 hitter with Grissom getting the start and the win.
Coffee County returns to Murfreesboro on Saturday to continue play in the Blaze Challenge. The Raiders will square off against Blackman at 10 AM at Blackman Middle School. The tournament semifinals and finals will take place on Sunday.
Thursday Prep Results
> CHS Softball defeated Jeffersonville, IN – 10 to 1 – See the story HERE
> CHS Softball lost to Blackman – 15 to 4 – See the story HERE
> CHS Tennis swept Franklin Co – 5 to 0(Boys) and 5 to 2(Girls) – See the story HERE
> CCMS Baseball beat North Franklin – 10 to 1 – See the story HERE
Friday Prep Schedule
2:00 PM – CHS Softball vs. Ardmore, AL at Warrior Classic(Murfreesboro – McKnight Park)
4:00 PM – CHS Softball vs. Carl Sandburg, IL at Warrior Classic(Murfreesboro – McKnight Park)
4:00 PM – CCMS Baseball vs. Whitworth Buchanan at Blaze Challenge(Blackman Middle)
5:00 PM – WMS Baseball HOSTS Liberty
5:30 PM – CHS Baseball HOSTS Central Magnet – Thunder Radio broadcast
7:30 PM – CHS Boys’ Soccer vs. East Hamilton at Cleveland Classic(Cleveland, TN)
The Coffee County CHS tennis teams welcomed Franklin County to the Raider Academy courts on Thursday. Playing their 1st matches in a week, both Raider teams were looking forward to their first home district matches of the season. The Red Raiders swept Franklin County 5 to 0, the Lady Raiders won 5 to 2.
The Red Raiders got a clean sweep in each of the 5 singles matches. Winners were: Grey Riddle(winning 8 to 4), Jaden Talley(9 to 7), Jonah Rollman(8 to 3), Luke Irwin(8 to 6) and Landon Booth(8 to 1). After sweeping the singles matches, Franklin County conceded the 2 doubles matches.
The Lady Raiders swept both doubles matches to claim the win over the Rebelettes. The doubles team of Natalie Elzeer and Wren Lawson captured an 8 to 2 win while the team of Jessica Barrera and Kara Roper won 8 to 5. The Lady Raiders won 3 of the 5 singles matches. Elzeer(8 to 3), Roper(8 to 5) and Lawson(8 to 4) were all victorious in singles play.
Coffee County returns to the court on Monday when they welcome Tullahoma to the Raider Academy. First serve is scheduled for 4 PM
The Coffee County Middle School baseball played host to North Franklin on Thursday night. Coming off a 9 to 0 win on Wednesday, the Raiders were looking for a season sweep of the Gators. The Red Raiders banged out 11 hits as they bested North for the 2nd day in a row. Coffee Middle won by a final score of 10 to 1.
Coffee County got their offense rolling in the 1st inning as they batted around scoring 3 runs. Jacob Holder had the big hit in the inning as he had an RBI double. Holder finished the game with 3 hits. John McKelvey and Connor Shemwell each had a double and a single with Shemwell finishing with 2 RBI. Jacob Sherrill and Hayden Garr each had a double in the conference win. Holder went the distance on the mound allowing 1 hit and no earned runs while striking out 10.
Coffee County travels to Murfreesboro on Friday to compete in the Blaze Challenge. The Raiders will square off against Whitworth-Buchanan at 4 PM at Blackman Middle School. Coffee Middle will they take on Blackman at 10 AM on Saturday. The tournament semifinals and finals will take place on Sunday.
Opening play on Thursday in Murfreesboro’s Lady Warrior Classic, the Coffee County softball team squared off in a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon. The Lady Raiders opened up with a 10 to 1 win over Jeffersonville. Coffee County closed the day falling to Blackman 15 to 4.
Against Jeffersonville, Coffee County got on the board in the top of the 1st inning when Katie Rutledge singled to lead off and Sarah West drove her in 1 out later. Coffee County scored in 5 of the 6 innings with 4 runs coming in a big 5th inning. West finished the 2 doubles and a single and 3 RBI. Rutledge had 3 singles. Keri Munn went the distance to get the win on the mound. Munn allowed just 3 hits while striking out 7 in 6 innings.
Against Blackman, defensive breakdowns saw Coffee County surrender 7 unearned runs in the loss. Blackman got on the board in the top of the 1st inning with a 2 run, 2 out home run. The Lady Blaze blew the game open in the 3rd when they plated 7 runs. Coffee County had only 2 hits in the game as Ashley Evans and Jayden Scheller singled for Coffee County.
Coffee County returns to Murfreesboro on Friday as they again play another doubleheader. The Lady Raiders will take on Ardmore, Alabama at 2 PM followed by a 4 PM contest vs. Carl Sandburg High School out of the Chicago area. Both of those games will be played at the McKnight Park complex.
Five different Maple Leafs found the back of the net and the Nashville Predators fell to Toronto by a 5-2 final on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result snaps Nashville’s 15-game point streak and gives them their first regulation loss in more than a month.
From the drop of the puck, an energized Toronto team utilized their speed and outplayed their opponents, with Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette calling the Maple Leafs the quicker team throughout the night.
“One team was fast, the other team wasn’t fast,” Laviolette said. “To me, that’s where you get lopsided. The ice seems to tilt one way… We were off the mark with regard to that tonight and we’ll look to fix it and be better.”
“I think we deserved every second of that,” Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “[A] good team came in here and played a lot better than us.”
Toronto took a 1-0 lead in the first period courtesy of James van Riemsdyk, and although Viktor Arvidsson potted a P.K. Subban feed on a second-period power play for his team-leading 27th of the season, the Maple Leafs added two more before the middle stanza was out thanks to Auston Matthews and William Nylander.
Mitch Marner and Jake Gardiner put the Leafs up by three and then four in the third period, and Scott Hartnell’s tally wasn’t enough for the Preds to mount a comeback with Pekka Rinne suffering just his second regulation defeat in his last 24 tries.
Although the Predators have predominantly been winning as of late, Ellis believes the Preds may have been getting away with a couple victories, their play not up to the standard they’ve come to expect from themselves as the season has gone along.
“I think you look at this stretch we’ve had with 15 games with points, and we’ve been squeaking out wins and finding ways to win, but that’s not playoff hockey,” Ellis said. “We’ve gotten away with that for some time, but it finally caught up with us playing a really good team. I give them credit. They were so much better than us tonight.”
Thursday’s result might just serve as a bit of a wake-up call for the Predators, and they’ll be anxious to rectify the results with a pair of heavyweight divisional tilts coming back to back this weekend up north.
“It’s Minnesota and Winnipeg – two tough teams in the Central,” Arvidsson said. “We have to pick our game to even have a chance to win against those teams.”
“We’ve been on a really good run, but tonight wasn’t it,” Ellis said. “I think we just need to shake this off, learn from our mistakes and realize the playoffs are around the corner. We have to be at our best.”
Notes:
Thursday’s contest against Toronto marked the 600th career NHL game for Preds forward Kyle Turris.
Anthony Bitetto, Yannick Weber and Miikka Salomaki were scratched for Nashville on Thursday.
The Predators will now jet off to Minnesota to face the Wild on Saturday night before crossing the border into Manitoba for a date with the Jets on Sunday evening. Nashville will then return home for a three-game set, beginning on Tuesday against Minnesota.
