Category: Sports

Brave Edge Giants in Wild Slugfest

Courtesy of a few bloops and a couple blasts recorded at SunTrust Park on Thursday night, the Braves constructed an eight-run fifth inning that enabled them to overcome Jaime Garcia’s rough start and narrowly claim a 12-11 series-clinching win over the Giants.

“You talk about a roller coaster of emotions,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said about the series finale, which started 86 minutes late due to a rain delay. “That’s baseball. It’s crazy. It just happens. You don’t know why. Teams aren’t going to lay down. We came roaring back and they came roaring back.”
After sending 13 batters to the plate and recording nine hits during the fifth-inning flurry, which was fueled by one of Nick Markakis’ four hits and Brandon Phillips’ leadoff homer against Matt Cain, the Braves owned a six-run advantage. But the Giants tallied three runs (one earned) in the eighth against Ian Krol and tallied two more in the ninth against Jim Johnson.
“We had them where we wanted them there in the ninth,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “We just couldn’t finish it off and it has been quite a few of those where we come up short.”
When Phillips exited with a tight left groin at the conclusion of the sixth, he was replaced at second base by Danny Santana, who had earlier pinch-run for Matt Kemp. Santana delivered the game-winning RBI on a fifth-inning single, but also committed a nearly disastrous miscue when he threw late to first base after fielding Kelby Tomlinson’s one-out grounder and briefly attempted to retire Brandon Belt in a rundown. A run scored on the play, but after Joe Panik (three RBIs) followed with a sacrifice fly, Hunter Pence grounded out to end the game.
“I don’t know what [Santana] was doing,” Snitker said. “He just waited too long.”
Markakis (4-for-5, three RBIs) began his four-hit game with a two-run homer in the first and then recorded a pair of singles in the fifth. Matt Adams’ fourth-inning leadoff homer added to the struggles endured by Cain, who allowed seven earned runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings. This rocky outing negated the production provided by Buster Posey (3-for-5, three RBIs), who homered and added two doubles within in three plate appearances against Garcia, who allowed six earned runs in just 4 1/3 innings.
“I didn’t think that the pitches to Markakis or [Matt] Adams were center-cut or anything like that,” Cain said. “With Adams, you have to elevate on him and he did a good job turning on that one. The one to Phillips probably wasn’t close to being a strike and was just a spinning curveball up. It was kind of impressive he did what he did with it.”
After Matt Adams bruised Cain in the fourth with what was his 12th homer in just his 121st at-bat since joining the Braves, Lane Adams came off the bench during the fifth to realize a dream he’s had since breaking into the pro ball in 2009. His pinch-hit three-run shot, which traveled 408 feet with a 107-mph exit velocity, per Statcast™, proved to be important after the Giants tallied three runs (one earned) in the eighth against Krol.
Markakis’ first four-hit game since April 28, 2016, began with the two-run homer he sent over the right-field wall against Cain in the first. The Braves’ right fielder has tallied two of his three homers in his past 10 games.
Mike Foltynewicz will take the SunTrust Park mound when Atlanta opens a three-game series against the Brewers on Friday at 6:35 p.m. CT. Foltynewicz surrendered a pair of home runs to Domingo Santiago when he lost in Milwaukee on April 30.

Sounds Drop Pair of Games in Oklahoma City

The Nashville Sounds saw their record drop to an even .500 at 36-36 with a pair of losses to the Oklahoma City Dodgers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Thursday night.
The two teams gathered to play an unofficial doubleheader after a game in the previous series in Oklahoma City was suspended due to a power outage.
Played resumed in the top of the eighth inning with the score deadlocked at 1-1. The Sounds had chances to take the lead in the eighth and ninth innings but couldn’t push across another run. With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, Melvin Mercedes struck out to keep the game even.
The missed opportunity came back to hurt when the Dodgers won it in the home half of the ninth. Facing lefty Felix Doubront, Trayce Thompson started the inning with a double to left-center. Moments later, Willie Calhoun sent a base hit into right field to score Thompson and give the Dodgers a walk-off 2-1 win.
Game two of the night was all Dodgers from start to finish in a 14-5 win. Oklahoma City scored in every inning except the seventh and had multi-run frames five different times.
Starter Frankie Montas scuffled through two innings and was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on five hits. Three of the five hits went for doubles as the Dodgers plated a run in the first and three in the second to jump out to a 4-0 lead.
Matt McBride got the Sounds on the board with a solo homer in the third, but the momentum was short-lived as the Kyle Farmer’s solo homer in the bottom half highlighted another three-run inning for Oklahoma City.
Ryan Lavarnway and Matt McBride added run-scoring base hits in the fourth, and Renato Nuñez cracked his league-leading 19th homer of the season in the fifth, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Nashville pitching allowed a season-high 14 runs on a season-high 19 hits. Eight different Dodgers had multi-hit games in the blowout.
McBride, Lavarnway, Franklin Barreto, and Jaff Decker all had multi-hit games for Nashville in the losing effort.
Game two of the four-game series is scheduled for Friday night in Oklahoma City. Right-hander Zach Neal (1-2, 3.46) starts for Nashville against right-hander Trevor Oaks (3-2, 3.89) for Oklahoma City. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Coffee County Youth Bass Club Members at National Tournament

Braeden(left) and Colby(right) Thurmond show off their scholarship winnings on April 13th at Kentucky Lake.

Two of Coffee County’s finest fisherman will push off this morning from Paris Landing State Park in an attempt to win a national championship.  The brother tandem of Colby and Braeden Thurmond will join 230 other youth angler teams from across the nation for this weekend’s Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship on Kentucky and Barkley Lakes.  The brother duo are members of the Coffee County Youth Bass Club.

The Thurmonds qualified for the national championship by finishing the year in 21st place in the 2016-2017 TN Bass Nation Points Championship.  Braeden and Colby finished in 54th place in the Tennessee State Championship held in May on Tims Ford.  The Thurmonds, along with boat captain(and dad) Phillip Thurmond, have been on Kentucky Lake all week practicing and getting ready for Thursday’s launch.

Fishing begins at 5:30 AM on Thursday and Friday morning for the preliminary rounds.  The top 12 anglers will return for the finals on Saturday morning.  Weigh-in time for Thursday and Friday is at 1:45 PM at Paris Landing.  The weigh-in on Saturday will be at 2:30 PM in downtown Paris.

Team Thurmond, along with Coffee County Youth Bass Club coach Phil Petty were guests on the Coffee Coaches Show on Saturday talking about the upcoming tournament.  You can listen and/or download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/audio/CCS061717Podcast.mp3

You can track the Thurmond’s progress online by checking out the online leaderboard at: https://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/costa-bassmaster-high-school-national-championship-presented-dick-s-sporting-goods-and-junior

Predators Named 2017 NHL General Manager of the Year

Nashville Predators GM David Poile

David Poile called it an organizational award, but he deserves as much credit as anyone.

The Predators general manager was named the 2017 NHL General Manager of the Year on Wednesday night at the 2017 NHL Awards at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, winning the award for the first time in his fourth nomination for the honor since its inception in 2010, the most of any GM.

The upcoming campaign will be Poile’s 36th as a general manager, making him the longest-serving GM in NHL history, set to move past Jack Adams and Glen Sather. His tenure – dating back to the 1982-83 season with Washington – has spanned 2,625 games and 1,282 wins, ranking him second only to Sather (2,700 games, 1,319 wins).

The award is voted on by the League’s general managers, plus a panel of NHL executives and media. Needless to say, the honor from peers and colleagues left the NHL’s senior GM humbled.

“It’s an organizational award, we all know that, and it means a lot because it means that we’ve done some good things both on and off the ice,” Poile said. “It’s a good time to be with the Nashville Predators and I’m just really happy that I’m here on behalf of the Predators.”

As bold as ever, Poile has made two franchise-altering deals in the last 18 months that helped propel the Predators to their first Stanley Cup Final in club history. In January of 2016, Poile dealt defenseman Seth Jones to Columbus in exchange for top centerman Ryan Johansen. Then, just six months later, Poile traded Shea Weber to Montreal in exchange for All-Star defenseman P.K. Subban.

The deals, which sent shockwaves across the hockey world, show Poile’s ability and willingness to do whatever it takes to bring the Stanley Cup to Nashville. He nearly did in 2017, and he doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

Poile often tells a story from his first days on the job in Washington back in 1982 when he made a deal to trade the team’s captain, recalling Washington’s owner uttering the phrase, “I hope you know what you’re doing,” to the rookie GM.

Ever since, Poile has been proving his abilities in a business that has seen a slew of surnames come and go at the position. Yet, for almost 36 consecutive years, Poile has found himself calling the shots, and doing so well enough to man the phones season after season.

A member of the NHL’s Competition Committee and General Manager of the 2014 United States Olympic Team, among many other positions and accolades, Poile remains one of the most respected voices in the game.

“I was thrilled for him,” Columbus Blue Jackets Head Coach John Tortorella said of Poile. “And this has gone on for a while in Nashville with how good that team has been… The way that city has taken off, it’s great for our game and for David, he’s grinded away and for him to get the opportunity…I’m thrilled for him.”

So in year 36, Poile will just continue to do what he’s done his whole career – manage his team with his heart on his sleeve in his quest of the ultimate prize. His latest honor is just another affirmation that the GM indeed has a decent idea of what he’s doing.

Preds Lose James Neal to Vegas in Expansion Draft, Look to Future

James Neal during his time with the Nashville Predators

The business the side of the game doesn’t always fall favorably.

Predators General Manager David Poile knew all along there was a potential for his club to lose one of its better players to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. On Wednesday, as the League’s newest franchise selected one player from each of the remaining 30 clubs, it came to fruition.

James Neal, a member of Nashville’s leadership team and a 20-goal scorer in each of his nine NHL seasons, was selected by the Golden Knights in the Expansion Draft during the official announcement throughout the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

Poile worked throughout the week in an attempt to strike a deal with Vegas General Manager George McPhee, but in the end, the Nashville GM realized he was going to have to part ways with Neal.

“With how well we played in the playoffs, I’d certainly like to bring everybody back, but the prices [to make a deal with Vegas] were very high,” Poile said. “[McPhee] was looking for younger players or high draft picks, and at the end of the day, I just felt that we had to do what the Expansion Draft was set out to do and that was to lose a player. In this case, we lost James Neal and that’s a pretty big price to pay.

“The Predators have lost a really good person and a really good player in James Neal.”

While the loss of Neal isn’t easy to take, Poile has been around long enough to know that life must go on, and with that, the chance to make something else happen in his lineup, potentially with options already in his system.

“For every action, there’s going to have to be a reaction,” Poile said. “James’s salary was fairly high, he’s one year away from unrestricted free agency, so you don’t know exactly where you would’ve been in another year. What this does now is takes us in a different direction. Just like we saw in the playoffs when we had injuries, different people had to step up to the plate, whether we promoted a Frederick Gaudreau, Pontus Aberg, Colton Sissons… The bad news is we lost James Neal, the good news is now we’re going to give opportunities to some of our younger players.”

Poile is also looking ahead to the upcoming NHL Draft and free-agency period within the next 10 days, undoubtedly a chance for him to survey what may be available as he tries to replace a player like Neal. And knowing Poile, the phone lines will be hot.

“We have a hole in our lineup and now we go on to the [NHL] Draft and eventually to free agency on July 1, and the possibilities are certainly looming that we might need to add another forward,” Poile said. “There could be another trade or we could do something in free agency.”

Motlow Baseball Adds to 2017 Recruiting Class

Motlow State Community College baseball Head Coach Dan McShea – Photo by Jeff Reed Photography.

The Motlow State Bucks have added a pair of transfers from Tennessee Tech University to the growing list of newcomers to the baseball program for the 2017-18 school year, according to Head Coach Dan McShea.

McShea recently announced that both Carson Pack and Logan Walters have signed a National Letter of Intent to continue their baseball careers as student-athletes at Motlow. Both attended TTU last season and both were redshirts for the Golden Eagles. Both Pack and Walters have two seasons of eligibility at Motlow.

“Both Carson and Logan were highly-recruited pitchers in our state out of high school,” said McShea. “We expect big things from both and we are happy to have them join our baseball program.”

They join a recruiting class that now stands at 11 players who will suit up for the first time for the Bucks in late January 2018. Motlow will return seven players from last season and is expected to add 10 more, filling out a 28-man roster, before the beginning of school in late August.

Six of the newcomers are from within the state, with three more residing in neighboring Alabama. Paul McIntosh played his prep baseball at Dade Christian High School in Miami, and Andres Rodriquez attended the Carlos Beltran Academy in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

First-year players from Tennessee are Brayden Gentry from Lewisburg, Justin Cooke from Soddy Daisy, James Bailliez III from LaVergne, Pack is from Andersonville, Walters is from South Pittsburg, and Matthew Young is from Maryville.

Coming in from Alabama, although they are inside Motlow’s service area, are Kyle Davis from New Market, and Tyler Harmon and John Mangini from Huntsville. Davis attended Buckhorn High School, while both Harmon and Mangini prepped at Virgil Grissom High School.

Braves Win in Walk-off over Giants

Hunter Pence’s game-tying home run in the ninth inning gave the Giants a chance to benefit from Jeff Samardzija’s effective start. But Matt Kemp was the last to take advantage of SunTrust Park’s cozy confines, as his two-run homer off Cory Gearrin gave the Braves a 5-3, 11-inning win over the Giants Wednesday night.

Nick Markakis drew a one-out walk before Kemp drilled a 1-0 slider that snuck over the top of the right-field wall. This was the Braves’ third walk-off win within their past five games.
“Other teams have taken advantage of our surroundings, so when Matt hit that one out, I said, ‘I love our ballpark,'” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Sean Newcomb impressed in his third career start, as he limited the Giants to one run over six innings and retired the last 13 batters he faced. The rookie left-hander threw just 80 pitches before he was lifted, possibly because of work he had done before rain delayed the start of the game for one hour and 15 minutes.
The Giants tallied an eighth-inning run courtesy of Arodys Vizcaino’s wild pitch and tied the game in the ninth on Pence’s solo homer off Jim Johnson, who has blown five of his 18 save opportunities.
Samardzija limited his damage to three runs over seven innings. The lone run of support the righty received while in the game came courtesy of Brandon Belt’s second-inning RBI triple down the right-field line.
Hours after Freddie Freeman confirmed he was planning to play third base when he returns from the disabled list, Matt Adams provided further reason for the veteran first baseman to make this unselfish decision. His two-run shot, which traveled a Statcast-projected 406 feet over the right-center-field wall, was his 11th home run in a span of 117 at-bats since being acquired from the Cardinals to serve as Freeman’s replacement.
“You feel good every time he comes to the plate,” Snitker said. “He’s just making the most of a really good opportunity.”
Samardzija recorded three strikeouts during a perfect sixth inning and then allowed Flowers to connect on a 2-1 curveball that bounced off the top of the left-field wall and was initially ruled a single. A boundary review showed the ball hit the net connected to the foul pole, giving Flowers his sixth homer of the season and third within a span of 21 at-bats.
“I think that we all thought, including Flowers, that the ball was foul,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I guess he hit it off the end of the bat, it spun back fair, and hit the top of the fence to bounce over. That’s a bad break and ended up being a big run.”
Flowers did not initially run out of the box because he was sure the ball would land in foul territory.
“Not too far past third base, I felt it was 10-plus feet foul and hooking,” Flowers said. “Thank goodness it went out, not only to get a home run, but to not end up with a single on something like that. That would have been the more embarrassing part.”
Jaime Garcia will take the mound when Thursday’s series finale begins at 6:35 p.m. CT. Before enduring a five-run fifth inning during Saturday’s win over the Marlins, Garcia had allowed four runs or less in each of his 12 starts.

Claybusters Claim a Pair of Team State Titles

Members of the Claybusters who won the 2017 Tennessee ATA/AIM Sub Junior Championship. (left to Right) Logan Meadows, Tucker Carlton, Victoria Majors, Lexi Stacey and Hayden Jacobs[Photo provided]

Add more hardware to the collective trophy cases of the Coffee County Claybusters after another standout performance last week at the Amateur Trapshooting Association AIM state championship. The Claybusters captured team championships in both the Junior and Sub Junior classifications.  Additionally, the Claybusters captured an individual championship in the Pre Sub Junior Division to cap off a lion’s share of the top awards at the state meet held at the Nashville Gun Club.

The AIM championship divisions are divided up into age groups rather than grade levels.  Coffee County Middle School 6th grader Elizabeth Moore captured the Pre Sub Junior (age 11 and under) individual championship.  Moore shot a score of 147 out of a possible 200 targets.

The Sub Junior(ages 12 thru 14) team of Logan Meadows, Tucker Carlton, Victoria Majors, Lexi Stacey and Hayden Jacobs won their division with a score of 956 out of 1000.  Meadows(186/200) was the Sub Junior Handicap champion.  Jacobs(198/200) was the Sub Junior runner-up and Majors(190/200) won the Sub Junior high score for ladies.

The Junior squad (ages 15 to 18) won their age division with an overall score of 969 out of 1000.  The Junior team consisted of Tanner Carlton, Coleton Tabor, Zach Bonee, Garrett Bradford and Austin Schaller.   Overall, the Junior squad had the highest score of the championship while the Sub Junior team shot the second highest team score.

The Claybusters return to the Nashville Gun Club for the SCTP state championship this week looking for a double sweep of state titles.  The middle school shooters will compete on Thursday and the high school team will be in competition on Saturday.  Both championships will be held at Nashville Gun Club.  The Claybusters are coached by Scott Dickson.

Katie Rutledge Named to Tennessean All-Midstate Team

Katie Rutledge

Coffee County’s Katie Rutledge earned her 3rd major post season honor on Tuesday as she was selected for the 1st team of the Tennessean All-MidState team.  Rutledge, who just completed her sophomore year, has also been named tabbed to the 1st team All-State team by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association and a 1st team member of the Tennessee Softball Coaches Association All-State team.  Rutledge was named the District 8AAA Most Valuable Player in May and a member of the District 8AAA 1st team All-District selection.

Rutledge, who played primarily played centerfield and pitched, batted .506 for the year with 8 doubles, 3 triples, a home run and 18 RBI.

Titans Agree to Terms with WR Eric Decker

(Story by Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com)

The Titans have agreed to terms with veteran receiver Eric Decker on a one-year deal.
Decker (6-3, 214) adds another proven receiver to a group loaded with potential.

Decker, 30, spent the past three seasons with New York Jets before being released. He paid a free agency visit to the Titans on Wednesday, and watched a portion of practice with general manager Jon Robinson and coach Mike Mularkey.

A third-round pick of the Denver Broncos in the 2010 NFL Draft, Decker has 385 career receptions for 5,253 receiving yards and 52 touchdowns in seven seasons. He has three 1,000-yard receiving seasons in his career, including a 1,288-yard season in 2013. He’s also turned in 12 100-yard performances.

Decker spent his first four seasons with the Broncos before joining the Jets in 2014. Decker led the Jets with 74 receptions for 962 yards and five touchdowns in 2014. In 2015, Decker had 80 receptions for 1,027 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Decker was limited to three games last season. He was placed on injured reserve on October 12 before undergoing hip and shoulder surgeries. Decker returned to the team’s offseason program, however, as a full participant.

Since 2012, Decker’s 43 receiving touchdowns rank fifth in the NFL and his 4,535 receiving yards rank 18th. His 33 red zone touchdown receptions are the second-highest total in the NFL over that time period. Between 2012 and 2015, Decker averaged 82 receptions for 1,085 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“We brought him in, and I talked to him this morning for about 25 minutes,” Mularkey said of Decker last week. “I got a chance to meet him; I’d never met him. It’s similar to a draft (visit), when you do the top-30 visits, it’s a similar situation. You get a chance to meet them and do a physical.

“The whole visit was to get to know him, and make sure he is healthy.”

The Titans clearly liked what they saw, and heard.

Quarterback Marcus Mariota was asked about Decker last week after practice.

“For me, you can’t really comment on those things because he is not a part of our team,” Mariota said. “So until he is, and all means I wish him the best. But I am happy with the guys we have now and the guys who are working. We’ll see where that goes.”

Decker joins a group that already includes veteran Rishard Matthews, who led the team in receptions and receiving yards last season. The Titans drafted Corey Davis with the fifth overall pick of the draft, and also selected Taywan Taylor in the third round.

Tajae Sharpe, who is recovering from foot surgery, also returns, along with Harry Douglas, Tre McBride and others.

The Titans are scheduled to begin training camp on July 29. For the 19th consecutive year, Thunder Radio will be the radio home in Coffee County for the Titans Radio Network.