For the third consecutive season, the Westwood soccer team claimed the Central Tennessee Soccer Conference regular season title and postseason title on Saturday. The Rockets, unbeaten in conference play this year, faced their toughest challenge of the year on Saturday against St. Andrews. Westwood got a late goal to capture the 1 to 0 win.
Calling this a “rebuilding year”, Coach Jonathan Graf went into the season lacking a potential prolific scorer, inexperience at key positions and a brand new goal keeper; it appeared that Westwood’s run of conference titles was in serious jeopardy. But do not tell that to these Rockets who worked well as a team and carried on the winning tradition.
On Saturday, the Rockets locked horns with a Mountain Lions team they defeated on March 2nd 3 to 0. In that contest, Westwood scored a pair of goals in the last 10 minutes to cushion a 1 to 0 lead they fought to hold most of the match. On Saturday, neither team could find the back of the net in the first 47 minutes. Elliot Sain broke the scoreless tie in the 58th minute on a shot deflected off of a St. Andrews player.
Coach Graf and members of the Rocket soccer team will be guests on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday at 10 AM from the showroom of AL White Ford/Lincoln. The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio.
The Coffee County Middle softball won a pair of games on Saturday to once again advance to the CTC tournament finals on Tuesday. The Lady Raiders opened the day with a 5 to 2 win over Warren County in the quarterfinals to advance to the winners’ bracket finals. In that semifinal matchup, Coffee County edged North Franklin 2 to 1 to advance to Tuesday’s finals.
Coming off Friday’s opening round win over South, Coffee County drew Warren County early Saturday afternoon. After giving up a run in the top of the 1st inning, the Lady Raiders tied the game when Justus Turner hit a triple and scored the tying run. Coffee County plated single runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings before adding a pair of insurance runs in the 5th inning. Katie Crosslin had a double and a single and scored 2 runs. Turners finished with a double and reached on an error while scoring 2 runs. Keri Munn got the win in the circle for Coffee County.
That set up a rematch with North who beat Coffee County twice in the regular season. After surrendering a run in the first inning on a pair of hits, Munn held North to 2 hits the rest of the game while striking out 7 for the win. Coffee County got the benefit of 3 North errors, which allowed both Lady Raider runs. Kiya Ferrell had Coffee County’s only hit, reached on an error and scored both Coffee County runs.
Coffee County will play for the conference title on Tuesday at 6:15 at Warren County.
Tori Bell of CHS softball (Photo by John St. Clair, stclair-sports.com)
After a pair of heartbreaking losses on Friday, the Coffee County Lady Raider softball team bounced back on Saturday to grab a tie and a win in the final day of the Coffee County Classic. In a pair of games you heard here on Thunder Radio, the Lady Raiders opened up on Saturday morning taking on Waverly. Waverly hit a solo home run in the 7th inning to force one extra inning of play under the tournament format. Neither team could score in the 8th ending the game in a 2 to 2 tie. In the final game of the day, Coffee County coach Steve Wilder rested several starters heading in a busy district slate this week. The younger Lady Raiders proved up to the task with a 6 to 3 win.
Against Waverly, Coffee County built a 2 to nothing lead heading into the 4th inning. Waverly added a single run in the 4th before hitting the home run in the 7th to earn the tie. Tori Bell had a double and a single and scored a run on a stolen base to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game. Haley Hinshaw also had a single and a double and Katie Rutledge had a single and an RBI.
Against Warren County, Coffee County bounced back from a rough start that saw them give up 2 runs in the top of the first inning. The Lady Raiders scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st before adding a pair of runs in the 2nd to take a lead they would not give up. Keelie Hillis was 3 for 4 in the game with 3 RBI and a stolen base as she was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game. Katie Rutledge and Tori Bell both finished with 3 hits as well as Coffee County banged out 14 hits. Bell had a double and 2 RBI and Rutledge scored 3 runs.
Coffee County’s game with Tullahoma on Sunday night was rained out and rescheduled for Tuesday at 7 PM at Tullahoma. The Lady Raiders travel to Lawrence County on Monday night for a district tilt with Lawrence County. First pitch is set for 6 PM.
The Coffee County CHS baseball team took out the frustrations of a 2 game losing streak on White County on Friday afternoon with a 12 to 1 defeat of the Warriors in Sparta. The Red Raiders hammered out 12 hits, including a home run from Cade Giles, while holding White County to a single.
Jacob Duncan was masterful on the hill for Coffee County with the 5 inning one-hitter. After surrendering a first inning run on a walk and a single, Duncan went the distance striking out 4. Giles finished the game with a single to go with his tater and 3 RBI. Davis Green and Garrett Eldridge each finished with a pair of singles. Jacob Langham had a double and reached base twice after being hit by pitches. Langham scored 3 times as the Raiders improved to 15 and 13 on the year.
Coffee County is back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Murfreesboro to take on Central Magnet. That game will take place at StarPlex and will get underway at 5 PM.
The Coffee County soccer team battled to a 3 to 3 draw with Smyrna on Friday in a non-district friendly at the Raider soccer field. After jumping out to a 2 to 0 lead, Coffee County saw the Bulldogs rally to tie the match in the final 3 minutes of the 1st half. Chase Harper got the first goal for the Raiders in the 7th minute on beautiful crossing pass from Paco Barrera. Breyer Taylor made the score 2 to 0 in the 14th minute off a free kick from 20 yards out. The goal ties Taylor with Ricky Ramirez for the career goals record at CHS.
Smyrna found the back of the net in the 37th and 39th minutes to seize the halftime momentum. Coffee County got another goal from Harper in the 59th off another assist from Barrera but Smyrna pressed the attack to tie it in the 74th to claim the draw. Coffee County travels to Fayetteville on Monday for another non-district friendly. They will take on the Tigers of Fayetteville High in a match beginning at 5 PM.
Ryan Ellis opened the scoring and Roman Josi finished it off as the Nashville Predators defeated the St. Louis Blues in Game Three by a 3-1 final on Sunday afternoon to take a 2-1 series lead. The win gives Nashville seven consecutive playoff victories at Bridgestone Arena, and after the Predators said they had more to give in Game Three, they kept their word.
“I’ll be honest, it was good to get back home in front of our fans and in the building,” Nashville Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was awesome today. That’s a credit to our fans and the energy that comes into this building. You guys see that and get to experience it just like we do, so that’s a real positive for us. But nobody likes losing, probably on any team, and you look for a response, and I thought the response was good today.”
“It’s a great response from last game from all of us,” goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “It was obviously nice to play in front of our fans and it was a big win.”
Just as they’ve done for all but one game in the playoffs, it was Nashville that opened the scoring when Ellis slid the puck through traffic for a 1-0 lead. The goal gave Ellis eight points in the postseason, good enough to lead the Preds in the category, and extended his scoring streak to six games, the longest by a defenseman in the playoffs in franchise history.
Depth scoring is a necessity in the postseason, and it was Cody McLeod who stepped up for Nashville in Game Three when he scored early in the second period to put the Preds up by two.
“He’s been a good factor in this series, and we knew that we would need him,” Laviolette said of McLeod. “We knew that he would help and contribute. Physically, he’s done a good job of just staying disciplined but playing the body hard, and when a guy like that gets a goal, it’s hard not to be happy for him.
“I might’ve [smiled a bit on the bench when he scored]. Again, a guy like that, who will do anything for his teammates – he’ll hit everybody, he’ll fight, he’ll defend any one of his teammates – when he’s able to factor into a goal like that, everybody’s happy for him.”
The Predators outshot the Blues 18-4 in the middle frame, but Alex Steen tallied the Blues’ lone goal on the visitors first shot of the period.
St. Louis brought more pressure in the third, but after they hit the post behind Rinne, sustained pressure from Nashville eventually led to a bomb from Josi to put it out of reach for the Blues and give the Preds a 3-1 lead.
“It was awesome, our building is awesome,” McLeod said. “Our fans are always rocking, so that’s good. We’ll enjoy this win and get ready to go for the next one.”
After Game Two in St. Louis, their first loss of the postseason, the sentiment in the Nashville locker room was they had another gear to hit as they returned home. Mission accomplished.
Two of Nashville’s three goals on Sunday came from defensemen, the sixth and seventh goals that have come from the Preds blue line through seven postseason games. That number leads the League, putting a spotlight on the offensive capabilities of those whose primary responsibility is to stifle the opposition attack, which they do just as well.
“It’s not just the defense, it’s the forwards too,” Josi said. “They’re doing a great job of getting pucks up to the blue line, they cycle down low and get it up to us. Even in the defensive zone, it’s always a five-man effort. Everybody’s collapsing, there’s a forward down low. The forwards are helping out if something breaks down. If we get a chance, as a D corps, there are a lot of guys who can skate and we try to join the rush and make something happen.”
And when everyone is chipping in, that can only mean good things for a Nashville team that has thrived on contributions from all through the lineup in the postseason.
“I thought that so far, this was probably one of our best games of the series,” McLeod said. “We just have to keep doing that. Give St. Louis credit, too. They’re a good hockey team, and we played well tonight.”
Defenseman Ryan Ellis has points in six straight games, one game away from tying Colin Wilson for the longest such streak in franchise playoff history. Wilson had points in seven straight games during the 2016 postseason.
Harry Zolnierczyk returned to the Predators lineup in Game Three, recording an assist and two hits in 9:24 of ice time, setting a perfect screen on the Josi goal in the third period.
Game Four between the Preds and Blues is set for Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena at 8:30 p.m. CT before the series shifts back to St. Louis for Game Five on Friday night.
Katie Rutledge of CHS softball (Photo by John St. Clair, stclair-sports.com)
Hosting your own softball tournament in the closing days of the high school regular season presents lots of challenges for Coffee County’s Steve Wilder. Not to diminish the logistics of making sure fields are ready, teams are scheduled, workers are present; Wilder has the task of balancing the chore of winning versus making sure is team is healthy and rested for the final 3 regular season district games coming up this next week. With that in mind on Friday, Coffee County fans saw varied lineups in the Lady Raiders 2 losses on Friday night. Coffee opened the day with a 5 to 3 loss to Forrest before closing out the night with a 9 to 8 defeat at the hands of Covington.
Against Forrest, a 1st inning run and a 3 RBI performance from Haley Hinshaw were not enough to overcome a 7 hit attack from the Lady Rockets. Batting first in the tournament format, Coffee County drew first blood when Hinshaw drove in Raven Rogers in the 1st inning. Forrest responded with a pair of first inning runs themselves and they never trailed again. Hinshaw finished with 2 hits and the 3 RBI to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game. Katie Rutledge also finished with 2 singles and Tori Bell had a double.
In the night cap against Covington, the Lady Raiders were shut down in their final 2 at bats in the 9 to 8 loss. In a back and forth game, Covington scored in the top of each inning in the win. The Lady Raiders were able to tie the game in bottom of the 1st and 2nd innings, before taking an 8 to 6 lead after 3 innings. But a pair of 2 out rallies in the 4th and 5th innings by Covington was the back breaker. Katie Rutledge led the Lady Raiders in hitting as she was 3 for 4 including an inside the park home run
Coffee County concludes play in the Coffee County Classic on Saturday with a pair of games. The Lady Raiders will play Waverly at 11 AM and Warren County at 3 PM. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of each game.
The Westwood soccer team advanced to their 4th straight CTSC conference tournament final on Friday night with a 3 to 0 win over Fayetteville. The Rockets got a pair of goals in the first half to seize control of the matchup and Brody Todd was clean in goal to advance the Rockets to Saturday’s finals against St. Andrews.
John Martinez opened the scoring with a goal in the 23rd minute on an assist from Angel Gonzalez. Elliot Sain made it a 2 to 0 game at the half as he notched an unassisted goal in the 25th minute. Sain added his second goal in the 44th minute off another assist from Gonzalez. Westwood will square off against St. Andrews on Saturday morning at 10 AM, that match will take place at Dyer-Bouldin Field.
The Coffee County Middle School softball team opened play in the CTC softball tournament of Friday night with a 16 to 0 win over South Franklin. Katie Crosslin threw a no-hitter allowing just a single walk as she struck out 6 in a game shortened to 3 innings via the mercy rule.
The Lady Raiders sent 15 batters to the plate in the 2nd inning as they scored 12 runs on 2 hits. The Lady Raiders walked 7 times in the inning, and 11 times in the game. Coffee County also got the benefit of 3 Lady Trojan errors. Coffee County will now face off against Warren County at 12:30 PM on Saturday in the second round. The CTC Tournament is being held at Warren County High School.
Mike Foltynewicz struck out six of the first seven batters faced, carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning and positioned himself to complete at least seven innings in a third straight start. But instead of carrying a celebratory mood out of Miller Park on Sunday, the Braves hurler was bothered by how he concluded what had the makings to be a dominant performance.
Dansby Swanson’s two-out error in the sixth inning gave Domingo Santana the chance to complete a two-homer game that gave the Brewers all they needed to prevent a three-game sweep with a 4-3 win. But Swanson’s miscue didn’t frustrate Foltynewicz nearly as much as the fact that the quality of his slider decayed as the innings elapsed and ultimately blemished his otherwise impressive outing.
“I think I did OK, but the team gave me the lead twice and I gave it right back up,” Foltynewicz said. “At the end of the day, that’s what happened. I battled to the end. The slider was working in the beginning, but a lot of them were right over the middle of the plate. They were backed up a little, but they just weren’t ready for it. I did fine, but like I said, the team gave me the lead twice and I couldn’t hold onto it.”
Taking this kind of accountability provides further indication of the maturation that has aided Foltynewicz as he has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his first four starts. Less prone to allowing adversity to adversely affect his emotions, the 25-year-old right-hander has moved closer toward legitimizing himself as a legit front-line starter with performances like this latest one, in which he allowed four hits and four runs — one earned — over six innings.
“He’s making some huge strides,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “His whole game has been really, really good. He was really on the attack today.”
Foltynewicz featured his curveball as he notched three of his six strikeouts during a 13-pitch, perfect first inning. He leaned more toward the slider as he recorded two more strikeouts during the second inning and entered the third inning having already induced six swing-and-misses. But he induced just three more swing-and-misses over the remainder of his outing, partly because the effectiveness of his slider began to wane in the fourth inning.
After missing the strike zone with two sliders to begin his fifth-inning showdown with Santana, Foltynewicz made a mistake when he tried to beat the Brewers outfielder with three straight heaters. An elevated 2-2 fastball found its way over the center-field fence to end the no-hit bid.
One inning later after Swanson booted Hernan Perez’s two-out grounder, Foltynewicz elevated a first-pitch slider to Santana, who drilled it the other way for a decisive three-run home run.
“There in the sixth it was a little longer of an inning than I had most of the day,” Foltynewicz said. “I think I was just leaving pitches up over the plate and they did what they had to do with them.”
For the third consecutive season, the Westwood soccer team claimed the Central Tennessee Soccer Conference regular season title and postseason title on Saturday. The Rockets, unbeaten in conference play this year, faced their toughest challenge of the year on Saturday against St. Andrews. Westwood got a late goal to capture the 1 to 0 win.
