Category: Sports

For the second night in a row, the Coffee County Central High School softball team welcomed a defending state champion to Terry Floyd Field on Friday night.  Featuring the support of a large group of Special Needs Kids, the Lady Raiders welcomed Baylor to Terry Floyd Field in a game you heard here on Thunder Radio.  After taking an early lead, the Lady Raiders ended up falling by a final score of 5 to 3 in 9 innings.

Coffee County got on the board first in the 1^st inning as Haley Hinshaw doubled home Ashley Evans.  Baylor bounced back to take a 3 to 1 lead with single runs in the 3^rd, 4^th and 6^th innings and had the Lady Raiders down to their final out in the 7^th.  Coffee County got a 2 out solo home run from Tori Bell, a single from Hinshaw and an RBI double from Sarah West to tie the game and send it to extra innings.  Baylor strung together 4 hits in the 9^th to claim the win.

Bell finished with 2 hits and an RBI as she was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Katie Rutledge finished the game with 3 singles and Hinshaw finished with a pair of hits and a run scored.

Coffee County is back in action on Sunday afternoon when they play host to Tullahoma at Terry Floyd Field.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as first pitch is set for 3:30 PM.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

 

Westwood and Coffee County Middle also slugged it out on the softball diamond on Friday night as the Lady Rockets visited Lady Raider Field at CCMS.  Both teams, who are enjoying winning seasons, feature coaches who played softball together at Coffee County Central High School in the 1990’s under legendary coach Jeff Breeden.   The Lady Raiders banged out 11 hits to drop their Manchester neighbors 11 to 0.

Keri Munn had the best game of her season as she pitched a complete game 2 hitter to get the win for Coffee County.  At the plate, Munn was 4 for 4 with 3 RBI to lead the Lady Raider hitting attack.  Kiya Ferrell had a pair of hits and scored 3 times for Coffee County.  Westwood got singles from Madison Wakefield and Hallie Wimberley for their only hits of the game.  The loss breaks a 5 game winning streak for Westwood as they fall to 6 to 2 on the year.  The win for Coffee County improves their record to 8 and 2 on the year.

Coffee County returns to the diamond on Monday when they play travel to Winchester to take on South Franklin.  That game begins at 5 PM.  Westwood will play host to Cannon County on Monday in a 4:30 PM game at Lady Rocket Field.

Cross town rivals Westwood and Coffee County Middle battled it out on the tennis courts on Friday at Fred Deadman Park.  Westwood, in its 3^rd year to have a program, took on a Coffee County team in its 2^nd season.

In boys’ play, the Red Raiders swept the Rockets 7 to 0.  Coffee County got singles wins from Jayden Talley, Luke Irwin, Landon Booth, Tyler Rigney and Loren Hansen.  The doubles teams of Talley/Irwin and Booth/Rigney picked up doubles wins for the Red Raiders.

In girls’ play, Coffee County stopped Westwood 5 to 3.  Coffee County got singles wins from Jayda Wright, Marley Perry, Anna Amado, Lucy Riddle and Wren Lawson.  Westwood got a singles win from Lauren Perry and swept the doubles matches as the team of Perry & Patricia Barrera plus the team of Luz Maria Basurto & Callie Roper defeated Coffee County.

Westwood returns to the court on Monday when they take on Shelbyville at home at 4 PM.  Coffee County will host Warren County on Tuesday at home in a match that will also begin at 4.

Ivan Nova did not return for days like this — 37 degrees, with snow falling as he threw his first pitch — but the Pirates brought back the veteran right-hander for performances like this. Supported by back-to-back homers in the fifth and a few key defensive plays, Nova tossed six strong innings and led the Bucs to a 5-4 win over the Braves on Friday at their home opener at PNC Park.

Nova looked like the resurgent starter who pitched for Pittsburgh down the stretch last season: efficient, in command and confident in the defense behind him. He limited Atlanta to six hits without a walk and struck out four, getting through six innings on 93 pitches. The only run he allowed was unearned, as it came after Gregory Polanco dropped a fly ball in left field.

“If you ask me who’s a pro in this clubhouse, it’s Ivan Nova,” third baseman David Freese said. “He showed it today.”
The Braves pulled within one by putting up three runs in the eighth, two of them on a single to center by Brandon Phillips, but the Pirates’ defense made sure the rally stopped there.
Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz limited the Pirates to one run after they put runners at the corners with one out in the third inning, but the young hurler exited after issuing consecutive two-out walks to load the bases in the fourth. Eric O’Flaherty ended that threat by getting Polanco to fly out to center field.
“When [O’Flaherty] got Polanco to fly out with the bases loaded, I thought, ‘We’re going to win the game,'” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That was exactly my thought. Then we gave up the two homers. You want to keep the game in check there, and we couldn’t do that. But we came back and had another couple chances.”

Nova ran into trouble in the fourth inning. Freddie Freeman and Matt Kemp singled, and Nick Markakis was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Phillips got ahead of Nova, three balls and no strikes, but Nova battled back into the count. Phillips rolled over the sixth pitch of the at-bat, a 93.1-mph sinker, and Jordy Mercer scooped it up, stepped on second and fired to first baseman Josh Bell for the inning-ending double play.
“Don’t panic. Just stay aggressive. Make pitches,” Nova said. “Don’t be afraid to work behind in the count. Make a quality pitch and get the out.”

That effort was outdone when Josh Harrison and Mercer thwarted the Braves’ eighth-inning rally with another double play. With Phillips on first, Adonis Garcia smashed a grounder that nicked Daniel Hudson. Harrison made a sensational stop and flipped the ball to Mercer, who quickly spun and connected with first baseman John Jaso to complete the 4-6-3 double play.
“It gets momentum on our side. It’s a big play in the game, obviously,” Mercer said. “You can feel the momentum shift right there.”

The Braves cut the Pirates’ lead in half in the fifth inning, capitalizing on Polanco’s error, but the Bucs immediately pushed back with a pair of homers. The most glaring issue facing Pittsburgh’s lineup this season, particularly without Jung Ho Kang, is a lack of power. But Freese and Cervelli showed plenty of it against right-hander Josh Collmenter. Freese launched a 405-foot solo shot into the Braves’ bullpen with an exit velocity of 100 mph, according to Statcast™. Cervelli answered with a 391-foot blast into the left-field seats, matching his 2016 home run total (one) and giving Pittsburgh a three-run lead.

The Pirates won their fourth straight home opener, having beaten the Cubs in 2014, the Tigers in ’15 and the Cardinals last year. The last time the Bucs secured four straight home-opening victories was 1960-63; the fourth win in that stretch was also against the Braves, who were then based in Milwaukee.

Kemp extended his early-season success with his third straight multihit game, but immediately after recording a single in the sixth inning, he exited with a tight right hamstring that worsened when he made a diving catch to rob Harrison of a hit in the fifth inning. Kemp is 8-for-16 with four doubles and two home runs through four games. There’s a chance he’ll play on Saturday.

Freese left the game after eight innings due to soreness around his collarbone. He was hit by Dansby Swanson’s hard-hopping grounder to lead off the eighth inning but stayed in to finish the frame. Freese said he is sore but otherwise “all right.” He will be evaluated on Saturday.
“I think I would have ducked if I had enough time,” Freese said. “It was kind of a topspin shot, just hopped up. Tried to get a glove on it, just didn’t have time.”
R.A. Dickey will make his Braves debut when this three-game series against the Pirates resumes on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CT. This will be the knuckleballer’s first appearance for a National League team since he won the Cy Young with the Mets in 2012.

The Coffee County CHS softball team welcomed Macon East Academy of Montgomery, Alabama to Terry Floyd Field on Thursday night.  Thursday’s game was a rematch of a 4 to 2 win by the Lady Raiders last Friday in Montgomery.   In a game you heard here on Thunder Radio, Coffee County took an early lead then rallied from behind to get the 10 to 4 win.

After jumping out to a 3 to nothing lead, Coffee County saw the visiting Knights score 4 runs in the 3^rd to take the lead and the momentum.  Not to be deterred, the Lady Raiders knotted the game in the bottom of the 3rd before scoring 5 runs in the 5^th inning to march away with the win.  Haley Richardson got the start for Coffee County and gave way to Kaylee Skipper in the 4^th inning.  Skipper threw 4 scoreless innings with 2 strikeouts to get the win.

Offensively, Katie Rutledge had a single and a game tying RBI triple in the 3^rd inning and scored 2 runs to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Freshman Ashley Evans had 2 singles and scored 3 runs while freshman Sarah West had a single, a double and 2 RBI.  Tori Bell had a pair of singles and drove in 2 runs as the Lady Raiders banged out 11 hits against the defending Class 2A state champions from Alabama.  The win lifts Coffee County’s record to 12 and 6 on the season.

The Lady Raiders are back in action on Friday when they welcome Baylor to Terry Floyd Field for Special Needs Kids Night.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as first pitch is set for 5 PM.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

The Coffee County CHS tennis teams traveled to Fayetteville to take on district rival Lincoln County on Thursday night.  The Lady Raiders got their first win of the year 4 to 3.  The Red Raiders came up short 6 to 1.

For the Lady Raiders, Kayla Wright(score of 8 to 2), Jessica Barrera(8-0) and Rachel Henley(8-1) got wins in singles play.  The doubles team of Wright and Baylee Nester captured an 8 to 5 win for the deciding game of the match.  The win improves the Lady Raiders district record to 1 and 2 on the season.

The Red Raiders got a singles win from Grey Riddle(8 to 4) for their lone win on the afternoon.  Jonah Rollman lost his singles match in a tiebreaker(7 to 2) and the doubles team of Riddle and Reid Lawrence fell 8 to 6 in a pair of near misses for the Raiders. The loss is the first loss of the year for the Red Raiders as they fall to 3 and 1 overall and 2 and 1 in district play.

The CHS netters return to the court on Monday when they welcome Shelbyville to their home courts at the Raider Academy.  First serve is set for 4 PM.

The Westwood softball team welcomed the Lady Tigers of Fayetteville to Manchester on Thursday night.  Originally scheduled to be played at Westwood, the game was moved to Dave King Park to make use of a drier field and lights.  The Lady Rockets clubbed 12 hits to capture a 17 to 9 win.

After trading scores in the first 2 innings, Westwood trailed 7 to 6 entering the 3^rd inning.  Haidyn Campbell struck out the side in the top of the 3^rd and Westwood plated 5 runs in the bottom of that inning to seize control of the contest.  Campbell went the distance in the circle striking out 14 to get the win.  At the plate, Campbell was 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI.  Faith Willoughby and Madison Wakefield each had a triple and a single.  Hallie Wimberley finished with a  double and a single and scored 3 times while Allie Roberts had 2 hits and 3 RBI.

The Lady Rockets will return to the diamond on Friday when they travel across town to take on Coffee County Middle School at CCMS.  First pitch is set for 5 PM.

The Nashville Predators remain in contention for third place in the Central Division after a 7-3 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

Viktor Arvidsson had an NHL career-high four points (two goals, two assists), and Craig Smith had two goals and an assist for Nashville (41-28-12), which trails the St. Louis Blues by one point for third place in the division. The Blues, who defeated the Florida Panthers 6-3, would have secured third if the Predators lost.

Nashville has a two-point lead for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference on the Calgary Flames, who are playing the Los Angeles.

Jason Spezza, Radek Faksa and Jason Dickinson scored in the second period for the Stars (33-37-11).

The Predators scored four goals on 12 shots in the first period.

Arvidsson scored 1:06 into the game when he beat goalie Antti Niemi through the five-hole off a pass from Smith, who made it 2-0 at 13:02 when he beat Niemi on the rush.

Niemi was replaced by Kari Lehtonen after he made six saves on eight shots.

Kevin Fiala made it 3-0 at 18:16 on a wrist shot, and Arvidsson pushed the lead to 4-0 at 18:52 when his shot banked in off Jamie Oleksiak’s skate for his 31st goal.

Harry Zolniercyzk gave Nashville a 5-0 lead 1:06 into the second period.

The Stars scored the next three goals.

Spezza beat goalie Juuse Saros with a wrist shot at 2:47 to make it 5-1, and Faksa deflected a Dan Hamhuis shot to make it 5-2 at 10:30.

Dickinson scored on a rebound of a Faksa shot at 12:51 to get Dallas within 5-3.

Defenseman Roman Josi scored on a 5-on-3 power play with 2:33 left in the second to give Nashville a 6-3 lead, and Smith scored his second of the game at 13:52 of the third to make it 7-3.

Saros made 30 saves, and Lehtonen had 21 on 26 shots.

Pete Weber’s Post Game Report

Heading into the season, more uncertainty swirled around Matt Harvey than any other Mets pitcher. The rarity of Harvey’s recent surgery, combined with his uneven Spring Training results, made the Mets unsure how he might fare once the lights flicked on at Citi Field.

They apparently needn’t have worried. Throwing more than two-thirds of his pitches for strikes, Harvey delivered 6 2/3 strong innings on Thursday, departing to a standing ovation before the Mets scored a 6-2 win over the Braves.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve gone into the seventh inning,” Harvey said. “I think the struggles in Spring Training definitely were there, obviously, in the back of my mind. The biggest thing for me was … really trying to pound the zone and go as deep as I can into the game.”
Travis d’Arnaud and Wilmer Flores each backed Harvey with two-run hits — d’Arnaud’s a double, Flores’ a homer — against Braves starter Jaime Garcia, who is nearly three years removed from his own surgery to repair Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. That is the condition that affected Harvey last summer, causing numbness in his pitching hand and undermining his results.

Harvey experienced no such issues on Thursday, retiring 11 of the first 12 batters he faced and reaching 95 mph on the radar gun. Only Matt Kemp had an answer for Harvey, hitting two solo homers to account for two of the Braves’ three hits off him.
“It’s good to see Matt swing the bat like he is,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Hopefully, we can join him here shortly.”

The Mets were clinging to a one-run lead when Flores, who ranked third in the Majors in OPS against left-handed pitchers last season, curled his two-run homer around the left-field foul pole to triple the Mets’ margin in the fifth. Eleven of Flores’ 16 homers last season came against left-handed pitchers, which is why the Mets batted him cleanup against Garcia.
“It’s not easy,” Flores said of adapting to a platoon role. “But it’s your role. It’s what you have to do. It’s like starting and relieving. You’ve got to make the adjustment. You’ve got to get used to it. And that’s what I’m doing.”
After Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera notched singles during a two-run seventh inning against Atlanta right-hander Chaz Roe, the Braves loaded the bases with three singles in the eighth inning. But Fernando Salas killed the threat by recording a four-pitch strikeout of Dansby Swanson.
“We battled way back and were just a hit away from getting back in that game, but it didn’t happen,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker, who saw Kemp drive in four of the five runs his team scored in this series.
Kemp’s 11th career two-homer game (and fourth since the start of 2016) gave him six extra-base hits through this season’s first 13 at-bats. Per Statcast™, his second homer off Harvey, a solo shot to left field in the seventh inning, had an exit velocity of 111.9 mph. The top exit velo of his 35 home runs last year was 110.4 mph.
“I hit it hard,” Kemp said. “I don’t care how far it goes. I just want it to scrape over the fence. It doesn’t matter how far it goes.”
The Braves will experience a quick turnaround, as they are scheduled to play the Pirates at PNC Park on Friday at 12:05 p.m. CT. Mike Foltynewicz will start instead of R.A. Dickey, whose season debut was pushed back one day because of the cold and wet conditions predicted in Pittsburgh on Friday.

The Nashville Sounds faced a 5-0 deficit after the first inning but got several clutch hits in a come-from-behind 8-6 win over the Round Rock Express in 11 innings at Dell Diamond Friday night.

Trailing 5-4 in the ninth, Jaff Decker’s two-out, run-scoring double sent the game into extra innings for the second consecutive night. Decker went a perfect 4-for-4 with a two walks, two run, and two stolen bases.

Chris Parmelee hit a solo home run to lead off the top of the tenth to give the Sounds a 6-5 lead, but it didn’t last. Aaron Kurcz, who pitched a scoreless ninth to send the game to extras, surrendered a solo homer to Round Rock’s Jared Hoying to even the game at 6-6.

The Sounds’ explosive offense was at it again in the 11th when Andrew Lambo started a rally with a single. Franklin Barreto’s successful sacrifice put Lambo in scoring position for Decker who drew a walk. Renato Nunez delivered Lambo with the eventual game-winning run when he bounced a ball up the middle to make it 7-6. For good measure, Parmelee lofted a base hit into right-center field to score Decker for a two-run lead.

Round Rock put a pair of runners on in the bottom of the 11th, but Sounds closer Bobby Wahl slammed the door to lock in the first win of the season.

The Sounds faced an immediate hole when Round Rock roughed up Nashville starter Michael Brady in the first inning. Will Middlebrooks hit a two-run homer and Preston Beck doubled in a pair of runs in the five run frame.

Nashville slowly chipped away over the next few innings as Barreto launched a two-run homer in the fifth. It was one of 18 hits for the Sounds in the second game of the season. Decker, Barreto, Parmelee, Lambo, Chad Pinder and Ryan Lavarnway all had multi-hit games. The 18 hits masked 19 strikeouts by Round Rock pitching.

Led by Zach Neal’s four scoreless frames, Nashville’s bullpen allowed just one run over eight innings of work. Ross Detwiler tossed a scoreless eighth, Kurcz allowed one run in the 10th, and Bobby Wahl’s scoreless 11th finished the job.

Game three of the five-game series is scheduled for Saturday night in Round Rock. Right-hander Cesar Valdez starts for the Sounds against right-hander Dillon Gee for the Express. First pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m.