The Coffee County Middle School Lady Raider volleyball once again got a strong start before dropping a close conference contest at Warren County on Thursday. The Lady Raiders won the opening set 25 to 20 over the Lady Pioneers. Warren County evened the match with a 25 to 21 win in the second set setting up the tie-breaker set to 15. Tied at 14 in the final set, Warren County captured the last 2 points to win the set 16 to 14 and the match.
The Lady Raiders were led at the service line by Maci Head who had 6 aces. Kiya Ferrell added a pair of blocks for Coffee County. The JV team dropped their match in straight sets 25 to 22 and 25 to 21. Coffee County returns to the court on Tuesday when they travel to White County.
Category: Sports
CCMS Volleyball Falls at Warren County
Braves Can’t Back Solid Whalen, Fall to Nationals
There’s no other way to say it: Nationals right-hander Reynaldo Lopez was electric in an 8-2 victory over the Braves on Thursday night at Turner Field.
It started with Lopez’s fastball, which was clocked as high as 98 mph. He ended up with 11 strikeouts in seven innings, while allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits. It was the first double-digit strikeout game of Lopez’s career, and he is just the fourth rookie in Nats history to strike out at least 10 in a game.
Braves right-hander Rob Whalen also turned in a solid outing. He pitched six innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits and struck out six batters.
It looked like Whalen was going to get out of the first inning unscathed, but Anthony Rendon hit a routine fly ball to left fielder Matt Kemp, who dropped the ball as Trea Turner and Bryce Harper scored to give Washington a 2-0 lead.
The Nationals took a 3-1 lead in the fifth when Pedro Severino scored on a double by Jayson Werth, who extended his on-base streak to 46 games to tie Rusty Staub’s franchise record.
Things turned ugly for Atlanta in the eighth, when the Nationals put the game away with five runs off relievers Arodys Vizcaino and Mauricio Cabrera.
In their previous three games, the Nationals’ bullpen pitched a combined 18 1/3 innings against the Rockies. Lopez gave the bullpen exactly what it needed. He pitched seven strong innings, before Shawn Kelley and Mark Melancon blanked the Braves over the final two frames.
The Braves recognize the concerns about Kemp’s defense in left field, but the veteran’s inability to secure Rendon’s routine fly ball with two outs in the first inning appeared to simply be a lapse in concentration that accounted for two unearned runs. Whalen retired 10 of the next 11 batters he faced, but he encountered some misfortune when Werth got his bat on a 3-2 slider and then watched his decisive RBI double hug the left-field line.
Rally Falls Short in Sounds’ Home Loss
The Nashville Sounds scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth but the rally came up short in a 6-4 loss to the Tacoma Rainiers Thursday night in front of 8,182 fans at First Tennessee Park.
Trailing 6-0 going into the ninth, the Sounds rallied and eventually put the winning run on base. Joey Wendle started the outburst with a one-out single. Matt McBride followed with a single of his own before Colin Walsh scored both with a double down the left field line to trim the deficit to 6-2.
Bryan Anderson was retired on a deep fly out for the second out of the inning before Arismendy Alcantara and Renato Nunez added RBI singles.
Matt Olson drew a walk to load the bases but Andrew Kittredge struck out Matt Chapman with the bases loaded to slam the door.
The offense was stuck in neutral all night as Taijuan Walker threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up his first Triple-A win of the season. He held the Sounds to just three hits and two walks.
The Rainiers jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Mike Freeman’s sacrifice fly in the third. They added three in the fifth against Daniel Mengden on the strength of five singles in the frame.
Mengden allowed four runs on eight hits, both season highs with Nashville. The loss dropped his record to 6-2 on the season.
It looked like the Sounds were going to go quietly as Paul Fry and Tony Zych helped Walker by finishing the seventh and getting through the eighth unscathed.
David Rollins started the ninth for Tacoma but allowed four runs in 2/3 of an inning before leaving in favor of Kittredge who wobbled early but retired Chapman to end it.
The loss dropped the Sounds to a division-best 72-54 with 18 games remaining.
The series finale is scheduled for Friday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Raul Alcantara (3-0, 0.59) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Zach Lee (7-11, 5.57) for the Rainiers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Tickets for the 2016 Pacific Coast League playoff dates at First Tennessee Park are now available for purchase at the Nashville Sounds box office and online at www.nashvillesounds.com. The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate.
Coffee Pot Rivalry Renews on Friday Night
Less than 48 hours from now, the Red Raider football team will attempt to win back to back Coffee Pot games for the first time since 1982 as Coffee County visits Tullahoma for the 79th battle for the brass and wooden trophy. Coffee County won last season’s contest by a score of 42 to 7 and optimism is sky high in The Capital City.
Tullahoma has dominated the series since the Red Raiders claimed the cherished “Pot” 8 times in a 10 year period from 1973 through 1982. Since 1990, Tullahoma has won the rivalry tilt 10 of the last 12 years, 16 of the last 19 and 22 of the last 26 meetings.
Coffee County junior quarterback, and Tennessee commitment, Alontae Taylor has Coffee County fans hopeful for a repeat win. Taylor finished last year’s game with 128 yards rushing on 9 carries with touchdown runs of 2, 14 and 69 yards for Coffee County. A young and hungry Red Raider defense will look to repeat their dominating performance from last year as they held Tullahoma to 5 first downs in the game and forced 3 critical 1st half turnovers. Last season’s 42 to 7 win was the largest margin of victory for Coffee County in the 90 year history of the rivalry.
Coach Ryan Sulkowski had this to say about the rivalry on Wednesday night on the Ryan Sulkowski Show:
The Ryan Sulkowski Show is broadcast LIVE each Wednesday night from 6 to 7 PM from West Main Brick Oven on the square in Manchester and is brought to you by Coffee County Bank.
The Coffee Pot game kicks off at 7:00 PM in Tullahoma at Grider Stadium. Thunder Radio is your exclusive home for Coffee County sports and Lucky Knott will bring you all the action beginning at 6:45 PM. Thunder Radio’s coverage begins at 6:00 PM with Friday Night Thunder.
Pair of HRs, Swanson’s Strong Debut Not Enough
Though there would certainly be a benefit to gaining the first overall pick in next year’s MLB Draft, the Twins weren’t complaining as they took advantage of Mike Foltynewicz’s early exit and frustrated the Braves’ bullpen on the way to completing a two-game series victory with a 10-3 win on Wednesday night at Turner Field.
“We used a lot [of relievers] yesterday trying to stay in the game, and [Foltynewicz], just every inning was a stressful inning for him tonight,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He worked harder than he did the other night in Washington, probably, in the heat there. But just very inning, there was trouble. He kept us in the ballgame, but after five, if he had about 65 pitches instead of 100 where he could maybe extend the ballgame a little bit — just kind of got stretched thin there.”
Eddie Rosario and Juan Centeno recorded consecutive doubles off Eric O’Flaherty to begin the decisive sixth inning and then contributed to the three-run seventh inning that provided sufficient cushion for Kyle Gibson, who notched his second career complete game and soured the much-anticipated big league debut of Dansby Swanson, who recorded two of the eight hits surrendered by the Twins’ right-hander.
“It’s a pretty good milestone,” Gibson said. “It’s the first nine-inning one I’ve done and it was a win, which was good. For me, I’m just trying to develop into the guy I want to be, and that means pitching deep into games when your team gets a lead.”
With the series victory, the Twins moved five games in front of the Braves, who have lost six of their past seven games and have MLB’s worst record. Minnesota, which lost a two-game series at home vs. Atlanta in late July, has won 16 of its past 24 road games dating back to June 26.
Rosario led off the sixth with a double before coming around to score on a double from Centeno to give the Twins a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Rosario helped the Twins add to that lead in the seventh, when he singled with the bases loaded and nobody out to bring home another run. It fueled a three-run inning from the Twins with Centeno plating a run on an RBI groundout and Robbie Grossman delivering a bloop RBI single to right.
“He’s still learning to trust himself,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said of Rosario. “He’s a hit-first-mentality guy. I think he understands it’s an area he needs to get better at to be a more consistent player.”
Foltynewicz held the Twins scoreless after enduring a two-run first inning that was sparked by Brian Dozier’s leadoff double. But his inconsistent command pushed his pitch count to 100 through five innings and led to the early entry of O’Flaherty, who surrendered the consecutive doubles to begin the sixth and then exited after putting two on with none out the following inning. Ian Krol surrendered a couple soft singles and allowed a pair of inherited runners to score during Minnesota’s three-run seventh.
“I think there was one clean inning, but you just take out of it that I got out of some pretty big jams,” Foltynewicz said. “The score could have been out of control there early. I’m just really proud of myself for bearing down and getting the guys out, especially with second and third with no outs [in the third inning].”
Gibson has struggled to get deep into games recently, as he hadn’t gone more than five innings in each of his past three outings. But he turned it around with a strong performance. He struggled with his command early with a walk in each of the first two innings and a wild pitch, and he gave up a two-run homer to Freddie Freeman in the third, but he got into a groove from there. It marked the second time in 17 starts this season that Gibson went at least eight frames, and the first time in his career he ever went nine.
“I really wanted to give him the chance to finish,” Molitor said. “Not knowing it was his first [nine-inning] complete game, I thought he had enough to finish, and he did a nice job striking out the side there in the ninth.”
Ender Inciarte recorded a pair of hits and Swanson energized the home crowd when he recorded his first two career hits — singles in the fourth and ninth innings. But the Braves notched just three hits over the final five innings, including Nick Markakis’ ninth-inning solo shot. Freeman set his new career-high homer total (24) with his opposite-field shot in the third inning. The Braves’ first baseman has homered five times in his past 19 at-bats.
“[Swanson] could have been 3-for-4,” Snitker said. “It was real good. He kind of looked like he was just playing a normal baseball game. I wish he would have had a couple of plays, but he swung the bat nice.”
Atlanta will welcome Washington to Turner Field on Thursday night to begin a four-game series. Rob Whalen will attempt to bounce back from Saturday’s rough outing against the Nationals. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. CT and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning at 6 PM on the Braves Radio Network.
Wendle’s Homer Powers Sounds Past Rainiers
Joey Wendle hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 5-2 win over the Tacoma Rainiers Wednesday afternoon at First Tennessee Park.
The win vaulted Nashville past Tacoma for the best record in the Pacific Coast League at 72-53. Entering play later tonight around the league, the Sounds’ magic number is at nine to clinch the American Southern Division.
Wendle 12th homer of the season came on the first pitch he saw from Tacoma starter Jarrett Grube. Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, Jaycob Brugman singled and Renato Nunez walked to put a pair of runners on for Wendle who hit it to the opposite field.
Both starters were solid in the early going as Grube squared off against Sounds starter Dillon Overton on his 25th birthday.
The two hurlers went through the first two innings with little resistance before a couple of solo homers made it a 1-1 game after three.
Ryan Strausborger started the third with his sixth blast of the season and Arismendy Alcantara launched his 11th of the year down the right field line with one out in the bottom half of the inning.
A single by Strausborger in the fifth led Tacoma to another run on Mike Freeman’s RBI groundout. It stayed 2-1 until Wendle’s three-run blast in the sixth.
The homer put Overton in line for his 11th win of the season which came to fruition when the bullpen combination of Eduard Santos and Bobby Wahl nailed down the win.
Santos worked around a one-out error in the seventh and then fired a 1-2-3 eighth to work two scoreless innings. Wahl earned his first Triple-A save when he tossed a 1-2-3 ninth.
Brugman went 2-for-4 with a run scored and extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Catcher Bryan Anderson had his first three-hit game of the season.
Game three of the four-game series is set for Thursday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Daniel Mengden (6-1, 1.34) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Taijuan Walker (0-0, 6.23) for the Rainiers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Tickets for the 2016 Pacific Coast League playoff dates at First Tennessee Park are now available for purchase at the Nashville Sounds box office and online at www.nashvillesounds.com. The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate.
Dramatic Hole-in-One Lifts Lady Raider Golfers to Tournament Title
CHS golfer Ashley Gilliam retrieves her ball from the cup after firing a hole in one(photo provided)
A “walk-off hole in one” on the last hole of the tournament lifted the Lady Raider golf team to the team championship of the Baylor Preview on Tuesday. Ashley Gilliam hit an 8 iron into the wind and played the roll of the 9th green on the last hole of the tournament to score her 2nd ever ace and give the Lady Raiders a 2 day total of 293 and a 1 stroke win over Rossview.
Gilliam finished the round with a 71 and a 2 day total of 145 to finish 2nd overall. Savannah Quick placed 3rd individually with a 148. The Lady Raiders record improves to 23 and 3 with the tournament win. Sweetens Cove golf course designer Rob Collins was a guest on Sirus XM’s PGA Tour Radio on Tuesday afternoon and described Gilliam’s feat. You can hear that interview at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWFkFAkNqFU
The CHS boys golf team will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Shelbyville for an 19 hole district match. Tee time is set for 1:00 PM at Riverbend Country Club.
CHS Soccer Tames Lady Bulldogs for Season Opening Win
CHS senior keeper Holli Smithson
Three 1st half goals and an exceptional performance in goal by senior keeper Holli Smithson led the CHS Lady Raider soccer team to a 3 to 1 win over Smyrna on Tuesday night. In a game heard here on Thunder Radio, Coffee County survived a shaky start as the visiting Lady Bulldogs outshot Coffee County 5 to 1 in the first 15 minutes. The Lady Raiders settled down and began to execute their passing attack to capture the season opening win.
Freshman Jenna Garretson got the scoring started when Mckenzie Anderson shuffled a nice feed to her in the top of the 18 yard box in the 16th minute. Caitlyn Moore added a goal in the 22nd minute off a cross from Ali Amado before Smyrna got their lone goal in the 33 minute. The Lady Raiders responded 1 minute later as Garretson found Ashley Woods in front of the net for the final tally.
Coffee County outshot Smyrna 18 to 12 in the match and Smithson finished the night with 11 saves. A gruesome ankle injury to Smyrna’s Megan Blumhoefer saw the game stopped in the 73rd minute as an ambulance was called due to a compound fracture o her right ankle. After the lengthy delay, both teams gathered at midfield to pray and the match was ended early by consent. The Lady Raiders are back in action on Thursday when they travel to Murfreesboro to take on Riverdale. That match kicks off at 5:30 PM.
You can download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/audio/HOMETOWN081616.mp3
CHS Volleyball Sweeps Shelbyville
Aerial Williams
The Lady Raider CHS volleyball team cleaned up their service game problems on Tuesday as they opened their district slate with a straight set win over Shelbyville on Tuesday. The Lady Raiders struck 23 aces and had only 12 service errors as they beat the Eaglettes by set scores of 25 – 12, 25 – 16 and 25 – 15.
Aerial Williams was once again strong at the net and the service line as she recorded 5 kills and 7 service aces. Kaylee Skipper led Coffee County in kills with 8 while Bailey Morgan and Rachel Henley each had 5 aces. Henley led the team is assists with 12 while Tyana Fenton led Coffee County in digs with 3.
With the win, the Lady Raiders record improves to 3 and 0 on the season and they are now 1 and 0 in district play. The Lady Raiders will host their home opener on Thursday when they welcome Tullahoma to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. First serve is set for 6 PM.
CCMS Soccer Fights to Scoreless Draw with Warren County
In a potential conference tournament finals preview, the Coffee County Middle School girls’ soccer team opened the regular season on Tuesday with a 0 to 0 draw with Warren County. Coffee County did have a few scoring chances but the Lady Raider offense could not convert on a pair of crossing passes. The JV Lady Raiders captured a 5 to 1 win in their matchup.
The Lady Raiders will travel to Tullahoma on Monday for a conference tilt with the Lady Cats. Kickoff is set for 5 PM. The Lady Raiders will have their home opener on Thursday, August 35th when Harris visits the Lady Raiders home pitch. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the First National Bank Hometown Sports series.