Category: Sports

Nashville Sounds right-hander Jharel Cotton just missed a perfect game and settled for a one-hit shutout in the Sounds’ 3-0 win over the Round Rock Express at Dell Diamond Tuesday night.

Cotton, recently acquired in a trade by the Athletics, retired the first 26 batters he faced on the night. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Round Rock second baseman Doug Bernier lined a 2-1 pitch to the right field wall for a triple to break up the bid at perfection.

The Virgin Islands native struck out a career-high 12 in the dominating effort. With Bernier at third, he punched out Drew Robinson for the final out of the game.

Cotton started the night with a flurry of strikeouts as he struck out the side in the first and recorded another two in the second. He recorded another strikeout in each of the next three innings and was up to eight through five frames.

Express (56-62) left-hander Yohander Mendez was also impressive as he tossed five shutout innings.

Nashville (68-50) finally broke through and got runs for Cotton in the sixth. Chad Pinder drew a one-out walk and was able to jog home when Renato Nunez belted a two-run homer to left field – his 20th of the season to give the Sounds a 2-0 lead.

The Sounds pushed across another run in the seventh with the help of additional free passes. Josh Rodriguez walked and swiped second, and Colin Walsh drew a two-out walk to put a pair of runners on.

Chad Pinder came through with a clutch base hit through the left side to score Rodriguez and give the Sounds a 3-0 cushion.

Cotton returned for the bottom of the seventh and retired the first two batters quickly. Catcher Brett Nicholas sent a soft fly ball to center field that was caught with a diving effort by center fielder Jaycob Brugman to preserve the perfect game.

He struck out Joey Gallo to start the eighth and retired Jared Hoying and Matt Duffy on back-to-back pops up to second.

Armed with a 3-0 lead, Cotton got Ronald Guzman to pop out to first to start the bottom of the ninth. He then struck out Kyle Kubitza who was ejected by home plate umpire Junior Valentine for arguing the called third strike.

After a lengthy delay due to the ejection, Doug Bernier lined the 2-1 pitch from Cotton just over the stretched arm of Walsh in right field to break up the perfect game.

There has been two perfect games in Nashville Sounds history. Josh Wasdin threw the first on April 7, 2003 against Albuquerque, and Manny Parra tossed the most recent on June 25, 2007 in Round Rock.

The complete-game shutout for Cotton is the first of the nine-inning variety for the Sounds since Mike Fiers accomplished the feat with a three-hitter on August 31, 2011 in a 1-0 win over Iowa.

The series finale between the two teams is scheduled for Wednesday night in Round Rock. Left-hander Dillon Overton (10-4, 3.21) starts for the Sounds against left-hander Derek Holland (0-0, 0.00) for the Express. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

The Motlow College Foundation is planning its 23rd annual golf tournament for Friday, Sept. 9, at The Bear Trace at Tims Ford State Park.

This year’s event is sponsored by Jacobs Technology, Ascend Federal Credit Union, Daves-Culbertson Funeral Home, Lakeway Publishers, Nationwide Express, Southern Tennessee Regional Health System, First Vision Bank, Franklin County Industrial Board and Roscoe Brown, Inc.
Stan McNabb Automotive is sponsoring the hole-in-one contest. There will also be a closest-to-pin and longest drive contest as well as a special contest, the winner of which will win 50% of the contest proceeds.
All proceeds from the tournament benefit Motlow State Community College students primarily through scholarships including, but not limited to honors, presidential, student government and athletic scholarships.
“We are so grateful for the continued support the Motlow College Foundation receives each year from this golf tournament. Thank you to the team organizers, all participants, the hole sponsors, the event sponsors, numerous donors and the community-at-large for being a part of this fundraising event,” said Lane Yoder, director of the foundation. “Because of your long-standing generosity, the Foundation is able to improve and enrich the lives of our students through scholarship awards.”

The tournament is a four-person scramble with prizes for three places in two flights. The cost to participate is $110 per person or $440 per team which includes greens fees, cart rental, mulligans and lunch. Lunch will be served at 12:00 p.m. and tee time is 1:00 p.m. In the event of inclement weather, the rain date is Sept. 16.

Please contact the Motlow College Foundation at 931-393-1543 or 931-393-1692 to sign up for the tournament.

Members of the CHS Lady Raider golf team following Monday’s tournament win. (Left to Right) Ashley Gilliam, Savannah Quick & Sophie Vinson (Photo Provided)

Teeing off in her first high school varsity golf match on Monday, CHS sophomore Ashley Gilliam fired a school record 66 to help lead the Lady Raiders to a first place finish in the Early Bird Invitational. The Red Raiders had a school record 4 players shoot sub-80 rounds as the Red Raiders finished in 3rd place in the boys division.
For the Lady Raiders, Gilliam tied a school record 4 under par with her round of 66 to lead the Lady Raiders to the tournament title. Savannah Quick finished in 2nd place individually as she fired a 72. Soohie Vinson fired an 86 as the Lady Raiders finished with a winning total of 138. White County finished 10 strokes back in 2nd and Walker Valley was 3rd at 153. The tournament win moves the Lady Raiders head –to-head record to 13 and 3 on the season.
For the Red Raiders, the consistency theme continues to play out as Austin Farris led the Coffee County boys to a 3rd place finish and a score of 308. Samuel Prater fired a 78 while John Parigger, Reid Lawrence and Josh Perry all carded 79’s. Cookeville won the boys tournament with a team score of 281 and Tullahoma was second at 295. The Red Raiders head –to-head record now stands at 25 and 5 on the season.
Both golf teams are back in action on Tuesday at a 3 team district match at Tullahoma. Coffee County will take on rivals Franklin County and Tullahoma. Tee time is set for 4:00 PM at Lakewood Country Club.

2016 USGF 10U World Series Champion Coffee County AllStars. Pictured are: Bottom row: Cadience Medley, Shelby Bryce, Madison Pruitt, Willow Carden and Lily Scott. Second row: Cheyenne Vickers, Callie Garrett, Kaitlyn Davis, Remi Benjamin, Alyssa Mosley and Kurry Neel. Back row: Manager Rick Davis, Coaches: Jada Neel, Chuck Neel and Curtis Vickers (Photo provided)

Following the conclusion of the Coffee County Fastpitch Association season, an All-star team in the 10 and under division was selected. That team of all-stars attended the United Sports Governing Foundation(USGF) Recreational World Series on July 22nd thru the 24th and captured the World Series title as they finished the tournament with a perfect 6 and 0 record.
Members of the allstar team are: Kaitlyn Davis, Callie Garrett, Madison Pruitt, Willow Carden, Cheyenne Vickers, Alyssa Mosley, Kurry Neel, Cadience Medley, Remi Benjamin, Lily Scott and Shelby Bryce. The coaches are Rick Davis, Curtis Vickers, Chuck Neel and Jada Neel.
Coffee County got pool play wins over Clarksville Thunder Red (2-1), Clarksville Thunder Gray (13-0) and Goodlettsville Storm( 10-1). In the championship bracket, Coffee County dumped the Shelbyville Flamethrowers 8 to 0 in the quarterfinals before dropping Goodlettsville Storm again in the semifinals by a score of 4 to 1. This set up a 3rd matchup with the Goodlettsville Storm where Coffee County captured the tournament title with a 5 to 3 win. Gull results from the tournament can be found online at: http://www.usgfp.com/files/point_table.php?tournament_id=15303
Members of Coffee County team will be guests on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about their championship. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday morning from Al White Ford/Lincoln and heard here on Thunder Radio.

Nick Markakis provided a pair of timely extra-base hits and the Braves preserved a strong bullpen effort while extending their winning ways with Monday night’s 4-3, 12-inning win over the Brewers at Miller Park.

Markakis’ ground-rule double off Carlos Torres got the Braves going in the 12th, putting runners at second and third. After Adonis Garcia was intentionally walked, Gordon Beckham delivered a game-winning sacrifice fly for the Braves, who have won nine of their last 13 games. The Brewers turned four double plays, including one to limit the damage in the 12th after Beckham’s sac fly, and limited the Braves to three hits from the sixth to the 11th inning. Milwaukee has now lost four of its last five games.
“Even before I got here, they were playing really good baseball and swinging it well,” Matt Kemp said after notching his second straight multi-hit game. “I think we’re just keeping the momentum going. We want to finish the second half strong and see where that takes us.”
Markakis and A.J. Pierzynski recorded solo home runs and Freddie Freeman completed a nifty slide to complete a double that preceded Kemp’s fourth-inning RBI single. After the Braves gained a 3-1 lead against Zach Davies, Martin Maldonado hit a game-tying, two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth against Rob Whalen, who notched seven strikeouts while completing six innings in his second career start. He also singled for his first Major League hit.
“It was just a game for both teams, late in the game, there wasn’t that much offense,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “From the fifth inning on, there weren’t a lot of scoring opportunities.”
Davies surrendered Pierzynski’s solo shot with two outs in the fifth inning, but his more costly mistake might have occurred in the second inning. After getting ahead with an 0-2 count against Markakis, he attempted to sneak a third straight two-seam fastball by the veteran outfielder, who responded by producing his seventh home run of the season and fifth dating back to July 7. Davies had not allowed a home run in his previous five starts.
“He’s kind of like Mr. Reliable,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Markakis, who has hit .429/.450/.714 over his past 10 games. “He’s just such a professional. He gives you great at-bats every at-bat. He just battles and never gives an at-bat away. Lately he’s had a lot of big hits and big at-bats.”
The Braves had jumped ahead early in the game due in large part to the home run ball, so the Brewers responded with some of their own power. Maldonado jumped on an 87-mph sinker from Whalen and deposited it over the center-field fence for his tying blast. It was just the sixth homer allowed by Whalen in 131 innings this season across three different levels.
“He threw me a good sinker the pitch before,” Maldonado said. “He threw a pretty good sinker after that, but I was able to put a good swing on it. You don’t try to hit homers. You try to have good swings, good ABs and whatever happens, happens.”
Jose Ramirez completed two scoreless innings and ended the eighth inning by stranding two runners with his third strikeout. Mauricio Cabrera was effectively wild, as he ended a perfect ninth by blowing a 100.5 mph fastball by Keon Broxton. Brandon Cunniff then tossed two scoreless innings to set the stage for Jim Johnson to notch his ninth save. Johnson is perfect in his past seven save opportunities dating back to July 26.
“They were unbelievable,” Whalen said. “It stinks that I gave up the lead we had, but they kept us in the game all the way until we could chip away and get that one run. Hats off to those guys. They’ve been throwing the ball great.”
Everybody at Miller Park thought that the Brewers had walked off on a ninth-inning homer by Chris Carter — until the ball landed in Kemp’s glove at the wall. The Brewers first baseman turned a 101-mph fastball from Cabrera around at a 103-mph exit velocity, according to Statcast™ and nearly sent the Crew home as winners.
“I knew I had a chance,” Carter said. “I knew I hit it high, and I wasn’t sure if it was going to get out, but you never know here. Sometimes the ball carries more than other days.”
Atlanta will send Tyrell Jenkins to the mound when this four-game series against Milwaukee resumes on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. CT. Jenkins has allowed just one earned run in 12 innings over his past two starts, but he has flirted with trouble in those starts, issuing four walks in each outing.

Hanser Alberto drove in five runs to lead the Round Rock Express to convincing 13-2 win over the Nashville Sounds Monday night at The Dell Diamond.

The 11-run loss is the most lopsided defeat suffered by the Sounds since Sacramento clubbed Nashville, 20-1, on August 25, 2014.

After the Sounds (67-50) jumped out to a 2-0 lead after their third time up, Round Rock’s (56-61) offense erupted for three in the third, four in the fourth, three in the fifth and another three runs in the sixth.

The night started in a positive manner for Nashville as the second batter of the game, Jaycob Brugman, sparked a rally with a base hit up the middle. He scored three batters later when Rangel Ravelo delivered a run-scoring base hit with two outs.

More two-out hitting netted the Sounds another run in the third. Renato Nunez launched a solo homer to make it 2-0. It’s the team-leading 19th homer of the season for Nunez.

Things turned sour for Chris Jensen and the Sounds in a hurry in the bottom of the third. Joey Gallo lined a double off the wall in right field to get the Express on the board.

With Brett Nicholas at third and Gallo at second, Jared Hoying hit a bouncer to Ravelo at first. After a pause, Ravelo tried to flip the ball back to first and was wide of the bag. Both runners scored on the error to give Round Rock a 3-2 lead.

Alberto’s big night started the next inning when he cleared the bases with a three-run double down the left field line. He followed with a two-run homer in the fifth.

Round Rock opened a 10-3 lead after five innings and extended the advantage with three doubles in the sixth.

Jensen was charged with seven runs (four earned) in four innings and suffered the loss. Eduard Santos allowed five runs in just 1 1/3 innings in relief.

One bright spot for the Sounds was the two scoreless innings Bobby Wahl tossed in his Triple-A debut.

Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for Tuesday night in Round Rock. Right-hander Jharel Cotton (9-5, 4.70) starts for the Sounds against left-hander Yohander Mendez (2-0, 0.00) for the Express. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The 2016 season is the Sounds’ 19th year in the Pacific Coast League and their second as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.

Trenton Thompson(#25 in blue) rounds the right end against MTCS on Friday night in the Duck River Valley Jamboree(Photo provided)

A pair of critical mistakes spoiled an otherwise strong performance for the Westwood Rockets football team in the 5th Annual Duck River Valley Football Jamboree at Cascade. The Rockets went toe to toe with the Cougars of Middle Tennessee Christian before falling 8 to 0 in the 30 minute jamboree contest.
The Rockets forced a turnover on MTCS’ first drive of the game but could not convert it into points. A long pass that would have given Westwood a first down was called back on a penalty stalling the drive and the opportunity to capture an early lead. Later in the game, a bad exchange in the backfield stalled a potential game tying drive inside the 5 yard line.
Coach Chad Dyer did see some positives as he feels confident in his speed in the perimeter rushing attack using Trenton Thompson and Henry Garcia. Timing and eliminating mistakes will be the focus of practice in the next few days as they prepare to open the season on Thursday at home against defending conference champion Forrest. Coach Dyer was a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show and talked about the scrimmage and the upcoming season. You can download the broadcast at: http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/coffee-coaches-show-6august2016_84555
The opening kick is set for 6:30 PM at Dyer-Bouldin Field and Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast. First National Bank’s Hometown Sports will be on the air at 6:20 PM.

With their final tune up before opening the regular season on August 16th, the Central High School Lady Raider soccer team had a strong showing at their scrimmage play day on Saturday. Both the varsity and junior varsity teams played 4 games on the day and each were undefeated. Defensively, each team looked strong as they each surrendered only one goal on the day and finished with identical 3-0-1 records.
The varsity team got wins over Franklin County (2 to 0), Smith County(4 to 1) and Wilson Central(1 to 0) and fought to a scoreless draw with Warren County(0 to 0). The JV team got wins over JV squads from Smith County(3 to 1), Warren County(1 to 0), Franklin County (1 to 0) and tied with Shelbyville(0 to 0). Coach David Amado was impressed with the performance in goal of senior keeper Holli Smithson of the varsity squad. Coach Amado went on the say that his team will need to improve passing and ball possession in their final week of preseason practice.
The Lady Raiders will open the season at home on Tuesday, August 16th when they welcome Smyrna to the Raider Soccer Field. The opening kick is set for 5:30 PM on the Lady Raiders home pitch behind the Raider Academy. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of our First National Bank’s Hometown Sports series. We will begin the broadcast with the pregame show at 5:20 PM.

Wrapping up their preseason with a 3 and 1 record in a scrimmage play day on Saturday, the Coffee County Middle School Volleyball is ready to begin the season on Tuesday. The Lady Raiders captured wins over North Franklin, Harris Middle and the Harris Middle JV team before losing in the final game to Warren County.
Coach Malaysha Pack was pleased with her team’s service game. She also appreciated her young team’s understanding of the game after graduating the majority of experienced players from last year’s squad. She noted that the Lady Raiders will need to improve in the blocking and return game to perform well in the upcoming season.
The Lady Raiders open the regular season on Tuesday when they travel to Flintville for a 5:30 PM match. The Lady Raiders will get a rematch with Warren County on August 18th then travel to White County on August 23rd. The first home match for Coffee County will be on August 25th when they welcome Harris to their home court at the Coffee County Middle School.

Last in the Majors in runs scored, the Braves did not look offensively challenged at Busch Stadium this weekend. After scoring 13 runs to even the series a day earlier, Atlanta knocked around Adam Wainwright for six quick runs on Sunday that held up for a 6-3 victory over the Cardinals.

“Coming off last night, you never know what will happen with a quick turnaround,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said. “They just kind of picked up right where they left off. To come in here and take two of three from the Cardinals at any point in time, that’s really good.”
Wainwright retired the first two batters of the game and then watched 11 of the next 12 Atlanta hitters reach. Nick Markakis and Jace Peterson delivered run-scoring hits in a three-run first, and Erick Aybar’s two-run triple in the second left Wainwright teetering. By the time Wainwright closed the second with a double play, he had thrown 61 pitches and was staring into a six-run hole.
Though Wainwright rebounded with four scoreless innings to follow, the Cardinals never did. They turned six hits and two walks off Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz into one run. Foltynewicz was at his best when pitching with runners on base. Over the Cardinals’ last four games, they’ve scored a total of seven runs.
“You just try and put it in the back of your head,” Foltynewicz said of pitching with the lead. “It’s kind of difficult to pitch like that. You’ve just got to stay aggressive and still attack the strike zone which I think I did a good job [of] today.”
The Braves, who have won back-to-back series for the first time since June, have eight victories in their last 12 games.
As for the Cardinals, who dropped one game behind the Marlins for the second National League Wild Card spot, they have squandered an opportunity to separate themselves in that race over the last week. The club has lost six of eight and consecutive series against last-place clubs.
“Certainly for where we should be, it’s pretty dadgum dark,” Wainwright said. “Nobody in this clubhouse is quitting. Nobody in this clubhouse is expecting this to continue for the entire season. We’re all expecting to play much better baseball and more consistent baseball. We just need our starting pitcher to go out there and not give up six in the first two innings and give his team a chance.”
Wainwright has given up 11 runs to the Braves this season, tied for the most of any opponent he’s faced this season. His six runs against Atlanta on Sunday were the most he has given up in 12 career starts against them. He has now given up 34 runs to the Braves — the team that drafted him — in his career, the most among any team not in the National League Central. Foltynewicz was a Cardinals fan growing up and idolized Wainwright, against whom he got a hit in his first at-bat.
“Just trying to put the ball in play,” Foltynewicz said. “I kind of had a hunch he would keep throwing me the curveball 0-2 and I saw it pop up and tried to put the bat on the ball.”
Ender Inciarte extended his hitting streak to 18 games in the second inning with a single, tying his career high that spanned July and August 2014. He has hit safely in 24 of his last 25 games.
“He’s the kid we’ve been waiting to see,” Snitker said. “Credit to him for hanging in there, busting his tail. Swinging that bat really well.”
Despite falling into an early hole, the Cardinals had plenty of offensive opportunities to dent the deficit. However, the Cardinals went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position against Foltynewicz. In both the first and third innings, the Cardinals put a runner on second with no outs yet could not advance him even as far as third. A scoring chance in the second with runners on second and third and one out stalled as well. The leadoff man reached against Foltynewicz in four of six innings but scored just once.
“They found some holes, and we didn’t,” said Brandon Moss, whose sacrifice fly in the fifth finally helped the offense break through. “Both teams put a lot of guys on base, and they were able to cash them in. I would venture to say we probably even hit the ball harder. But it’s not how hard you hit it or how many guys you put on base. It’s how many cross the plate.”
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny had reliever Jerome Williams ready in the second inning and nearly made the pitching change after Markakis drew a one-out walk. But Matheny stuck with Wainwright, and, despite having already allowed six runs, the Cardinals’ ace found his footing and managed to finish six innings. Had he exited in that second inning, it would have been the shortest start of Wainwright’s career.
“There were quite a few different times that we thought it might be a time to get him out, but once again, we needed his help to get us through the game,” Matheny said. “[I asked myself], ‘Is our bullpen ready to handle that kind of load?’ And the answer is, ‘I didn’t think so.'”
The Braves head to Milwaukee on Monday as Atlanta continues a 10-game road trip. Rob Whalen will make his second career start after earning the victory in his first on Wednesday against the Pirates. He went five innings and gave up four runs on four hits in his Major League debut. First pitch is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. CT.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast, as part of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network, beginning at 6 PM