The Coffee County Middle School and Westwood Middle School golf teams ended their season on Thursday in the conference match at Riverbend.
A pair of undermanned Westwood teams were not able to compete for team crowns but the Rocket and Lady Rocket golfers had several strong showings. For the Lady Rockets, Macie Lawrence shot a 68 on the day for the 7th lowest round of the match. For the Rockets, Christopher Robinson carded a 53 while Nick Johnson was one stroke back at 54. Gavin Prater finished his round in 67 strokes.
Logan Hale
The young Raider and Lady Raider teams struggled to put up low numbers for the most part. Logan Hale shot a 50 for the Red Raiders to lead them to a 5th place finish. Larson Meltzer cared a 62, Xavier Bartley had a 67 and Issac Pauley got around in 76.
The Lady Raiders finished in 3rd place just 6 strokes behind Fayetteville. Olivia Lewis had a 77 while Olivia Howell shot an 81 for Coffee County.
The ninth inning of Sunday’s loss to the Royals was a microcosm of the Braves’ season. They were scrappy and kept fighting. But in the end, they didn’t get the sweet reward of a victory as the Royals pulled out a 4-2 walk-off win on Kendrys Morales’ two-run homer in the 13th.
Down 2-0 against All-Star closer Wade Davis, Atlanta managed to overcome long odds by handing Davis his first blown save of the season with a two-run ninth. A team that came in 0-21 when trailing after eight innings saw the first four men reach base. Ender Inciarte singled to center and Chase d’Arnaud walked. Then, Mallex Smith lined an RBI hit to right before being caught between first and second on the ill-advised notion that he could stretch a single into an extra-base hit. Still, the Braves forced extra innings on Erick Aybar’s RBI single.
Was that rally something for a young team to build on? Or do those type things only matter when you finish the deal?
The Braves lost two of three to the defending World Series champs, but were within a play here or a better decision there of getting their first series win since mid-April.
“We played well, other than the last inning where they walked us off and the eighth inning [Friday],” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “We did a lot of good stuff. It’s just a shame that you walk out of here having lost two of three.”
The growing pains of a young club were evident even in the ninth-inning rally.
Had it not been for Smith’s over-aggressiveness on the bases, the Braves might well have grabbed the lead against Davis, who suffered a blown save for the first time since July 12, 2015.
“We could have cashed it in, but we came back and battled,” said Braves starter Matt Wisler, who logged 7 1/3 strong innings in a no-decision. “Hopefully, we can start turning that into wins.”
The Braves weren’t intimidated by the stats which showed that Davis entered the game having limited opponents to an .083 batting average.
“We just wanted to stay alive,” Smith said. “Put good at-bats together and pass it down to the next man.”
Those sentiments were echoed by d’Arnaud.
“We had a plan,” d’Arnaud said. “Ender had a great at-bat. I just wanted to be as short to the ball as possible and he walked me on four pitches. Mallex came up big and got that hit. I thought for sure he was going to get a double, but I guess the right fielder was playing fairly shallow.”
Aybar’s clutch hit tied it, but in the end, Atlanta couldn’t look back and celebrate.
“I feel like we always have a chance, especially today,” d’Arnaud said. “Unfortunately, they came out on top.”
Right-hander Williams Perez (1-0, 3.54 ERA), who needed only 85 pitches to get through eight innings in a win over the Phillies last Wednesday, will try to stay on that pitch efficiency track on Monday in the opener of a road set against the Pirates at 6:05 p.m. CT. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast on the Braves Radio Network.
A balanced offense led the Nashville Sounds to a 6-3 win over the Fresno Grizzlies in front of 7,423 fans Sunday afternoon at First Tennessee Park.
Coupled with last night’s win over Fresno (15-21), it marks just the second time this year the Sounds (18-19) have won two home games in as many days.
All but one player in Nashville’s starting lineup had at least one hit, RBI or run scored.
Fresno’s Jon Singleton gave the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when he knocked in Tony Kemp who started the game with a single.
The Sounds then scored in five of the next six innings, starting in the second. Matt Olson singled to right and raced home from first on Rangel Ravelo’s double down the left field line.
Nashville took a 2-1 lead in the third when Andrew Lambo came through with a two-out RBI single to left field.
Fresno third baseman Colin Moran brought it back to even at 2-2 when he launched a solo homer off Henderson Alvarez in the top of the fifth.
An error cost Fresno the go-ahead run in the home half of the fifth. With Max Muncy on first, Jake Smolinski hit a line drive at right fielder Jon Kemmer. The ball bounced before Kemmer and skipped past him all the way to the wall to allow Muncy to score and make it 3-2.
Bryan Anderson knocked in a run in the sixth on a groundout before a bases-loaded double play brought in a run for the Grizzlies to trim the deficit to 4-3.
That’s when Chad Pinder and Olson came up with a pair of two-out run-scoring hits. Pinder’s line drive to right scored Muncy, and Olson’s second double of the game plated Pinder from first. Olson finished the game with a season-high three hits to go along with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.
Alvarez allowed two runs on six hits in five innings and picked up his first win with the Sounds. Brady Rodgers was tagged with the loss after he allowed three runs in five innings. Reliever Patrick Schuster worked the final 2 1/3 innings and kept the Grizzlies off the board to earn his third save of the season.
Game three of the series is set for Monday night at First Tennessee Park. Right-hander Zach Neal (4-1, 2.70) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Mike Hauschild (2-3, 4.55) for the Grizzlies. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 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.
Coaches Jonathan Graf and Brian McLean presided over the Westwood Middle School soccer banquet on Thursday night at the Coffee Café. The team celebrated their 2nd straight Central Tennessee Soccer Conference title and the 5th straight run to the finals for the Rockets.
Coach Graf also celebrated a season that was free of serious injury as he looked ahead to the future. “My tradition has always been to treat the banquet as a graduation” said Graf. “I want to look ahead to what we are going do next” Graf told his team.
He did take time to recognize the work of his Booster Club and the work of his longtime assistant coach Brian McLean who will be leaving the Rocket sideline after this season. Each of the players was presented a championship t-shirt and the 8th graders were sent off with a soccer ball. The Westwood 8th graders who will be moving on to high school are:
Renato Ayala
Leo Basurto
Andres Cavalie
Nick Johnson
Cailan McLean
Eric Randolph
Felix Salinas
Aiden Stowe
Leo Saurez
Corey Walker
Samuel Workman
The Nashville Predators saw their postseason run come to an end on Thursday night, as they fell 5-0 to the San Jose Sharks in Game Seven of their Second Round series.
After winning three elimination games in these playoffs, the Preds weren’t able to overcome their second Game Seven of the postseason, leading to the end of their journey.
“You have to give [the Sharks] credit for the way they played,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “It’s disappointing for us, coming off a game like we did in Game Six. We know we’re capable of playing at that level and that speed, and it wasn’t our best game.”
“They were the better team tonight for whatever reason,” Captain Shea Weber said. “We couldn’t get anything going, and it’s just tough. It’s tough to take right now.”
The first period belonged to the Sharks as they took a 2-0 lead, courtesy of goals from Joe Pavelski and Joel Ward. San Jose outshot the Preds 17-3 in the opening frame as Pekka Rinne made a number of stops to keep his team in things after one.
Logan Couture’s goal early in the second gave San Jose a 3-0 lead, a score that held steady after the middle stanza. Nashville began to get more chances in the period, but the Sharks thwarted them, with 19 blocked shots through 40 minutes of play.
The Sharks added two more in the third to finish off the series and advance to the Western Conference Final.
For the Preds, there were plenty of magical moments in this postseason. But that doesn’t make the ending any easier to take.
“We worked so hard to get to this point, and you realize that you’re one step from [somewhere] that we haven’t been [before],” Rinne said. “You never know how many chances you’re going to get, and that’s the worst feeling. You get older and older and you try to take advantage of these opportunities. Right now, it’s a pretty empty feeling.”
It’s difficult to think of the future in the present, but Rinne also shed some light as the locker room cleared out for the final time in 2015-16.
“I felt the whole season was filled with ups and downs,” Rinne said. “You have to realize we have a ton of talent in this team and a lot of future in this team, but I think the moments like this, it’s hard to think of the future and hard to think next season. I don’t know if it’s selfish or not, but you always think that maybe it’s your year, your season right now and our opportunity and our season, but it makes it difficult. But there’s obviously…light at the end of the tunnel, a bright future.”
Cameron Rupp’s three-run double proved to be the decisive blow the Phillies needed to fight off a Braves comeback attempt and claim a 7-4, 10-inning win on Thursday night at Turner Field.
“They’re better than their record, and I’m glad we kind of got them while they’re down right now, because they’re going to be better than their record right now,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said of the 8-25 Braves.
Odubel Herrera capped his four-hit night by leading off the 10th inning with a triple against Braves reliever Jason Grilli, who exited with runners at the corners and one out. Ian Krol entered the game and struck out Darin Ruf before walking Freddy Galvis to load the bases ahead of Rupp’s three-run double.
The Phillies chased Aaron Blair during a three-run fourth inning and seemed to be in prime position with Vince Velasquez entering the seventh with a 4-0 lead. But after surrendering just two hits through the first six innings, Velasquez surrendered three hits and a walk, including a three-run double by Gordon Beckham, before exiting the game with no outs in Atlanta’s game-tying four-run inning.
Atlanta has now lost 17 of its first 19 home games. The Phillies went 13-6 while playing 16 of their past 19 games on the road.
“It would be great if we’d win the game,” Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “Comebacks are great, but if you don’t win the game, it doesn’t much matter.”
Jeff Francoeur resurrected his career last year in Philadelphia, and he took advantage of the chance to damage his former team when he capped the Braves’ four-run seventh with a game-tying single off right-hander David Hernandez, who replaced Velasquez. Freddie Freeman and Pierzynski notched singles ahead of Beckham’s three-run double, while Kelly Johnson walked in between them.
With his leadoff triple to start the Phillies’ 10th-inning rally, Herrera tied his career high with four hits. He also drew a walk in his first plate appearance. Herrera scored what would be the decisive run on Rupp’s bases-clearing double in the 10th, and he scored on Maikel Franco’s first-inning sacrifice fly. The center fielder also produced a two-out fourth-inning infield single that enabled Velasquez to score from second base when Johnson made an errant flip over Freeman.
“I’m gonna go out on a limb: He’s a good hitter,” Mackanin said. “This guy, he’s a potential batting champion at some point. He just has a knack for it.”
Blair’s first career hit — a looping single to right field in the third inning — accounted for the only hit Velasquez surrendered through the first five innings. The Braves did not advance past first base until Mallex Smith singled and stole second base in the sixth inning. But the Phillies right-hander, who had completed more than six innings in just one of his first six starts of the season, simply was not the same in the seventh, as he did not retire any of the four batters he faced.
After enduring a 28-pitch first inning that saw him give up one run, Blair entered the fourth inning having retired eight of the previous 10 batters. But the rookie hurler was not nearly as sharp as he’d been while completing at least five innings in each of his previous three career starts. He surrendered Galvis’ two-run homer in the third and then exited four batters later after Velasquez and Peter Bourjos extended Philadelphia’s three-run fourth with consecutive two-out singles.
“[Blair] was just behind in the count a lot tonight, which is very uncharacteristic of what he does,” Pierzynski said. “He usually pounds the strike zone. Tonight, he had a hard time, especially with his offspeed [pitches], and they took advantage of it. Our bullpen did an amazing job, and we came back and tied the game. Unfortunately, they got one big hit and we didn’t.”
Julio Teheran will take the mound when Atlanta opens a three-game series in Kansas City on Friday night. Teheran has posted a 7.52 ERA over his past six starts against American League teams. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. CT.
An inside-the-park grand slam by Renato Nunez in the top of the sixth pushed the Nashville Sounds past the Iowa Cubs 7-2 at Principal Park Thursday afternoon.
Matt Olson, Joey Wendle and Max Muncy drew walks in the sixth to set up Nunez with the bases loaded and two outs. On a 2-0 pitch from Jean Machi, Nunez hit a fly ball that ricocheted off the left field fence and was lodged under the wall. Cubs left fielder John Andreoli put his hands up to signal a dead ball, but the umpire ruled the ball was not stuck. Nunez never stopped running and was credited with an inside-the-park grand slam.
The play extended Nashville’s lead to 7-1 after taking an early lead in the opening innings.
They wasted no time scoring as Jake Smolinski grounded out to score Max Muncy to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead in the first.
In the third, they pushed the lead to 3-0 thanks to a wild pitch that scored Andrew Lambo, and a run-scoring base hit from Chad Pinder. Nunez scored on Pinder’s hit but Lambo was thrown out at home trying to score from second.
Iowa plated a run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Dan Vogelbach singled home Albert Almora Jr. from second to trim the lead to 3-1.
Starter Jesse Hahn pitched 5 2/3 strong innings, allowing just one run on seven hits. The right-hander struck out five and surrendered one walk as he picked up his first win with the Sounds this season.
Ryan Brasier relieved Hahn in the sixth inning and responded by getting a one-pitch groundout to end the inning. Brasier then struck out the side in the seventh and punched out two in the eighth to keep the Cubs’ bats in check.
J.B. Wendelken came in to pitch the ninth and was met by Dan Vogelbach who homered to right on an 0-2 pitch to make the score 7-2. The right-hander worked out of a jam to close out the win and push Nashville’s record to 16-18.
Nunez’s inside-the-park grand slam in the sixth was the first inside-the-park home run for the Sounds since Chad Hermansen in 1998.
The series concludes Friday night at Principal Park. Right-hander Daniel Mengden (1-0, 0.00) starts for the Sounds while the Cubs counter with right-hander Ryan Williams (4-1, 3.86). First pitch is scheduled for 7:08 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.
Motlow State freshman Camron Harper lines a base hit during a contest earlier this season at the Driver Baseball Complex on Motlow’s Moore County campus.
The Motlow Bucks made a strong showing at the TCCAA/Region VII baseball tournament this week, advancing from the play-in game to the third round before falling to Jackson State 9-1 Wednesday morning at Columbia State Community College in Columbia.
The Bucks finished the season with a 20-37 record, the seventh time they have won 20 or more games in the previous eight seasons. Despite the loss to Jackson State, which leads the nation in runs scored this season, the Bucks played their best baseball of the year at the tournament.
After entering the tournament as the No. 10 seed and forced into Sunday’s play-in game, the Bucks took care of business when they out-slugged Volunteer State 15-13 Sunday. Motlow built a 10-2 lead, then held off a furious charge by the desperate Pioneers.
The win propelled the Bucks into Monday’s opening round, where they fell to No. 2 Dyersburg State 9-5, forcing Motlow into the elimination bracket, where they faced a difficult task against No. 3 Cleveland State.
The Bucks were up to the challenge though, beating the Cougars 7-4 behind the pitching of RJ Moore, JR Gilmer, Bryce Bub and Connor Boyd. The win advanced the Bucks to day three, where the Generals ended Motlow’s season by scoring six runs in the second inning.
Head Coach Dan McShea completed his tenth year at the helm of the Bucks’ program with an overall record of 229-280-1. Recruiting for the 2017 season is already in full swing, and McShea has signed a number of impressive prospects that should help lead the Bucks back into conference title contention in 2017.
Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics at <Facebook/MotlowSports> and <Twitter@MotlowSports>.
“Let’s win this inning” was the battle cry of Coffee County Lady Raider coach Steve Wilder on Wednesday as the Lady Raiders scored in 4 of their 6 innings to eliminate Lincoln County in the quarterfinals of the District 8AAA softball tournament by a score of 5 to 0.
Coffee County banged out 10 hits on the night as the Lady Raiders plated a pair of runs in the 1st inning and junior pitcher Kaylee Skipper breezed her way through the 4 hit win notching 6 strikeouts. A diving catch of a pop up on the right field foul line by Kasarah Scheller shut down the only real scoring threat of the game by the Falcons in the first inning as they only got 1 runner past 1st base the rest of the way. Scheller also ended the game when she triggered a 4-3 double play.
Offensively, Shelby Scrivnor, Abby Woods and Katie Rutledge all had 2 hits while Scheller laced a triple over the right fielders head to lead-off the 5th inning. Scrivnor had the 2 RBI single in the 1st inning to get the Red Raiders off to the hot start and Haley Richardson drove in Scheller to plate the Raiders last run in the 5th. For her all around great performance, Scheller was named the Ascend Federal Credit Union player of the game.
The Lady Raiders will now advance to Thursday night’s semifinals against Tullahoma with a region tournament berth on the line. That game will get underway at 5 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast beginning at 4:50. A win in the semifinals would send Coffee County to the district finals where they would face Shelbyville at 7 PM. A win against Shelbyville would result in a winner take all “if game” on Friday night at 6 PM to decide the district championship.
Turns out, 3rd time was the charm on Wednesday night at the Raider Soccer Field as Tullahoma notched the game winning goal in the 101st minute to end the Red Raiders soccer season in the District 8AAA semifinals by a score of 1 to 0. Tullahoma had goals waved off at the end of the 1st half of the first overtime period due to the clock expiring and in the 97th minute due to an off-sides call before sophomore Chase Farler found the back of the net in the 101st minute to advance the Wildcats to Friday’s district finals in Shelbyville.
In a match that seemed to favor the Wildcats all night in terms of scoring opportunities, Coffee County got a great performance from junior keeper John Parigger to be able to take the match to a 2nd overtime period. Coffee County had excellent scoring chances in the 87th and 95th minutes but could not get a shot on frame to take the goose egg off of the scoreboard. A brilliant Wildcat counter attack got the ball to Farler in front of the net in the first minute of the “Golden Goal” 2nd overtime period to give Tullahoma their 2nd overtime win this week.
After the match, Coach Robert Harper was distraught at the outcome but appreciative of the effort of his young team. “I am proud of how we competed tonight, but give Tullahoma credit; they found a way to get the win” said Harper.
Senior captain Nick Hough was also emotional following the game as the magnitude of his final game as a Red Raider sank in. “I thought that we played very, very well this season and I could not have asked for more from (my teammates). I am proud of our work ethic and I am proud of my brothers” said Hough.
