Category: Sports

CHS pitcher Kaylee Skipper delivers a pitch on Monday night against Shelbyville(Photo by Jay Bailey of Manchester Times)

Kaylee Skipper pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the 5th inning surrendering a single run to lift the Coffee County Central High School Lady Raider softball to a 3 to 1 win on opening night at Terry Floyd Field. The win was the first in the Lady Raider career of new head coach Steve Wilder who came to Coffee County in June following the retirement of Terry Floyd. “It was a long time in coming, but any win in this district is a good win” said Wilder after the game. Coffee County, which scored 3 unearned runs, was held to 3 hits on the night. Kasarah Scheller, Ashlynn Morton and Raven Rogers strung together 3 consecutive hits in the bottom of the 5th inning to plate Coffee County’s 3rd run. Lauren Tomberlin scored twice on the night after reaching base 2 times via Shelbyville errors. Skipper had 8 strikeouts on the night surrendering a single earned run on 4 hits. “Kaylee was awesome tonight” gushed Wilder following the game as Skipper was named the Thunder Radio player of the game. The Lady Raiders will next be in action this weekend at the Commando Classic in Hendersonville. Coffee County is set to begin tournament action on Thursday against White House at 4:30 PM at Drakes Creek Park.

You can Download the Broadcast of the game at: Thunder Radio Downloads Page

Jayden Scheller of CCMS Softball

Sixth grade pitcher Hannah Richardson threw a 4 hit shutout on Monday night to lift the Coffee County Middle School softball team to a 9 to 0 win over Harris in a conference game at CCMS. Richardson, who had 8 strikeouts, got all the run support she needed in the 2nd inning when the Lady Raiders plated 6 runs on 6 hits. Coffee County finished with 10 hits on the night led by Jayden Scheller who was 3 for 3 on the evening. Sarah West had a pair of hits including a double and 2 runs scored. The Lady Raiders travel to Shelbyville on Tuesday for a rematch with Harris. First pitch for that conference game is set for 5 PM.

Trevor Ivy-Bodman(foreground) of the CHS Tennis Team prepares to return a shot on Monday.

Coffee County Central High School tennis opened their season against district favorite Shelbyville on Monday night at Fred Deadman Park. The Red Raiders got a pair of wins as Trevor Ivy-Bodman and Shlip Patel each won singles matches. Ivy-Bodman and Jared Hu took their doubles match to a tiebreaker before falling 7 to 4 in the tie-breaking game. On the girls side, the Lady Raiders failed to earn a match win as they look to replace 3 of their top 4 players from last season. The number 1 doubles team of Maddie Taylor and Ali Shelton pushed their Shelbyville opponent before falling 7-9 in doubles action. Coach Mike Ray was upbeat about his team’s performance saying “We opened up with the team that is a powerhouse year after year … And we played well but just not to their level this early in the season. We will build on our successes from the day and learn from our mistakes.” The CHS netters are back at home on Tuesday when they welcome Franklin County to Fred Deadman Park for a district match. 1st serve is set for 4 PM.

Marissa Douglas prepares to throw the shot for the CCMS Track team

The Coffee County Middle School girls track team got a win on Monday afternoon in a 3 team meet at Carden-Jarrell Field in their first action of the spring. The Lady Raiders scored 59 points on the afternoon to outdistance 2nd place North Franklin who finished with 38. In the field events, Marissa Douglas got a pair of wins in the shot and discus while Jenna Garretson won the high jump. In the running events, the Lady Raiders got a 1-2-3 sweep in the 800M run as Felecia Medina broke the tape first for Coffee County. The Lady Raiders also got a win in the 4×400 relay. Individual medalists for the Lady Raiders were:
High Jump: Jenna Garretson 1st, Julia Duncan 2nd
Long Jump: Macy Tabor 3rd
Shot Put: Marissa Douglass 1st, Marley Perry 3rd
Discus: Marissa Douglass 1st, Marley Perry 4th
4×100 Relay: 2nd-Macy Tabor, Karie Wooten, Mady Gravitt, Marissa Douglass
1600m: Kaytee Christian 2nd, Trava Brown 3rd
100m: Marissa Douglass 2nd, Lauren Bogard 4th
4×200 Relay: 2nd-Macy Tabor, Journey Arnold, Kayla Johnson, Willow Hobbs
400m: Ryan Green 3rd, Jade Arnold 4th
800m: Felecia Medina 1st, Jasie Willis 2nd, Lexie Hosea 3rd
200m: Reagan Ellison 2nd
4×400 Relay: 1st-Journey Arnold, Emilee Roberson, Emma Singleton, Jade Arnold

Gilberto Infante of CCMS track

The Red Raiders were missing several athletes and fell to a 3rd place finish behind North Franklin and Warren County in the boys’ competition. Gilberto Infante got a win in the shot put and Larson Meltzer won the 1600M run for the only 1st place finishes for Coffee County’s boys.
Individual medalists for the Red Raiders were:
Long Jump: Ethan Welch 3rd
Shot Put: Gilberto Infante 1st
Discus: Gilberto Infante 2nd, Ethan Welch 4th
1600m: Larson Meltzer 1st, Ethan Welch 2nd
4×200 Relay: 2nd-Landon Crabtree, Christian Alvarez, Jayden Anderson, Gilberto Infante
400m: Ethan Beaty 3rd
800m: Jake Melton 2nd
4×400 Relay: 2nd-Ethan Welch, Ethan Beaty, Jake Melton, Larson Meltzer

The Raider track teams are back in action on April 12th when they welcome South Franklin Middle to Carden-Jarrell Field. The field events will begin at 4 PM.

Hayden Skipper of CCMS Baseball

The Coffee County Middle School baseball had runners in scoring position in each of the last 4 innings, but could not get the run they needed to avoid a 4 to 3 defeat to Harris on Monday night in a 10 inning nail-biter at CCMS. Hayden Skipper had a double and a home run to go along with a walk to lead a Coffee County hitting attack which struck out 15 times on the night. Braden Brown, Brandon Jernigan and Garrett Davis each added singles for the Red Raiders. The Raiders travel to Shelbyville on Tuesday for a rematch with Harris. That conference game is set to get underway at 5 PM.

Westwood pitcher Haidyn Campbell

A 3 for 3 performance from Haidyn Campbell, including a home run, was not enough to lift the Westwood Lady Rocket softball team to a win over Cannon County on Monday evening in Woodbury. Campbell, the 6th grade pitcher for the Lady Rockets, held the Lady Lions to 1 hit on the night but errors and walks allowed Cannon County to escape with the 4 to 1 win. Westwood also got a hit and a walk out of Talia Dillard who swiped 3 bases on the night. The Lady Rockets will host their first home game on Tuesday when they welcome Huntland to Lady Rocket Field. 1st pitch is set for 4 PM.

Pete Weber Postgame Report

James Neal of the Nashville Predators

James Neal had his sixth career hat trick, scoring all three goals for the Nashville Predators in their 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night.

The Predators have earned at least a point in 15 of their last 16 games. They swept the three-game season series from Edmonton.

Jordan Eberle and Iiro Pakarinen scored for the Oilers.

Edmonton got on the board first 7 minutes in when Connor McDavid picked off a pass at the blue line and sent it in front to Eberle for a tap-in past Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne. The Oilers had failed to score in their previous two home games.

Just more than a minute later, the Predators responded as Neal came in on a breakaway and calmly sent his 24th goal of the season through the legs of Laurent Brossoit.

Edmonton regained the lead 31 seconds into the middle period when Leon Draisaitl sent a backhand pass from behind the net to set up Pakarinen. But just 20 seconds later it was knotted up again as Neal used a screen to score his second of the game.

Nashville took a 3-2 lead 4 minutes into the third period when Neal beat Brossoit cleanly on a wrist shot.

Edmonton had some chances during a late flurry with Brossoit pulled, but Nashville was able to keep the Oilers from sending the game to overtime.

The Predators return to the ice on Thursday.as they host the New York Islanders.  Face-off is set for 7 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network.

Monday ushers in the beginning of the high school spring sports season and Thunder Radio’s annual coverage of Coffee County baseball and softball. Lucky Knott will be bringing you the broadcast of tonight’s Lady Raider softball opening night game. The Lady Raiders will host Shelbyville tonight at 7 PM in the debut of Steve Wilder as the new Coffee County coach. You can hear the broadcast, beginning with the pregame show at 6:50 PM.
The CHS baseball team opens the David Martin era on Monday night at home as well as they welcome in Shelbyville on Alumni Night. All former baseball alumni are invited to attend.  The 1996 Red Raider district championship team be will honored as special guests and former Red Raider coach Doug Green will be on hand to throw out the first pitch.   The Red Raiders travel to Shelbyville on Tuesday in the 2nd game of the season series.  Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you exclusive coverage of that 5 PM contest as Lucky Knott will be on the air at 4:50 PM with the pregame show.
The CHS tennis team will open their season at home when they welcome Shelbyville to their home courts at Fred Deadman Park. The Lady Raiders are the defending District 8AAA champions as they defeated the Eaglettes in the district tournament finals last May.
The Coffee County Middle School track team opens their season on Monday as well when they host North Franklin and Warren County at Carden-Jarrell Field. The field events are scheduled to begin at 4 PM. The Lady Raider track team is the defending CTC conference champions. The CCMS baseball and softball are also at home on Monday as they both are hosting Harris in conference games. And the Westwood softball team travels to Woodbury to take on Cannon County in a 5:30 PM non-conference game.  As always, Thunder Radio will keep you up to date on the results AND any cancellations or schedule changes.

Felix Salinas

Oh, just another 4 goal performance by Felix Salinas and a shutout by the Westwood defense on Friday night in middle school soccer. The Westwood Rockets ran their record to 6 and 0 on the season and 4 and 0 in conference play on Friday night with a 6 to 0 win over Riverside Christian at Dyer-Bouldin Field. Salinas notched a 1st half hat trick with tallies in the 2nd, 10th and 18th minutes to stake the Rockets to a 3 to 0 halftime lead. Three minutes into the second half, Leo Basurto hooked a corner kick into the Knight’s net to make the score 4 to 0. Andres Cavalie added a goal in the 48th minute before Salinas closed out the scoring in the 50th minute on a cross from Jalen Shelton. Cavalie, Basurto and Eliot Sain also added assists for the Rockets. The Westwood defense had their best showing of the year not allowing a single Riverside shot on frame for the match. Westwood is back in action on Tuesday when the travel to Bell Buckle to take on Webb. That match is set to kick off at 4:30 PM

Noah Bradshaw of CCMS Baseball

The Golden Knights baseball team used a 2 run first inning to jump on the Coffee County Middle School Red Raiders and walk off to a big non-conference win on Saturday 15 to 1.  The Raiders tried digging out of the hole in the bottom of the 1^st when Blanton Brown scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to one run, but Rock Springs responded with a 6 run 2^nd inning to make the comeback win improbable for the Red & Black.  Noah Bradshaw reached base twice, on an error in the first inning and again on Coffee County’s lone hit in the 5^th inning.  Brown reached base twice on a pair of walks and scored the lone run for Coffee County.  Garret Davis had a walk and reached base when he was hit by a pitch.  The Red Raiders return to conference play on Monday night when they play host to Harris at 5 PM at CCMS.