Category: Sports

Jason Pridie and the Nashville Sounds offense stayed hot, as they narrowly edged the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 7-6 at Security Service Field on Tuesday night.

After three innings the game was locked up at three. The Sounds exploded for three runs in the third inning, with Max Muncy doing most of the damage on a two-run single. Pridie would score the Sounds third run later that inning on a Nate Freiman RBI single.

The Sky Sox tallied a run in each of the first three innings. Matt Clark reached with two outs after the normally sure-handed Joey Wendle made an error. Matt Dominguez took advantage, picking up the RBI single. Elian Herrera recorded an RBI groundout in the second inning and Matt Long got the job done in the third, knocking in the tying run on a sacrifice fly.

The game would not remain tied that long. Pridie smoked a two-run homer in the 5th and the Sounds went up 5-3. The outfielder is on a tear of late, having already hit seven homers in July.

Juan Centeno singled in Dominguez to trim the lead in the latter half of the frame. Dominguez advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Sounds starter Nate Long. Long went five innings, giving up four runs (three earned), walking five and striking out three to earn the win.

The Sounds added two insurance runs in the sixth. Niuman Romero doubled and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Craig Gentry. Wendle batted next and tripled, he then moved up 90 feet and scored on a wild pitch.

Arnold Leon threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief before giving way to Phil Coke. Coke was tagged for an RBI triple by Centeno in the ninth and was strategically removed by Steve Scarsone after a right-handed batter, Nevin Ashley was sent to bat. The move initially failed, as Ryan Cook (S, 8) came in and squandered an RBI single. Cook did retire the next batter however, and the Sounds won 7-6.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow at 1:35 p.m. CST. Barry Zito (6-7, 3.57) is on the mound for Nashville. He will be opposed by Josh Roenicke (5-7, 5.26).

Chris Johnson recorded three hits and the Braves benefited from a couple of costly errors while preserving Alex Wood’s determined effort in Tuesday night’s 4-3 win over the Dodgers at Turner Field.

Nick Markakis opened the decisive fifth inning with a single and advanced to second when center fielder Joc Pederson fumbled the ball. Johnson followed with a single to set the stage for former Dodger Juan Uribe to deliver the go-ahead RBI single off Pedro Baez, who was the second of four relievers used after Los Angeles’ starter Brett Anderson suffered a left Achilles tendon injury in the third inning.

After surrendering solo home runs to Justin Turner and Yasiel Puig through the first two innings, Wood allowed just one more run over 6 2/3. Luis Avilan pitched around a Jace Peterson error in the eighth, and Jim Johnson saved it for the Braves’ second straight win in this three-game set.

One day after saying he hoped the Braves would find a trade partner for him, Johnson notched his third three-hit game of the season and two RBIs. The veteran infielder plated the first on a first-inning groundout and followed Markakis’ one-out triple in the third inning with a single.

Dodgers reliever Chin-hui Tsao probably wasn’t expecting an at-bat Tuesday night, but he got one in the fifth inning. And he made the most of it. Tsao’s leadoff ground-rule double helped the Dodgers tie the Braves at 3 after an RBI single from Howie Kendrick. It was Tsao’s first hit since Aug. 23, 2003, against Mike Hampton and the Braves.

Dodger manager Don Mattingly — who was ejected in the eighth inning Tuesday — said he would try and get some fresh players in Wednesday’s 11:10 p.m. CT finale at Turner Field against the Braves.  Atlanta will counter with Julio Teheran, who completed just 4 2/3 innings in his first start after the All-Star break. This has been a frustrating season for Teheran, but despite the command struggles he experienced against the Cubs on Friday, he has posted a 2.18 ERA in nine home starts.

The hot days of July can only mean one thing……fall prep sports are just around the corner!  As each fall sport nears the midpoint of their preseason work, the fall regular season for local high school and middle school teams begin next week in Coffee County.

The Coffee County Central High School Golf team will open the regular season on Tuesday, July 28th with a 9 AM match in Fayetteville against Lincoln County as they once again lead all prep programs into the fall season.  The Raider golfers will look to be stronger as they return several contributors from last season.  The Lady Raiders will attempt to make another trip to the state tournament as they return 3 golfers that are among the best in the state.  The Raiders and Lady Raiders will play their final tune up match on Thursday at Tullahoma in the Lakewood Preseason Tournament beginning at 8:00 AM at the Lakewood Country Club.  Raider golf coach Mike Ray will join us on Thunder Radio this Saturday live from Al White Ford/Lincoln on the Coffee Coaches Show to give our listeners a preview of the season to come.  You can tune in at 10:00 AM or come out and see us at the show in the Al White showroom.

Also getting cranked up next week will be the middle school football teams.  The Westwood Rockets will hold their annual Blue & White game on Thursday, July 30th at 7:00 PM at Dyer-Bouldin Field.  The Rockets will be back in action on the very next night as they travel to Wartrace to take on Cascade in a jamboree at 7:00 PM on Friday, July 31st.  The Rockets open the regular season at Moore County on August 6th with a 6:30 PM game in Lynchburg.  The Coffee County Middle School Raiders will travel to Smyrna on July 31st for a scrimmage with Rock Springs Middle School.  The Raiders will travel to Grundy County for a jamboree on Friday, August 7th before opening the season at home on August 11th against Whitwell.

In prep volleyball, the Coffee County Central High School Lady Raiders will host an Alumni Game on Friday, July 31st beginning at 6:00 PM.  They will then travel to Chattanooga on Saturday, August 1st for a scrimmage play day.  The Lady Raiders open the season on Tuesday,August 18th at home versus Shelbyville.  The Coffee County Middle School volleyball team gets their season underway with a scrimmage play day at CHS on Saturday, August 8th.  The CCMS Lady Raiders open their season at home against Fayetteville on Tuesday, August 11th.  Coach Lora Selvog, head coach of the CCMS volleyball team will also be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show.

The prep soccer teams also get underway in early August as Westwood opens the regular season at home against Cascade on Thursday, August 6th.  Lady Rockets head coach Donna Burdine will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about the upcoming season.  The CCMS Lady Raiders will host a scrimmage play day on Saturday, August 8th at their home field.  They open the regular season at Shelbyville on August 13th as they take on Harris.  The CHS soccer team will host their own scrimmage play day on Saturday, August 1st.   The Lady Raiders open the regular season at Riverdale on August 17th.

As always, Thunder Radio is your source for all prep sports in Coffee County.  We will keep you updated on scores, schedules and highlights daily at our website.  We will also bring you 10 weeks of prep coverage on Tuesdays and Thursdays with our Home Town Tuesdays broadcasts.  And we will let you hear from the coaches each Saturday live from Al White Ford/Lincoln on the Coffee Coaches Show.

Jace Peterson drove in three runs and Nick Markakis hit his first home run of the season as the Braves overcame Matt Wisler’s rough fifth inning for a 7-5 win Monday night over the Dodgers at Turner Field.

After the Dodgers tied the game with four two-out runs in the fifth, they saw their former third baseman Juan Uribe put the Braves back on top for good with an RBI single off left-hander Adam Liberatore in the bottom half of the inning. Liberatore entered in relief of former Atlanta pitcher Brandon Beachy, who completed four innings while making his second start since returning from a second Tommy John surgery.

The Braves, who had lost seven of their previous eight games, padded their advantage in the sixth when Peterson’s single plated two runs. This proved to be enough for Wisler, who scattered three hits over the first four innings and then surrendered three consecutive extra-base hits, including Howie Kendrick’s two-run double and Adrian Gonzalez’s game-tying, two-run homer within a span of four pitches in the fifth. The Braves rookie got through the sixth inning unscathed and then saw his effort preserved when Jim Johnson induced a key double play off Kendrick’s bat after the Dodgers loaded the bases with none out in the ninth.

Markakis sparked the Braves’ 11-hit attack with a two-run shot in the first inning, his first home run in a span of 356 at-bats dating back to Sept. 25. The right fielder, who has struggled to generate his normal power while coming back from offseason neck surgery, added a double in the fifth that put him in position to score on the decisive single by Uribe, who was traded from the Dodgers to the Braves on May 27.

After Beachy walked Wisler to load the bases in the fourth, Peterson delivered an opposite-field flare that resulted in a two-run double and extended his success in these situations. The Braves second baseman has gone 9-for-14 with three doubles, a triple and a home run with the bases loaded this season.

Eury Perez’s strong throw in the eighth helped stop a Dodgers rally after Gonzalez and Justin Turner started the inning with back-to-back singles. After fielding pinch-hitter Scott Van Slyke’s ground ball to left, Perez came up and fired a strike to catcher A.J. Pierzynski at the plate, helping the Braves retain a 7-4 lead.

Atlanta will host the Dodgers for game 2 of the series on Tuesday with Alex Wood pitching.  Wood has allowed a season-high 10 hits in three of his past four uninterrupted starts. Wood made two starts within the final four days before the All-Star break. Thunder Radio will bring you that broadcast beginning at 6:00 PM.

Coffee County Red Raider head football coach Ryan Sulkowski

County Central High School head football coach Ryan Sulkowski has announced some changes and additions to his football coaching staff for the 2016 season. Matt Mueller will continue as Sulkowski’s top assistant as Senior Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator. Brandon McWhorter has been promoted to assistant head coach for the Offense and also will take over as Offensive Coordinator. Randy Horn will be the assistant head coach for the Defense. Richard Crabtree will take over the responsibilities of being the head coach for the Freshman/JV teams. George Pearson will return as offensive line coach and Roger Barlow returns as the defensive line coach. Kyle Kriz will also serve as a defensive line coach and Derek Jones will coach the offensive and defensive skill positions.
Coach Sulkowski, who also begins his first year as Athletic Director, will lean on these coaches and his assistant athletic directors at times in the coming months. Coach Sulkowski’s mother, Gloria, will begin chemotherapy treatments this week. During Sulkowski’s absences, Coach Mueller will take over as acting head coach with Coach McWhorter handling the offense. Handling the athletic directors duties will be assistant AD’s Mike Ray, Kandy Shemwell and Rebecca Koger.
The Red Raiders will begin full contact practices on Monday, July 27th. The first scrimmage for Coffee County will be at Grundy County on August 7th. The Red Raiders will take on Spring Hill on August 14th in the Forrest Jamboree before opening the season at home on August 21st in the annual Coffee Pot Game against Tullahoma.

The 2nd Annual Youth Volleyball League, hosted by the CHS volleyball team, will hold signups this Saturday morning, July 25th from 9:00 AM to Noon at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym. The league is open to girls from the 4th grade thru the 6th grade and will stress fundamentals and fun. Members of the Lady Raider volleyball team will be the coaches and the games will be played on Saturdays this fall. Extra sign-up dates will be on July 31st during the Alumni Volleyball game at 6:00 PM and on Saturday, August 1st from 9 to Noon.

Jorge Soler smacked a solo home run to help Jake Arrieta win his career-high 11th game and lead the Cubs to a 4-1 victory Sunday over the Braves. With the win, played in front of 31,690 at Turner Field, the Cubs took the three-game series.
Arrieta, who ended the first half with a complete game two-hit victory against the White Sox on July 12, struck out 10 over seven innings, posting his second double-digit strikeout game this season.
“We’ve talked about him being among the elite pitchers in the National League and he proved it again today,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Arrieta.
Soler missed the month of June because of an ankle injury, and launched his first homer since May 29 with two outs in the third off Braves starter Shelby Miller. Jonathan Herrera also hit a two-run single in the second off Miller, now winless in his last 11 starts.
Arrieta scattered three hits and walked three in his 15th quality start this season. He retired nine in a row before A.J. Pierzynski doubled with two outs in the fourth for the Braves’ first hit. Pierzynski also got Atlanta’s first hit on Saturday with a leadoff single in the eighth against Jon Lester. In his last six starts, Arrieta has given up five earned runs over 46 2/3 innings for a 0.96 ERA. More >
“I’m never satisfied,” Arrieta said. “I feel there’s always room to get better and especially on the finer details of this game. That’s what I try to do every week.”
Sloppy second: Braves second baseman Jace Peterson’s defensive miscue in the second led to a pair of unearned Cubs runs and a lead they wouldn’t give up. With Chris Coghlan on first and one out, Peterson tried to get the force at second base after fielding Starlin Castro’s ground ball to his glove side. Peterson wound up rushing a high throw, and the error — as well as a walk to David Ross — helped extend the inning and led to Herrera’s two-run single. More >
Sorry, Shelby: Miller has now gone 11 consecutive starts without earning a win despite posting a 3.15 ERA during that stretch. Atlanta has scored just 30 runs (or 2.7 per game) during that period and has a 2-9 record to show for it.
“I thought Shelby threw great,” Peterson said. “Everytime he goes out there we’ve got a chance to win. I thought he did everything he could have done.”
Shelby Miller scatters four hits and gives up one earned run while striking out eight in six innings against the Cubs
Braves: Atlanta welcomes the Dodgers to Turner Field for a three-game series that starts Monday at 7:10 p.m. ET. In game one, Braves rookie Matt Wisler matches up with former Atlanta starter Brandon Beachy, who is making just his second start with the Dodgers this season after recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The Sounds were shut out on Sunday night at First Tennessee Park and dropped the series finale to the Omaha Storm Chasers, 3-0.

The finale stumbled off to a slow start in the opening stages, as Chris Bassitt and Andy Ferguson both suppressed any offensive attack. Omaha did finally jump on the scoreboard, but not until the fifth inning had rolled around. The Storm Chasers had a prime chance to bust the game open in the sixth, but Bassitt got Rey Fuentes to ground out with the bases loaded to escape the jam.

The 26-year-old saw his night end after six innings. He issued one free pass and allowed a season-high nine hits, but added six strikeouts in the loss. Bassitt dropped to 2-7 for the Sounds this season.

Omaha’s pitching notched their sixth shutout of the season and it all started with Ferguson. The right-hander retired eight in a row at one point, recording six strikeouts over five shutout innings to improve to 3-2 on the season

Matt Murray came on in relief for the Storm Chasers and gobbled up 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, while Scott Alexander went 1 1/3 to wrap the victory up.

Brett Eibner led all hitters on Sunday night with three hits, collecting a RBI single in the sixth, and Whit Merrifield added a pair of RBIs for the visitors.

Craig Gentry had the Sounds only multi-hit affair, going 2-for-4, while Max Muncy’s double in the second represented the team’s lone extra-base hit. Omaha went on to outhit Nashville, 12-6.

Sunday night’s finale represented the last time the two teams will play at First Tennessee Park in 2015. Omaha took six of the eight contests and will host Nashville for eight games at Werner Park in August and September.

The Sounds travel to Colorado Springs to open up a four-game series with the Sky Sox at Security Service Field on Monday. Nashville is 8-4 against Colorado Springs this season and will give the ball to Brad Mills (3-9, 4.20) in the opener. Right-hander Drew Gagnon (1-9, 6.67) is scheduled to pitch for the Sky Sox in the 8:05 p.m. contest.

One of the first orders of business for new Motlow men’s basketball head coach J.T. Burton after his arrival on campus in June was to put together his coaching staff. Coach Burton can check that task off his list as he has announced four men who will join him in leading the 2015-16 Bucks.

Hans Desir: With over 10 years of coaching experience from nearly every level of basketball, Coach Desir will be Burton’s top assistant. Prior to arriving at Motlow, the Miami native was the head coach for one season at Talented Athletes Around the Globe (TAAG) Academy in Tampa, where he helped four of his players at the post-graduate prep school secure scholarships to play at the collegiate level. Desir spent one season as a graduate assistant at Wright State University and three seasons as an assistant of Burton’s at St. Catharine College in Springfield, Ky., where he helped the team enjoy record-setting success including their first NAIA national tournament appearance and a top-10 national ranking. He has coached two players who play professionally, two All-Americans, and six all-conference performers.

Arthur Latham: Coach Latham played for Burton at St. Catharine. He was an outstanding all-conference player and was one of the team leaders that helped the school transition from a junior college to a four-year institution. For the past five seasons he has been an assistant coach at St. Catharine, including four years under Burton, and helped guide the program to two NAIA national tournament appearances.

Zach Holt: Coach Holt is well known in southern middle Tennessee after an outstanding playing career at Giles County High School in Pulaski and at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. After graduating from college he began a career in marketing and ran his own successful firm. He has returned to coaching, including pro-style fast paced individual skill development and working basketball camps on all levels from high school to Division I colleges.

Jordan Scott: Coach Scott will be a student at Motlow after graduating from Summit High School and is the only student assistant on Burton’s staff. Scott was a gifted athlete at a young age before an injury ended his playing career. He is committed to becoming a Division I head coach and will get his first opportunity to begin that process at Motlow.

The new staff has been busy recruiting and organizing their Basketball Skills Clinic, scheduled for August 15-16 at Copperweld Arena on the Moore County campus. For complete information on the clinic, and how to register, call Coach Scott at 615-973-3209 or email him at scottjordan25@yahoo.com.

Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at <www.motlowsports.com> for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics at <Facebook/MotlowSports> and <Twitter@MotlowSports>.

New Motlow Bucks head basketball coach J.T. Burton will host a pair of Basketball Skills Clinics August 15 & 16 at Nisbett Center on the Moore County campus.

Both clinics are open to both boys and girls. The first is designed for K-6 graders and will be held in the morning. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, and both day’s sessions will run until noon.

The second clinic is designed for grades 7-12. Registration will begin on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and both day’s sessions will end at 4 p.m.

The cost is $50 per attendee if pre-registered or $60 the day the clinic begins.

There are multiple ways to register for either clinic, but the best is to visit the Motlow College athletics web site at MotlowSports.com and print the registration form. Fill the form out and mail it along with payment to: J.T. Burton, Motlow College, P.O. Box 8500, Lynchburg, TN 37352.

For further information, or to register by email, contact assistant coach Scott Jordan with name and grade at 615-973-3209 or scottjordan25@yahoo.com.

Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at <www.motlowsports.com> for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics at <Facebook/MotlowSports> and <Twitter@MotlowSports>.