Category: Sports

The New Orleans Zephyrs beat the Nashville Sounds twice on Monday night at Zephyr Field, taking game one 4-3, and game two 3-1.

The first matchup featured the completion of the contest the two teams began on April 27, a game that Arnold Leon initially started. The Zephyrs could not use their original starter, Adam Conley, because he was promoted to Miami yesterday. Leon threw 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball before rain ended his outing the first time.

After the game resumed, Leon retired the first 9 batters he faced before Juan Diaz singled with two outs in the seventh. Leon would walk the next two batters and manager Steve Scarsone went to his bullpen attempting to preserve the 2-0 lead the Sounds had earned via RBI from Joey Wendle and Kent Matthes earlier in the game.

Freshly optioned from Oakland, Dan Otero made his Sounds debut and it was not one the former Duke Blue Devil was likely to want to remember. New Orleans strung together three two-out hits and the Zephyrs took a 4-2 advantage.

The Sounds threatened in the ninth. Craig Gentry led off the frame with his first XBH of the season, lining a double into the right center gap. Next batter, Luke Carlin walked and suddenly the Sounds had the winning run at the plate with no outs in the ninth. After Alden Carrithers and Wendle made outs, Matthes came to the plate already 2-for-4 with an RBI in the contest. The outfielder singled to right and Gentry scored, but Carlin attempted to go to third on the play and was thrown out by Austin Wates to end the first game.

The second game started thirty minutes after the completion of game one. Fresh off a career-high 11 strike outs, Chris Bassitt threw all six innings for the Sounds. The right-hander fanned four, walked four and yielded five hits. The Zephyrs tagged Bassitt for a run in the first and for two more in the third. He threw a season-high 96 pitches.

The game’s most important play came in the second inning. Sounds right fielder Matt Carson drove rehabbing Miami Marlins’ starter Mat Latos’ offering deep to right. Zephyrs right fielder Cole Gillespie timed his leap and kept the ball in the park. The potential home run would’ve given the Sounds a 3-1 advantage.

The Sounds did get on the scoreboard in the fourth inning. Jason Pridie singled and stole second to get into scoring position. He then scored on a Bryan Anderson RBI single.

Once again Gentry did his best to start a rally in the team’s final at bat, this time getting to third with two outs in the seventh – the final inning of a PCL doubleheader – but the tying run, Pridie, grounded out to end the game.

The two teams will finish their series with an 11:00 a.m. start Tuesday, before a scheduled league-wide off day on Wednesday. Sean Nolin is expected to be activated from the disabled list after missing his last start with a strained left groin. Pat Misch will get the ball for New Orleans.

The Manchester Youth Baseball League concluded their regular season on Saturday and will begin their postseason tournament on Monday. The tournament will take place on Monday & Tuesday of this week, then resume the week following the Bonnaroo. The tournament will conclude with championship games for all 4 age divisions on Friday, June 19th. Monday’s game schedule is as follows:
5:00 PM – 10U – Coffee Financial vs. Rose Hill – American Field
5:00 PM – 8U – Central Funeral Home vs. Traders Bank – National Field
5:00 PM – 8U – KOA vs. Lewis Motor Co – T-Ball Field
7:00 PM – 12U – Bush Insurance vs. Coffee County Bank – American Field
7:00 PM – 12U – Peoples Bank vs. Shelter Insurance – National Field
7:00 PM – 8U – KK’s Music vs. Star Physical Therapy – T-Ball Field

2015 MYBL Post Season Tournament bracket. Click to zoom…..Right Click to save to your computer

The Sounds used ninth inning heroics for the second straight game to move past New Orleans on Sunday afternoon at Zephyr Field, 3-2.

Held even in a 2-2 tie, Nashville entered the ninth inning trying to repeat last night’s success of overcoming the Zephyrs late. The feat seemed too great after New Orleans recorded two quick outs, but the Sounds had other things in mind. Jason Pridie smoked a line drive out to left that went for his 13th double of the year and two batters later, Alden Carrithers drove him in with a two-out single. It was the left fielder’s first hit of the game but it was enough to help Nashville move to 28-29 on the year.

Pridie scored the Sounds first run of the game in the second as well. After leading the frame off with a single and seeing Niuman Romero follow with one as well, Luke Carlin eventually drove the outfielder in with a two-out double. Carlin collected two hits in total to allow Nashville to outhit New Orleans, 10-6.

The home team quickly tied it in the third but Nashville regained the advantage when Ryan Roberts doubled in Matt Carson. New Orleans plated its last run in the seventh before seeing the Sounds put them away in the ninth.

The theme of terrific pitching continued as Brad Mills worked his team-leading sixth quality start. The left-hander took a no-decision despite striking out four over 6.1 innings of two-run ball. Angel Castro earned his first win of the season, but did allow one of his two inherited runs to score. Overall, the right-hander recorded 1.2 scoreless innings. R.J. Alvarez wrapped up the contest and moved into a tie for the team-lead with his fifth save of the year.

Nashville and New Orleans will complete a suspended game from April 27 Monday beginning at 5:00 p.m. before starting the regularly scheduled contest immediately after. The second game will feature Chris Bassitt (2-3, 3.38) against Mat Latos.

Coffee County Soccer League will hold it’s general board of elections on Monday, June 8 @ 5:30pm at Duck River Electric conference room. These elections are open to anyone who has a child registered through Coffee County Soccer League, and we would encourage all parents to come out and be part of making Coffee County soccer league successful!

The Sounds saved their best for last, putting up a trio of runs in the ninth inning on Saturday night at Zephyr Field and defeating New Orleans 4-2 in the series opener.

The Sounds had been 0-22 when trailing after eight innings, but busted through for a big ninth inning and improved to 27-29 on the season.

Nate Freiman and Bryan Anderson started the rally with back-to-back singles. Alden Carrithers moved the runners ahead with a sacrifice bunt and Niuman Romero reached when he was intentionally walked. With the bags packed, Anthony Aliotti stepped in and busted his fourth hit of the night to tie things up. Craig Gentry tilted the contest back in Nashville’s favor, getting hit on the first pitch of his at-bat to allow Anderson to score. Joey Wendle concluded the charge with an RBI groundout and capped the biggest comeback of the season for Nashville.

The win was the fourth come-from-behind victory for the Sounds this season, and it also extended Nashville’s road winning streak to a season-best five games. The win was rooted in a terrific pitching effort from Zach Neal though.

Neal spun another terrific outing, tossing eight innings on just 73 pitches in his fifth start with the Sounds. The eight frames tied a season high for Neal, who surrendered two runs on six hits. It marked his third consecutive quality start and gave him his team-leading fifth win.

Ryan Cook had a touch of trouble in the ninth inning, but got the job done for the visitors. The reliever’s fifth save this season helped boost the bullpen’s save total to 5-for-5 over the last 10 games.

Nashville outhit New Orleans, 12-6, and was led by Aliotti. It was the first four-hit game of the year for the first baseman and it upped his average to .292. Freiman and Gentry both had multi-hit games tos help the Sounds steal the series opener.

The two teams are back at it again Sunday afternoon with a 1:00 p.m. contest. The Sounds will turn to Brad Mills (2-6, 3.75) and the Zephyrs will counter with Justin Nicolino.

Barry Zito extended his scoreless streak and shut down the Bees on Friday night, leading Nashville to a 1-0 win in front of a record-setting 11,482 fans at First Tennessee Park.

The Sounds moved to 8-2 in their last 10 games and won six of eight during the homestand. They also improved to 9-11 in one-run contests, while the shutout was their sixth this season.

Zito did not begin his league-leading 12th start the way he wanted to, but was on point by the end of his outing. The Bees had base runners from the first batter until the fourth inning, but the veteran eventually settled in. The left-hander extended his scoreless streak to 21.0 frames and retired eight Salt Lake batters in a row during the appearance. Zito went seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out five batters to improve his record to 4-4. The Sounds are now 8-3 when a starter manages seven innings and four of the team’s six shutouts have come when Zito has made the start.

The Sounds were outhit by the Bees and failed to draw a walk, but grabbed the game’s lone run in the fourth inning. Joey Wendle led off the frame with one of his two doubles on the night and moved to third on a Nate Freiman single. With one away, Jason Pridie grounded one to first and used his speed to beat out the double play attempt. The RBI groundout was the outfielder’s 32nd this season.

Brock Huntzinger had a scoreless streak of his own and bolstered it to 12.1 innings with a scoreless eighth. The reliever put two away quickly but eventually left runners at the corners to conclude the frame. R.J. Alvarez entered in the ninth and got his fourth save. The right-hander has pitched eight innings during the ninth frame and has not yielded a run during that time. Nashville’s bullpen lowered their ERA to 0.32 (1er/28.1ip) over the last nine games.

The standing-room only, capacity crowd was the largest in First Tennessee Park history, eclipsing last night’s previous high of 10,610. The sellout was the 6th in the park’s history and represented the second back-to-back sellout Nashville has had this season. The last six sellouts at Greer Stadium encompassed 491 games from May 5, 2008 to August 27, 2014.

Nashville hits the road Saturday for a nine-day, eight-game road trip to New Orleans and Oklahoma City. The Sounds open the series against the Zephyrs on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Right-hander Zach Neal (4-0, 1.40) will face off with Robert Morey.

Kandi Gilley Shemwell(in white) is triple teamed in the post by Lady Raider Lindsey Perry(left), Brooke Freeze(back) and Holli Smithson(right) during Friday’ Lady Raider Alumni Game

Older is better…..especially if you use Friday night’s Lady Raider basketball game as as example as the Lady Raider alumni beat the Lady Raider varsity 55 to 34 at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.  The alumni ladies outscored the varsity squad 20 to 3 in the second quarter to take a 36 to 16 lead into the half and the varsity could never get closer than 15 points in the second half.  While the game featured alumni such as Katie Reid and Cameron Davis who had played with some of this year’s team in the recent past; it was a pair of match-ups that stole the show.  The first was the Morgan sisters; alumnus Emily Morgan Townsend and younger sister Bailey Morgan.  Each led their respective team in scoring as Townsend scored 19 first half points and finished the game with a game high 21 points.  Rising junior Bailey Morgan led the Lady Raiders on the night with 10 points, including 8 in the 2nd half.  The second match up was former Lady Raider assistant coach Kandi Gilley Shemwell against the players she coached the last 2 years.  Shemwell finished with 3 points on the night and was the recipient of many more fouls, hard screens and smack talk from her former players.  Admission was free for the evening, but donations were accepted for the program.

Post game picture from Friday’s Alumni Game of the victorious Lady Raider Alumni team(in white) and the Lady Raider varsity team(in black)

The Sounds saw Salt Lake strike for a pair of late runs and dropped Thursday night’s contest in front of a record-setting 10,610 fans at First Tennessee Park, 4-2.

Nashville ended the night 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and failed to capitalize on three Salt Lake errors. The bullpen’s streak of 19.2 innings without allowing a run came to an end, as the Bees added two runs late in the game to steal the third game of the series.

Salt Lake jumped on top and claimed a 2-0 lead with a run in both the second and third innings. Roger Keischnick slammed a home run off starter Ryan Verdugo and Daniel Robertson hit a run-scoring double in the third.

Despite surrendering the early lead, Nashville responded in their half of the third to tie it up. After Matt Carson reached on an error, Craig Gentry singled to center to put runners at the corners. Joey Wendle followed it with an RBI groundout and Ryan Roberts proceeded with a bloop single that barely tipped off the glove of the shortstop to plate the second run.

The Bees regained the lead in the seventh though, and tacked on another in the eighth. Alex Yarbrough started the frame with a single and came around to score later in the seventh. The lead grew in the eighth when Keischnick scored another run after reaching on a single. The two-run cushion proved to be enough for Salt Lake, who improved to 25-29.

After going eight games and 19.2 innings without giving up a run, Nashville’s relief corps saw two runs score on their watch. Arnold Leon, who was added to the roster from Oakland earlier on Thursday, threw 2.1 innings with just one hit and three strikeouts. Salt Lake grabbed a tally off Jim Fuller (2.1 IP, 4 H, K) and an unearned run off Ryan Cook (1.0 IP, H, BB).

The two teams play the final game tomorrow night at First Tennessee Park where the first 2,000 fans will be given jersey drawstring bags. Fresh off a PCL Pitcher of the Week Award, Barry Zito takes the mound for Nashville. He will be opposed by Adam Wilk. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

CHS Basketball coach Micah WIlliams talks to his team during a timeout on Thursday at Oakland

The Red Raider basketball team hit the road on Thursday with a triple-header in Murfreesboro.  The Red Raiders got solid play from Steven Sullivan at the point guard position and good defense and rebounding from Boone Riddle, but could not get a win on the day.  In the opening game against Oakland, the Raiders got 12 points and 4 rebounds from Grant Sadler but fell by a final score of 54 to 36.  In the afternoon games, the Raiders dropped a 54 to 40 decision to Overton before losing to Middle Tennessee Christian 41 to 26.  Wyatt Day led Coffee County in scoring in both afternoon games.  The Raiders return to Murfreesboro on Friday as they have another triple-header scheduled.  The Raiders will take on Franklin at 10 AM at Oakland then travel to Riverdale to take on Riverdale at noon and Ravenwood at 3:00 PM.

Motlow men’s basketball coach J.T. Burton

Former St. Catharine College head coach and University of Tennessee assistant coach James Tyler “J.T.” Burton has been named the new men’s basketball head coach at Motlow College, according to Athletic Director Tori Raby-Gentry. Burton will begin his duties immediately.

Burton spent the past season as the Director of Player Development at Tennessee under former Volunteer head coach Donnie Tyndall. His season in Knoxville followed a highly successful six-year stint as head coach at St. Catharine in his hometown of Springfield, Ky., where he compiled a 95-80 record. During his coaching tenure the school transitioned from a two-year to a four-year institution, playing on the NAIA level and joining the Mid-South Conference.

“We are delighted to have J.T. as our new head coach,” said Raby-Gentry. “I’m confident in the experience he brings in coaching, recruiting and helping student athletes to grow and succeed. He is a demanding coach with high expectations for his players both on and off the court. We are excited for the upcoming season.”

He takes over a Motlow program that finished 23-6 last season and 37-20 in two seasons under former head coach Matt Sligh, who resigned in March to become an assistant at Missouri State University, ironically located in Springfield, Mo.

Burton boasts more than 15 years of college coaching experience after playing college basketball at St. Catharine from 1995-97, when the Patriots were a two-year school and a member of the Tennessee Junior/Community College Athletic Association, now known as the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA).

Tyndall, who was relieved of his duties at Tennessee in March, coached one season at St. Catharine, and with Burton as a guard led the 1996-97 Patriots to a 30-5 record and the school’s first trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament.

Burton received his bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Wesleyan College in 1999 and his master’s degree from Campbellsville University in 2005. He and his wife, Carla, have two daughters, Alexis and Jada.

Following his graduation from Tennessee Wesleyan, he returned to St. Catharine as an assistant coach for one season, followed by one season as an assistant at Marshalltown (Iowa) Community College.

Burton was the head coach of the Washington County High School girls team in Springfield from 2003-07, where his teams averaged 17 wins per season and made a quarterfinal appearance in the 2005 Kentucky girls basketball state tournament.

After spending the 2007-08 season as an assistant men’s coach at St. Catharine, he was promoted to head coach the following year. He was named the Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year in 2011 after the Patriots compiled a 24-10 record and advanced to the NAIA national tournament. The Patriots had three 20-win seasons under Burton and made another national tournament appearance in 2014, when they advanced to the quarterfinals.

Burton inherits a Motlow program that has won over 20 games in five of the previous eight seasons under four different head coaches, three of which have gone on to become assistant coaches at Division I universities. In addition to Sligh at Missouri State, former coach Mike Brown is the associate head coach at Eastern Michigan and Bobby Steinburg is an assistant at Kent State University.

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