Category: Sports

Nashville received a magnificent start from Chris Bassitt and the offense came alive late to help the Sounds scratch out a 5-1 victory over the Salt Lake Bees on Wednesday night at First Tennessee Park.

The Nashville pitching staff was marvelous yet again, fanning a season-best 15 hitters. Bassitt tossed the club’s 17th quality start and the bullpen failed to allow a run to extend their streak to the last 19.2 innings. The Sounds improved to a league-best 9-1 in their last 10 games.

It was the Bassitt show during Wednesday night’s contest. The right-hander fanned a season-high 11 batters while matching his career-high set on August 9, 2014. The 26-year old collected at least one strikeout in all six of his innings and set the mark for most strikeouts by a Nashville pitcher this season. He allowed one unearned run with five hits and no walks on a season-high 96 pitches. Bassitt’s ERA at First Tennessee Park dropped to 0.44 (1er/20.2ip) in the no-decision.

As good as Bassitt was, Salt Lake hurler Andrew Heaney seemed to be just as sharp. The left-hander held the Sounds to just four hits in 6.2 innings, tying a season-high with nine strikeouts. Heaney got into some trouble by walking four batters, but held Nashville hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position. He took his exit in the seventh and saw two runs charged to him when the bullpen failed to strand his runners.

Heaney got the first two batters out to begin the seventh, but then issued a walk to Luke Carlin and a single to Craig Gentry. Second baseman Joey Wendle then faced Trevor Gott and drew another free pass to load the bases. With the bags packed, Ryan Roberts stepped in and roped a single to right that plated a pair. Roberts had been 0-for-4 this season with the bases loaded, but came up big by driving in the game-winning run.

The Sounds plated three runs of insurance in the eighth inning. Kent Matthes scored when Matt Carson hit a double into the left field corner. Carson and Aliotti both scored later in the frame on RBIs from Carlin and Wendle.

Overall, pitching was what notched Nashville their 25th win. The Sounds have now allowed two runs or less in nine of their last 10 games and have a 1.71 ERA (22er/115.2ip) over the last 13 games. Joe Paterson earned his first win as a Sound, working around a hit and a walk for a scoreless frame. Brock Huntzinger followed it up by pushing his consecutive hitless streak to seven innings by striking out the side in the eighth. R.J. Alvarez rounded out the band of relievers with a scoreless ninth.

The third game of the series gets underway on Thursday at First Tennessee Park as Nashville and Salt Lake will compete in the MiLB Game of the Week on CBS Sports Network(Charter Cable Channel 303 in Manchester). Left-hander Sean Nolin (0-0, 1.08) will take the spotlight for the Sounds and is slated to be opposed by Zach Stewart.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM

File Photo – CHS rising junior Holli Smithson

The Coffee County CHS Lady Raider basketball team completed a 2 day team camp at Shelbyville on Wednesday with a 2 and 2 record. The Lady Raiders, looking to replace at least 7 players that contributed last season, are getting balanced scoring throughout the lineup while junior Holli Smithson provides leadership to the young Lady Raiders. “The young guns are starting to come along” said coach Herb Horton and “Holli is really stepping up.” The Lady Raiders got victories this week over Smyrna and Cascade while dropping games to DeKalb County and Spring Hill. The Lady Raiders will conclude their youth camp on Thursday and Friday before hosting the Alumni Game on Friday night at 6:00 PM at “The Patch.”

The Coffee County Central High School baseball team will hold tryouts for the 2015-2016 baseball team on Saturday, June 6th from Noon to 3 PM at Powers Field. Any student who will be in the 9th through 12th grades next school year is invited to tryout. Those wishing to tryout need to pre-register at the link provided:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CINab384io1ZJedMv_OGRSGW5oHTqopC60DigMELnx8/edit?usp=sharing

Those wishing to tryout need to bring their own baseball equipment along with a completed TSSAA Physical form.

For more information, Contact David Martin at martind15@k12tn.net or Jon Spears at spearsjon@k12coffee.net

After winning eight straight games, the Nashville Sounds finally lost, falling to the Salt Lake Bees, 2-1 on Tuesday night at First Tennessee Park.

After not trailing since the fourth inning of Saturday’s 6-1 win over Las Vegas, the Sounds fell behind in the fourth inning as Jett Bandy’s solo shot gave the Bees a 1-0 lead.

Salt Lake built on that lead in the 5th inning, chasing Sounds starter Brad Mills from the game. C.J. Cron hit his second double off the veteran southpaw, plating Kyle Kubitza who battled back from down 0-2 to draw a two-out walk the at bat before. As he’s done all season, Pat Venditte came out of the pen and stranded the runner. He also threw a scoreless sixth inning, lowering his ERA to 1.36.

The Sounds cut the lead in half in the latter part of the seventh. Catcher Bryan Anderson lined a double down the right field line to score Ryan Roberts. Bees starter Drew Rucinski entered the action with a 1-4 record and a 7.04 ERA, but yielded just that run over seven innings on the night. The Sounds loaded the bases with one out off the freshly demoted Los Angeles Angel Vinnie Pestano, but Jason Pridie and Nate Freiman both popped out and the threat was averted.

The Sounds and Bees will play game two Wednesday night at First Tennessee Park. Both teams will send their top pitching prospects to the mound as Chris Bassitt matches up with Andrew Heaney on Beatles Night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Westwood’s Morgan Jones (file photo)

The Westwood Rockets and Lady Rockets concluded a 2 day team camp at Community on Tuesday in grand fashion. The Lady Rockets completed an undefeated camp as they swept Tueday’s 3 games to give them a perfect 6 & 0 record for the week. On Tuesday, Westwood defeated Central Magnet 25 to 14, Forrest 25 to 10 and Community 35 to 31. Morgan Jones averaged 11 points a game while Ashley Starks averaged 8 points per game and Karen Medina added 4 points per game.

Westwood’s Jake Hollandsworth (photo by Will Panell)

The Rockets also had a perfect day as they went 3 and 0 to finish the week with a record of 5 and 1. The Rockets got wins over Webb 36 to 17, Eagleville 26 to 17 and Huntland 28 to 18. Rodric Brinkley and Jake Hollandsworth averaged 5 points a game today while Colin Ward averaged 4. The Rockets and Lady Rockets will open their season on October 13th.

Friday night is the night for the annual Lady Raider Alumni Basketball Game coming up at 6:00 PM at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym at Coffee County High School.  Members of the 2015-2016 Lady Raider basketball team will take on a team of alumni in a fun-filled night of basketball this Friday night.   Former Lady Raiders are encouraged to come on out for the festivities as ALL former players will be recognized.  Those former players that want to play, are encouraged to bring their sneakers to play in the Alumni Game.  Games in the past have featured a lot of fun times along the way so mark your calendar to attend.  If you need more information, contact Coach Herb Horton at 931-723-5174 or hortonh@k12coffee.net

The Nashville Sounds finished the sweep of the Las Vegas 51s by the score of 5-1 on Monday night at First Tennessee Park.

A night after Barry Zito set a Sounds season-high mark with eight innings of scoreless baseball, Monday’s starter, Zach Neal, did his best to follow the former Cy Young Award winner’s lead. Neal gave up just one run over eight innings, surrendering five hits and striking out four. He earned his team-leading fourth win in as many starts.

Joey Wendle broke the ice in this one, taking Tyler Pill’s third inning offering and distributing it among the patrons enjoying the Band Box in right field. His fifth homer of the season gave the Sounds a 2-0 lead.

Wendle singled in the sixth and came around to score courtesy of a Jason Pridie sacrifice fly. Ryan Roberts later scored in the inning on a Kent Matthes sacrifice fly. Matt Carson homered an inning later to give the Sounds a 5-0 advantage.

The 51’s finally got a run off Sounds pitching in the 8th inning. Matt Reynolds doubled down the right field line to score Cory Vaughn. The Sounds however executed a perfect relay from Carson to gun Wilfredo Tovar out at the plate.

The win was the Sounds 8th straight win, the last time they reached that mark was June of 2003.

The Sounds welcome a new opponent to First Tennessee Park tomorrow night when the Salt Lake Bees of the Los Angeles Angels organization come to town. Brad Mills will look to throw his sixth consecutive quality start as he matches up with Drew Rucinski. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The first 2,000 fans will receive t-shirts courtesy of Great Clips

The Coffee County Cross Country team will will have its 2nd head coach in its 2nd year since its revival as Robert Harper was tabbed to lead the thinclads last week. Harper, who is also the head boys soccer coach, said that he is looking forward to working with the team. “Coffee County has been known for its strong track program and I want to tap into that tradition in cross country” said Harper. Harper is in his 7th year at Coffee County where he has also served as an assistant boys basketball coach in the past. Harper previously served as the head cross country coach in northern Florida and is excited about starting practice on July 27th. While nothing has been finalized, Harper hopes to bring on an assistant coach to help this fall. Harper also plans to work with Westwood Middle School’s cross country program in order to strengthen both programs. Any student in grades 9 through 12th grade who wishes to run cross country should be prepared to begin team workouts on July 27. If you have questions, or need more information, please email Coach Harper at: harperr@k12coffee.net

The Westwood Rocket and Lady Rocket basketball teams opened their summer season on Monday at Community as each squad played a triple-header.  The teams will return to Community for games on Tuesday with games at Community Middle and Community High Schools in Unionville.  The Lady Rockets will take on Central Magnet, Forrest  and Community on Tuesday while the Rockets will take on Webb, Eagleville and Huntland.

On Monday at Community, the Lady Rockets got 3 victories as last season’s 2 leading scorer picked up right where they left off.  The Rockets dropped Liberty 32 to 8, Whittorne 48 to 6 and Eaglevilel 22 to 18.  Morgan Jones averaged 12 points a game to lead Westwood in the 3 games while Ashley Starks averaged 7 points.  Coach Angela Houck was impressed with 6^th grader Gracie Morris who scored 12 points in the 2^nd game of the day against Whitthorne.

The Rockets won 2 of their 3 games on the day.  The Rockets got a 38 to 22 win over Liberty as 10 players scored for Westwood.  Shown Anderson led Westwood with 8 points.  In game #2, Westwood dropped a 25 to 20 decision to Community as Jake Hollandsworth had 13 points.  In the 3^rd game, the Rockets beat Forrest and got a 35 to 33 win.  Anderson was the leading scorer again with 10 points and Hollandsworth added 8.

Nashville Sounds pitcher Barry Zito delivers a pitch on Sunday at First Tennessee Park

Nashville Sounds pitcher Barry Zito has been named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for the May 25 – 31 period.

The 37-year old was a perfect 2-0 in a pair of starts during the week, shutting out both the Sacramento River Cats and Las Vegas 51s through 14.0 innings of work. He was one of four hurlers to win two games over the week and the only pitcher with two starts to not allow a run. In addition, opponents batted .111 (5-for-45) off him, the third-best mark in the league.

During his return to Sacramento (where he previously played in 2000) on Tuesday, Zito allowed just three hits and added five strikeouts over 6.0 scoreless innings. He finished the outing by retiring the last seven batters he faced and pitched the Sounds to their fourth shutout win of the season.

On Sunday, the left-hander dazzled his way to 8.0 shutout frames against Las Vegas at First Tennessee Park. He faced the minimum through the first five innings and his outing was the longest by a Nashville pitcher this season. Zito allowed a season-low two hits, fanned a season-high six batters and also produced two double plays with his 103 pitches.

Overall this season, the California native is 3-4 with a 4.12 ERA (29er/63.1ip) and .258 opponents average (63-for-244). His 11 starts are tied for the league lead and his 63.1 innings of work are third-most in the PCL.

This marks the second time in Zito’s career that he has earned a PCL Pitcher of the Week award. He was recognized for his terrific pitching during the May 1-7 period back in 2000 as a member of the River Cats. The veteran was also named the American League Pitcher of the Week with Oakland in 2000, becoming just the second player since 1998 to ever win a PCL and MLB Player of the Week award in the same season (Kerry Wood).

The weekly PCL award is the first for a Nashville player this season. The Sounds had two players win the honor last year [Mike Fiers (April 28-May 4) & Matt Clark (August 18-24)].

Zito was drafted by Oakland in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1999 amateur draft. He signed a minor league contract with the A’s on February 17, 2015.