Category: Sports

Defensively, the Rockets baseball team showed improvement on Wednesday night at Moore County, but the bats did not follow suit. Westwood’s offense was held without a hit in a 16 to 1 loss at Lynchburg. Winston Alford was the starting pitcher and was saddled with the loss. He was relieved by Nick Smith. Jacob Garms and Ethan Rivera were singled out for their solid play as catcher and first baseman respectively. Westwood will return home on Friday for a doubleheader with Community. That doubleheader will get underway at 4:30 PM at Loony Riddle Field at Fred Deadman Park.

 

Five unearned runs allowed in the top of the 1^st inning was too big of a hurdle to overcome for the Lady Rockets as they fell 17 to 5 in middle school softball on Wednesday to Cannon County. The Lady Rockets banged out 13 hits in the game, but stranded 7 runners in the contest. Alexcia Barnes and Sarah West each had 3 hits in the game to lead the Blue and White. Keyleigh Alford and Lexi Holder each added 2 hits and Danielle Baker scored twice for Westwood. The Lady Rockets will return home on Friday for a 4:30 PM game with Cascade

 

Wednesday night was Senior Night for Red Raider baseball as the hosted Franklin County. The evening started with the honoring the 9 seniors and then it was baseball time, well at least for a little while.
The Rebels got a run in the first and Coffee County would follow that with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Peyton Booth who singled scored on Stanton Keele groundout. Rain started to fall heavily in the 2nd inning as both teams went scoreless. The umpires delayed the game for a short period of time before deciding to call it a night. After a discussion with the coaches a decision was made to pick the game back up in the top of the 3rd with the scored tied at one on Friday at 5pm in Manchester.
The Raiders will try again tonight as they make the long trip to Lawrence County for District 8-AAA action beginning at 6pm.

 

Competing in her first ever penthalon, CHS freshman Sarah Pearson finished in 3^rd place in the TSSAA Section 2 sectional on Tuesday at Rhea County.  The automatic bids to compete at the TSSAA state track meet in May go to the top 2 finishers, but according to CHS track coach Stan Jarrell, Pearson may still get an invitation if her score is one of the top 4 scores among non-qualifiers state wide.  Pearson, along with Makenzie Anderson and Taylor Deberry competed for the Lady Raiders in the five events.

Pearson had 3 top 5 finishes on the day as she placed 3^rd in the 800M run, 4^th in the 100M hurdles and 5^th in the high jump.  Deberry had the highest event finish as she was 2^nd in the 100M hurdles, while Anderson was 5^th in the 100M hurdles and 6^th in the high jump.  Anderson ended up in 12^th place while Deberry finished 16^th out of 26 competitors.  Pearson’s point total of 2182 points was 44 points behind 2^nd place finisher Shannon Reagan of Tullahoma who qualified for the state meet.

It is always good to be first, and that is exactly what Peyton Talley chose to do as he signed a basketball scholarship with Tennessee Wesleyan on Wednesday morning in a ceremony at Coffee County Central High. Talley will become a member of the first recruiting class and first basketball team at the Athens, Tennessee college. Peyton chose Tennessee Wesleyan over an offer from Bethel University due in large part to the fact that “I think Wesleyan wanted me more” according to Talley. Talley was also recruited by Cleveland State Community College and King University in Bristol.

Wesleyan, which is n member of the Appalachian Athletic Conference in the NAIA, will play a junior varsity schedule in the coming school year according to coach John Ferguson. Ferguson expressed delight in picking up a commitment from Talley who he described as a good shooter and passer. “Peyton does a lot of things well on the basketball court and he fits the kind of system and program we intend to build” said Ferguson. Ferguson went on the say that Talley will be a crucial part of the first year program as the Bulldogs build toward varsity status over the next few years.

Coach Ben Holl, Talley’s head coach this past season, praised the work ethic of Peyton and believed that his competitive drive will serve the new program well. “Peyton is a gym rat. He will be a leader for that program with his strong work ethic and his drive to compete at practice and in games” praised Holl. Talley said he was excited for this opportunity and looked forward to playing “close to home” for the next 4 years. He added, “I am excited and thankful for this opportunity.”

A walk-off RBI single by Grace Pippenger in the bottom of the 5th inning secured a 5 to 4 win for the Lady Raider softball team of Coffee County Middle on Tuesday at CCMS. Pippenger drove home Kyla Craig with the bases loaded to lift the Lady Raiders over a scrappy North Franklin team on 8th grade night. Haley Richardson was 3 for 3 on the night as she pitched the last 2 innings to get the win. Amanda Mukai was 2 for 2 with a walk and a double while Jayden Scheller was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI. After the game, 8th graders Haley Richardson, Shannah Frame, Erin Ferrell and Sierra Mahar were honored.

Warren County Middle School broke open a 2 to 2 game in the 4th inning with 2 unearned runs as they dropped Coffee County 5 to 2 in baseball action on Tuesday night at CCMS. After the Pioneers scored 2 runs in the first inning against starting pitcher Harley Hinshaw, the Raiders answered back in the 3rd inning. Coffee County got 4 straight singles with one out in the inning as Clayton Lowell and Bryson Hullett crossed the plate on an RBI single from Tyler Serber and an RBI fielder’s choice by Colton Kerber. That was all the offense that the Raiders could muster as they stranded scoring opportunities in the last 3 innings. Trace Bryant was the 2 for 3 at the plate for Coffee County as they fell on 8th grade appreciation night. After the game, the 14 Red Raider 8th graders were honored. The Raiders travel to White County on Thursday night before ending the regular season at home on Friday against Warren County. The district tournament is set to begin a week from Thursday in Sparta.

A Cole Hawkins penalty kick was the only offense the Coffee County CHS soccer team could muster in a 3 to 1 loss to Oakland on the home pitch Tuesday night. The Raiders missed a 1st half PK attempt and saw Oakland score in the last minute of the first half to take a 2 to 0 lead in the half. Hawkins railed his PK past the Patriot keeper in the 62nd minute, only to have Oakland answer that goal one minute later. The Raiders will attempt to return to their winning ways as they return to district action on Thursday playing host to Tullahoma. In addition to playing for the Coffee Cup, Thursday’s game will also be Senior Night for the Raiders. The opening kick is set to happen at 7:00 PM at the Raider Soccer Field.

The Coffee County Middle School soccer team dropped a 5 to 0 decision on Tuesday night in Fayetteville to Lincoln County. The Raiders battled the Falcons tough but could not convert a scoring chance. With the loss, Coffee County Middle finishes the season with a record of 6 and 4 on the season which is good enough to host a CTC Conference Tournament game on Thursday. The Raiders will play host to South Franklin on Thursday in a 5:00 PM match at the Coffee County Middle School.

With injured Raider golfer Samuel Prater on the shelf for the immediate future, the Coffee County Middle School golf team used their depth to defeat Fayetteville and Westwood on Tuesday afternoon at Fayetteville Country Club. Austin Farris and Josh Perry each shot a 49 whiel Matthew Hale got around in 55 strokes. Jake Melton carded a 70 as he stepped up to varsity play for Coach Holly Rodriquez’ squad. Westwood was led by Christopher Robinson as the 6th grader shot an impressive 58. The golfers will take off next week for TCAP testing before returning to Willowbrook on Monday, May 4th for a match with Liberty and Harris. The match will begin at 4:00 PM.

The Lady Rockets bats came out of their recent slump to plate 9 runs in a losing cause at Woodbury on Tuesday night. Westwood dropped a hard fought 13 to 9 decision to Cannon County. Sarah West was 4 for 4 on the afternoon to lead the Rocket attack. Haley Miller was 2 for 2 and Danielle baker was 2 for 4 for Westwood. The Rockets will return home on Wednesday for a rematch with Cannon County. First pitch will be at 4:30 PM at Lady Rocket Field.

Coffee County’s Brianna Jones did something Tuesday that very few players around the country have done. She struck out her 1,000th opposing batter in her career. The Lady Raider senior pitcher holds almost all pitching records at Coffee County. Her career strikeout total now stands at 1,002 with 217 coming so far this season. Jones and Kaylee Skipper combined for a one-hitter.
The Lady Raiders were on the road at Lawrence County and picked up the win, 3-0 to the secure the regular season District 8-AAA championship. Coffee County is now 19-3-1 overall and 11-0 in district play.
Rhianna Roberson had a hit and an RBI for the Lady Raiders.
Coffee County will finish up regular season district play Wednesday night as they travel to take on Tullahoma at 7pm. You can hear the game live on our sister station WHMT Sports Radio the Ticket at 105.1 FM, AM 740 or the ticketradio.com

Tuesday night the Coffee County baseball team traveled to Winchester to take on Franklin County. The fell behind early and had battled all night trying for comeback. In the end the Raiders dropped the District 8-AAA matchup, 7-2.
Offensively for Coffee County Wyatt Day was 3-3 at the plate and scored a run. Peyton Booth had a good night as he was 2 for 2 and Gavin Husted chipped in with a double and scored a run.
The two teams play again Wednesday beginning at 6pm. This is Senior Night for the Raiders with activities occurring before the game. Thunder Radio’s broadcast starts at 5:50pm.

2015 has been a season of resurgence in high school tennis at Coffee County Central High School. After finishing in 5th place last year, and out of the postseason tournament, the Lady Raiders were 1 match win away from a district title on Monday night before falling to Shelbyville 4 to 3. Now, with the attention on the postseason, the Lady Raiders will host a district tournament match next week against Lincoln County after their 2nd place district finish. That match will take place on Tuesday or Wednesday at Fred Deadman Park. A District tournament championship would advance the Lady Raiders to the Region tournament and one step closer to their first ever state tournament appearance in team competition.
In the girls’ doubles district tournament, Coffee County’s Alec Crossland and Savannah Hodge earned a #1 seed and will get a bye in the first round. Coffee County’s team of Kayla Wright and Ali Shelton will take on the #3 seeded team of Columbia in the first round matches set to get underway at 10 AM at Sewanee. In boy’s doubles tournament, Jay and Shlip Patel will take on Columbia’s #2 team while the team of Easton Mai and Trevor Ivy-Bodman tangle with Lincoln County’s #1 team. Those matches also get underway at 10 AM on Thursday with the semifinals and finals scheduled to start on Friday at 10 AM.

In the single’s district tournament, the Lady Raiders will be represented by Karlee Reed and Maddie Taylor. Reed, who received the # 3 overall seed will take on Nikki Martin, while Taylor drew Chelsea Barnes. In boys singles, Walker Seagroves and Will Davis will represent the Red Raiders. Seagroves opens with Carter Voss of Lawrence County while Davis drew Eli Miller of Shelbyville. The singles tournament runs concurrently with the doubles tournament and will begin at 10 AM on Thursday at Sewanee. The semifinal and finals rounds begin at 10 AM on Friday.
Members of the CHS Tennis team will be the guests on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show heard here on Thunder Radio. The show airs live at 10 AM from AL White Ford/Lincoln. Come congratulate the Raider netters on their season long accomplishments and meet them along with Coach Mike Ray.

The Coffee County High School tennis teams hosted Shelbyville at Fred Deadman Park on Monday afternoon. The Lady Raiders lost a hard fought battle with the Eaglettes 4-3. Singles winners were Maddie Taylor, Savannah Hodge and Ally Shelton. The boys also dropped a tough matchup, 4-3. Winners were Eaton Mai, Trevor Ivy-Bodman and Jay Patel.
This was the regular season final match for tennis. Next up is the district tournament. The girls already know they’ll play host Lincoln County.

 

 

 

 

In middle school boys golf yesterday at Willowbrook, the Tullahoma boys finished 1^st followed by Coffee Middle, Westwood Middle and Fayetteville. Austin Farris had a 41 for the Raiders. Christopher Robinson had the low round for the Rockets. All teams will face off again today in Fayetteville.

Tuesday Action

12:00 PM – CHS Girls Track at Sectional Penthalon – Rhea County
3:30 PM – CCMS/WMS Golf at Fayetteville
5:00 PM – CCMS Softball HOSTS North Franklin(8th Grade Night)
5:00 PM – CCMS Baseball HOSTS Warren Co(8th Grade Night)
5:30 PM – CCMS Soccer at Lincoln Co
5:30 PM – WMS Softball at Cannon County
6:00 PM – CHS Baseball at Franklin Co
7:00 PM – CHS Softball at Lawrence Co
7:00 PM – CHS Soccer HOSTS Oakland