The Lady Bucks swept Jackson State 4-2, 2-1 today in Jackson. Motlow (9-10, 2-2) visits nationally-ranked Walters State Tuesday in Morristown for a softball doubleheader.
In baseball on Friday Motlow fell 7-4 to Columbia St on Friday. Tyler Murphy hit his 10th homer of the year for the Bucks.
Kyle Kirby(L) with Jeff Cox(R)
Ginny Clayborne receives award... By Barry West
The annual Coffee Co. High School banquet was held at the Manchester/Coffee County Conference Center on Wednesday night.
Junior Ginny Clayborne and Senior Kyle Kirby received the Gateway Tire and Thunder Radio players of the year.
Manager Jeff Cox was on hand to present the awards.
Danielle Davis throws a strike
Danielle Davis raced home from third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning to score the winning run in the second game as the Motlow Lady Bucks swept the visiting Cleveland State Lady Cougars 7-2, 2-1 Wednesday afternoon at the softball complex in Moore County.
Although both teams are members of the TCCAA conference, the games do not count in the conference standings. The Lady Bucks (7-8, 0-0) will open conference play this weekend when they travel to Columbia State on Friday and Jackson State on Saturday.
Pitching dominated the warm, sunny afternoon where a large, vocal crowd gathered to enjoy the competition. They were not disappointed as the Lady Bucks continued their improvement under new head coach Tori Raby-Gentry.
Game one saw Motlow hurler Roxanne Hillman improve her record to 4-1 on the season as she scattered six hits and allowed only one earned run to lower her season earned run average to 2.43. Hillman struck out three Cleveland batters and didn’t allow a base on balls.
Game two didn’t feature much offense, but was highlighted by Kayla Green’s outstanding pitching performance and the dramatic finish.
Green (3-7) went the full eight innings, scattering only five hits and not allowing a single earned run. She struck out three and walked three, and lowered her season earned run average to 3.21.
Following the conference doubleheaders at Columbia State and Jackson State this weekend, the Lady Bucks will return to Moore County to host national-power Wallace State on Sunday, with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
The Motlow Bucks have an opportunity to make a significant move in the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) standings this weekend when they face conference leader Columbia State in a three-game series at the Driver Baseball Complex.
Friday’s nine-inning opener is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and Saturday’s doubleheader will start at noon. There is no admission charge for Motlow athletic events. Fans can follow Motlow athletic events in progress on Twitter by following @MoltowSports.
The Bucks (18-11, 3-6) are coming off a 12-2, 20-10 sweep of Martin Methodist on Monday, raising their home record to 14-4 for the season. Motlow has won 17 of its previous 23 contests since opening the season with a 1-5 record.
Motlow has been led offensively by Phenix City, Ala. sophomore power hitter Tyler Murphy, who is currently tied for fourth in the nation with nine home runs and 25th in the nation with 29 runs batted in. Murphy also leads the Bucks’ regulars with a .471 batting average and a slugging percentage of .914.
Murfreesboro freshman Cory Mitchell has been hot at the plate recently, raising his batting average to .442. Mitchell is tied for 25th nationally with 10 doubles and has driven in 18 runs. His slugging percentage of .814 is second on the team.
The Bucks have been led on the mound recently by Tullahoma redshirt freshman Jacob Honea, who sports a 3-0 record and leads the starting pitchers with a 2.91 earned-run average. Honea was honored as the TCCAA Pitcher of the Week last week.
Coffee Co. traveled to La Vergne on Wednesday for baseball action. The Wolverines won the game 4-3.
Coffee Co. plays at Lincoln Co. tonight at 6:30pm