Category: Sports

After four consecutive rainouts and postponements to start the season, the Coffee County Central High School tennis team finally made it on the court Monday afternoon in Shelbyville – and it went well.

Very well.

Coffee County swept the Eagles, with the boys team winning 7-0 and the Lady Raiders 4-3.

Singles (Coffee Co. player listed first)

Jaden Talley def. Jordan Blevin: 8-6

Johnathan Welch def Ronnie Hernandez: 8-2

Jonathan Nelson def. Jackson: 8-0

Landen Booth def. Wilson: 8-0

Krish Patel def. Flores: 8-0

Tyler Rigney wins 6-4

Lauren Perry falls to Ainsley Noel 8-2

Rylea McNamara def. Emma Habel – 8-1

Wren Lawson def. Vivian Fernandez 8-2

Emma Fulks def. Rachel Phillips 8-6

Macie Lawrence falls to Caitlyn Burdick 9-8

Kylie Millaway falls 6-4

Doubles

Talley & Nelson def. Blevins & Hernandez 8-5

Welch and Booth defeat Addison and Rason 8-0

Perry and McNamara def. Habel and Fernandez 8-1

Lawson and Lawrence fall to Noel and Burdick 8-2

Westwood scored three runs in the top of the 10th to take a 5-2 lead over Cannon County.

But it wasn’t enough. Cannon County answered with 4 runs in the bottom of the 10th inning to drop the WMS Lady Rockets 6-5 Monday night in Woodbury.

With the score tied at 2-2 – Westwood looked to take control in the 10th when Liza Freeze, Paisley Campbell and Addi Teal all managed to reach base and come around to score. But Cannon County answered big in the bottom half for the win.

It’s no secret that Keri Munn is dangerous in the circle for the Coffee County Lady Raider softball team.

On Monday night in Lawrence County, the senior showed off her skills at the plate. Munn knocked in three runs to help her cause and tossed seven shutout innings as the Lady Raiders went to Lawrenceburg and left with a 7-0 District 8-AAA win.

Munn was once again solid in the circle, allowing just six hits through seven innings. She walked one and struck out 10 Lady Wildcat batters to pick up the win.

At the plate, Coffee County broke the 0-0 tie in the top of the fifth inning. Kaitlyn Davis singled to center field to score Madison Pruitt. Kiya Ferrell also came around to score on the throw. Munn followed that with a single to score Chesnie Cox and Davis.

The Lady Raiders exteded the lead in the seventh. Davis sent Ferrell across the plate on a sacrifice fly, followed by an RBI single by Munn. Davis also finished with three RBIs. Senior Justus Turner doubled to center field to score Shelton and push the lead to 7-0.

The win improves Coffee County to 12-0 on the season. The Lady Raiders will travel to Columbia for a 5:30 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday.

Braden Brown and Aiden Robertson teamed up on the mound to all but shut down Rossview as the Coffee County Central Red Raider baseball team picked up a 2-1 win Saturday morning.

Brown allowed one hit and one run while striking out four over one and two-third innings.

Meanwhile, Robertson was solid – not allowing a single hit over five and one-thirds innings. He struck out a pair of batters and walked six.

With such solid pitching and defense, the Raiders didn’t need much offense and they got just enough. Hayden Hullett had a pair of hits, an RBI and a run scored. Nolan Jernigan also had an RBI. Jacob Holder sent one across the plate with a bases loaded walk.

The Raiders dropped their Saturday afternoon game with Blackman 11-1. The Raiders committed three errors and couldn’t keep the Blaze off the scoreboard in a single inning.

Nolan Jernigan had a hit and a run scored for the Raiders, scoring on a Braden Brown RBI.

Coffee County will play a two-game District 8-AAA series this week against Franklin County, beginning Tuesday in Winchester.

The Raiders are now 6-4 on the season.

It’s not like the Braves haven’t been here before. As they pursue a fourth straight National League East title, they must once again quickly regroup, like they did after being swept out of Philadelphia to start the 2019 season.

Reminded of this after his team suffered a 2-1 loss to the Phillies in Sunday’s series finale at Citizens Bank Park, Braves manager Brian Snitker chuckled and said the season-opening sweeps don’t feel all that similar.

“We got boat raced in three games in 2019,” Snitker said. “We just didn’t hit [this weekend]. We scored just three runs. You’re not going to win many games that way. We’re going to hit. These guys are not going to not hit. They’ve done it their whole career.”

With reigning National League MVP Freddie Freeman and two other MVP candidates — Ronald Acuña Jr. and Marcell Ozuna — the Braves have potential to have one of the game’s best offenses for a third straight season. But through this year’s first 28 innings, their only runs have come from Travis d’Arnaud’s game-tying, seventh-inning homer on Sunday and Pablo Sandoval’s pinch-hit, two-run homer on Thursday.

Freeman went 0-for-9. Ozuna struck out in seven of 11 at-bats and Acuña recorded just two hits in his 12 at-bats. In other words, Phillies pitchers fared a little differently than they did when they allowed the Braves 59 runs over 10 games last year.

Griffin Meeker went the distance for the Raiders, pitching seven innings and allowing just one run on four hits while striking out seven in a 4-1 win over Loretto Friday in the Riverdale Warrior Classic.

Wyatt Nugent had a single and a pair of RBIs for the Raiders. Aiden Robertson also had a hit and an RBI.

The Raiders now 5-3 on the season. They play Rossview at 10 a.m. and Riverdale at 3 p.m. Saturday. Both games at Riverdale High School.

Are you ready for more football?

Regular season football, that is.

On Tuesday, NFL clubs approved at a virtual league meeting an enhanced season structure that beginning in 2021 will feature each team playing 17 regular-season games and three preseason games for the first time.

What it means for the Titans: The New Orleans Saints have been added to the 2021 schedule, and they’ll play at Nissan Stadium at a date to be determined.

Click here to read more. You can hear the Titans all season long on Thunder Radio – your exclusive home for Titans football in Coffee County.

All good things eventually come to an end.

Colton Sissons scored Nashville’s lone goal, as the Predators fell to the Dallas Stars, 4-1, on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees Nashville’s six-game winning streak conclude, as they finish their two-game set with the Stars and remain in fourth place in the Central Division.

On Tuesday, the Preds were able to find a way to come back and eventually beat the Stars in overtime, but on Thursday, Dallas controlled the play for a majority of the night to hand the Preds their first loss in seven tries. 

“I don’t think we did enough,” Sissons said. “[The Stars] had the competitive edge, and they were a little cleaner with their game. I think especially in the second period, they took over a little bit just from our lack of execution, just turning pucks over left, right and center. It’s difficult to play when you’re doing that.”

You can hear Predators Hockey all season long on Thunder Radio – your exclusive home for the Predators in Coffee County.

Braves manager Brian Snitker had no problem with Ozzie Albies‘ aggressive attempt to score. But he was among those left to wonder how things might have been different had the second baseman not hesitated at what proved to be one of the most critical moments of a 3-2, 10-inning Opening Day loss to the Phillies on Thursday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

“I don’t know what happened,” Snitker said. “I thought he was going to stop for a minute.”

After Jean Segura’s two-out single off Nate Jones bounced past third baseman Austin Riley to end the game, the focus was placed on what the Braves might have squandered in the top of the 10th. Atlanta had received a determined effort from Max Fried, a clutch pinch-hit home run from Pablo Sandoval and solid work from its bullpen.

But a bases-loaded threat went unrewarded in the eighth and the Braves couldn’t capitalize on the extra-inning rules, which place an automatic runner on second base at the start of each inning.

Click here to continue reading. Listen to the Braves all season long on Thunder Radio – your exclusive home for Braves baseball in Coffee County.