Nathaniel Tate
Wednesday night’s baseball game between Tullahoma and Coffee County was moved up from a 6 PM start to 5 PM in an attempt to avoid the threat of rain. The one storm the Red Raiders did NOT want to see took place in the 6th inning when the visiting Wildcats plated 6 runs to lift them to a 10 to 4 win and a season sweep of Coffee County.
The Raiders took an early lead in the game when Nathaniel Tate singled and ended up scoring on a double steal in the 2nd inning to give the Raiders a 1 to 0 lead. Tullahoma took their 1st lead of the game with 3 runs in the top of the 3rd inning only to see the Raiders battle back and tie the game in the 4th inning at 4.
This set up a frustrating 6th inning for Coffee County as Tullahoma sent 10 hitters to the plate, scoring 6 runs on 4 hits with a walk and a pair of Red Raider errors adding an assist. Levi Turner had the big blast as he drilled a 3 run homer to right field to give the Wildcats a lead they would not surrender. The Raiders got base runners on in the 6th and 7th innings but could not mount a scoring challenge.
Coffee County outhit Tullahoma 9 to 7 but errors, once again proved. costly as the Raiders committed 6 errors in the game leading to 4 unearned runs. Darrin Keller for the Wildcats pitched a complete game for Tullahoma to earn the win while Davis Green for Coffee County was saddled with the loss.
Tate led the Raiders in hitting as he had a single and a double and scored twice. For his efforts, Tate was named the Thunder Radio player of the game. Alan Rob and Zach Wise each added RBI singles for Coffee County.
The Raiders are back at home on Thursday night when they play host to Central Magnet School out of Murfreesboro in the final regular season home game of the year. First pitch is set for 5:30 PM as the game has been designated as Senior Night. The class of 2016 seniors will be honored and recognized in a pregame ceremony at Powers Field. The District 8AAA tournament is set to get underway next week, Thunder Radio will keep you apprised of the Red Raiders schedule.
