Jake Smolinski hit a go-ahead solo homer in the eighth inning and Chad Pinder had a perfect night to guide the Nashville Sounds to a thrilling 6-5 win over the Sacramento River Cats in front of 7,407 fans Thursday night at First Tennessee Park. With the scored tied 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth, Smolinski hit the third pitch of the inning from Steven Okert over the center field wall to give the Sounds (21-19) a 6-5 lead. The blast came just moments after the River Cats (16-25) plated two runs on three consecutive two-out hits in the...

Senior linebacker and fullback Mill Harner of Coffee County celebrated the signing of a scholarship offer to the University of the South to continue his football career in a ceremony at CHS on Wednesday. Harner, who played on both sides of the ball this past season, looks forward to the opportunity to play as a linebacker at the Sewanee university. Harner has yet to decide on a major in college but does know that he wants to minor in business. “They gave me a good offer as far as financial aid and it’s such a good academic school you...

Senior baseball player Gavin Husted of the Coffee County Red Raider baseball team signed as a preferred walk-on with Shorter University on Wednesday at a ceremony at the school. Husted, a first baseman and catcher on this season’s team, looks forward to having the opportunity to catch and work as an outfielder for the Rome, Georgia university. Husted, who maintains an excellent GPA, looks to study pre-med at Shorter. “They have an 86% acceptance rate into medical school” said Husted. He also liked the fact that it was a small school. Here is what Husted had to say about...

Backed by Freddie Freeman’s RBI single and Tyler Flowers’ home run, right-hander Julio Teheran snapped his eight-start winless streak in a 3-1 victory over the Pirates on Wednesday night at PNC Park. Teheran shut out the Pirates for 7 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and striking out three without a walk. Despite entering the night with a 3.17 ERA, and ending it with a 2.73 mark, Teheran had lost a career-high-tying four straight decisions. On Wednesday, he shut out a Pirates lineup that put up 12 runs on 21 hits the previous night. “He changed speeds so well,” Pirates...

After a season of amazing performances, the Coffee County Lady Raider track team added another chapter in the remarkable success story of 2016 on Tuesday at the Sectional Meet at Riverdale. After the dust settled and the points were tallied, the Lady Raiders finished the meet in a 3rd place tie in the team standings with Oakland at 62 points, 1 point behind 2nd place Blackman. What makes the performance so remarkable is that Coffee County was only represented by 7 athletes at the Sectional and competed against 27 teams from Section 2. More importantly, 3 Lady Raiders have...

After starting the night with a nine-run lead, the Pirates wound up needing the back end of their bullpen to close out a 12-9 win over the Braves on Tuesday at PNC Park. The Pirates’ lineup did its part with a season-high 21 hits and a season-high-tying 12 runs. Andrew McCutchen, Gregory Polanco and Francisco Cervelli powered the offense with three hits apiece. But starter Juan Nicasio permitted five runs (three earned) in five innings, Ryan Vogelsong was charged with three runs and Arquimedes Caminero gave up a homer to Mallex Smith, the only batter he faced in the...

The spectacular high school tennis career of Maddie Taylor came to a close on Tuesday in the semifinals of the Region 4AAA singles tennis tournament at Columbia. Taylor, who finishes her career with a record of 46 and 9 in the last 3 years, lost in straight sets(1-6/1-6) to defending state quarter-finalist Kylie Humphrey of Oakland. Taylor, a 4 year starter for Coffee County, was one of 5 senior tennis players on this year’s team and helped lead the Lady Raiders to a District 8AAA title in 2015. Taylor was the lone qualifier for Coffee County in the region....

Matt Olson delivered a clutch two-out hit to lift the Nashville Sounds to a 2-1 win and series sweep over the Fresno Grizzlies in front of 4,645 fans Tuesday night at First Tennessee Park. Olson, who went 6-for-12 in the four-game series, hit a ground-rule double down the right field line to snap a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth. The Sounds trailed early when Fresno pushed a run across against Dillon Overton in the second. Max Stassi tripled to the wall in right-center and scored on a groundout by Andrew Aplin. Outside of the early run,...