Coffee County baseball won in dominant fashion in the Cookeville area Thursday evening. Taking on Upperman, the Red Raiders returned home with an 18-4, five-inning victory.

The Red Raiders posted 16 hits over the course of the game, with Davis Mc-Kenzie leading the way at five. Landan Abellana, Preston Steele, Grayson Sadler and Chase Leonard each had two hits. This included a two-run home run for Steele in the top of the first inning. Boone Floyd, Kaysen Morrison and Matt Moore all had one hit each. McKenzie was credited with four of Coffee County’s 15 RBI. Steele followed with three RBI. Abellana and Floyd added two each. Morrison, Sadler, Leonard and Jaxon Pruitt each had one RBI.

Xander Meeks pitched the first three innings, coming off with two strikeouts, seven hits and four runs to earn the win. Austin Gipson took his place, adding four walks through the bottom of the fifth inning. Kasen Shores followed to close out the game for the final at-bat.

The win put Coffee County at 15-11 on the season.

CHS falls to Cookeville

Coffee County came up short in its rematch with the Cavaliers last Tuesday evening.

Traveling to Cookeville one day after picking up a home win over their Class 4A District 6 foe, the Red Raiders had less luck this time around in a 5-2 loss.

Steele and Moore each had one hit for a team total of two. Steele’s hit came as a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning, giving him both of the team’s two RBI as well.

Leiton Yancer took the loss on the mound, coming off in the bottom of the fifth inning with six strikeouts, six hits, five runs and six walks. Shores took his place, adding two walks through the game’s remainder.

Raiders hold off Cookeville for district victory

Coming into last Monday night’s game in Manchester, Cookeville baseball had not yet lost a district contest. Coffee County brought that streak to an end.

Looking to get back on track in district play after dropping a home-andaway series to Shelbyville last week, the Red Raiders got on the board early on the way to a 4-3 home win over the first-place Cavaliers.

“Really gutsy, I’ve told you a couple of times, gritty. We’re the most inconsistent team in the conference, but we can beat anybody on any given night,” Coffee County coach Jerry Pruitt said. “That’s a program-changing win right there.”

The Red Raiders got it going in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff double from McKenzie. Up next at the plate was Abellana, who proceeded to knock the ball over the left field fence for a two-run home run.

Still up 2-0 heading into the bottom of the second, Sadler came up to bat and connected on a ground ball for a double. Moore brought Sadler home not long after to make it a 3-0 Coffee County lead.

Cookeville began to cut back into it in the top of the third inning, starting with McKenzie hitting KJ Anderson with a pitch with the bases loaded to get the Cavaliers on the board. On the next at-bat, a balk brought in another Cookeville run and made it a 3-2 game with one out. McKenzie was able to get the strikeout before a groundout retired the side with the Red Raiders up by a run.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Cookeville opened the top of the fifth with a leadoff triple from Jackson Jones. Cole Teeters came to the plate next and brought Jones home to tie the game at 3-3. The Red Raiders proceeded to force a line out in right field courtesy of Hyatt Moss before McKenzie struck out the next two batters to prevent Cookeville from taking the lead.

Moore kicked off the bottom of the inning with a ground ball single. Shortly after, Abellana came to plate with Moore having stolen second on the previous at-bat. Abellana followed with a grounder to left field, getting Moore home in the process to put Coffee County back up by one.

With Isaiah Deadman on the mound to close out the last two innings, the Red Raiders kept Cookeville from scoring another run and secured the win in the top of the seventh.

“We’ve told them all year that they can beat anybody on any given night, but we can also lose to anybody on any given night,” Pruitt said. “Hopefully this flips the script and we can get going at the right time come the district tournament.”

Coffee County connected on five hits over the course of the game, with two each for Abellana and Moore. McKenzie had one hit.

Abellana brought in three of the team’s four RBI, with Moore adding one.

McKenzie finished with eight strikeouts, four hits, three runs and two walks through the first five innings to secure the win. Deadman added three strikeouts and one hit over the final two innings to earn the save.

CHS falls to Cascade

Coffee County returned home from its trip to Cascade with a loss last Friday evening.

After going up by a run in the top of the first, the Red Raiders fell behind in the bottom of the inning and continued trailing Cascade on the way to a 9-2 loss.

Coffee County finished with nine hits, led by Steele, Sadler and Moore with two each. Abellana, Leonard and Elijah Vernon each had one hit.

Moore and Floyd each had one RBI for a team total of two.

Meeks pitched the first five innings, finishing with five strikeouts, seven hits, eight runs and one walk. Floyd took his place, adding one strikeout, one hit, one run and one walk through the game’s remainder.