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Red Raider baseball began their exciting week with their closing game of the regular season against Lincoln County. Senior Night was hosted prior to their final game to celebrate soon-to-be Raider graduates. The Raiders ultimately fell to Lincoln Co. 12-2.

Their following game opened the District Tournament. The Raiders started off sour, falling to Franklin County. After the team played in the loser’s bracket. The Raiders made their way back up to the top winning over Shelbyville in the Championship game.

District Tournament- Wednesday, May 3 – Franklin Co.

Cole Pippenger went 2-4 with an RBI and a double. Pippenger additionally contributed one run. Other Raiders with valuable runs include Aiden Robertson, Caleb Moran, Carter McKenzie, Dayne Crosslin and Nolan Jernigan.  The team ultimately couldn’t keep the Rebel team off the base paths, as Franklin County completed the upset of the season.

With five different pitchers throughout the game, the Raiders had a combined strikeout total of seven. The Raiders fell to Franklin County 8-6.

District Tournament- Thursday, May 4 – Warren Co.

Coffee, with their backs against the wall, began their comeback in blowout fashion handily defeating Warren County 10-0. In this must-win game, Crosslin and McKenzie each managed a homerun each. McKenzie finished with 3 RBI. Meanwhile, Crosslin went 1-3 with 2 RBI. Aiden Robertson threw 92 pitches, 56 of which were strikes finishing with three strikeouts.

District Tournament- Saturday, May 6 – Franklin Co.

On Saturday, Coffee had a rematch with Franklin County that did not disappoint. In this game, Aiden Robertson went 4-4 with a homerun, a double, 2 RBI, and 3 total runs. Cole Pippenger also managed a homerun in this game.

Brady Daugherty struck out five Franklin County hitters. Timothy Henderson struck out three batters.

District Tournament- Saturday, May 6 – Shelbyville

Carter McKenzie crushed a homerun against Shelbyville. McKenzie went 1-3 with 2 RBI. Jayden Fellers threw 93 pitches, 64 of which were strikes and three total strikeouts. The Raiders won over Shelbyville 9-2 forcing a rematch for the championship set for the next day.

District Championship Game- Sunday, May 7 – Shelbyville

In the championship game with Shelbyville, Caleb Moran wanted to leave nothing to chance.  He seized every opportunity to push his team to victory finishing 3-3 with a homerun and an RBI.  Moran was the Red Raider catalyst on offense in a game that would be a defensive battle.

Henderson struck out 9 batters in this game while Cole Pippenger contributed one strikeout, but it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Red Raider team.  Pippenger came in to relieve Henderson after 6.2 brilliant innings pitched.  Shelbyville had bases loaded with Eagles and two outs when sophomore reliever Pippenger threw a fastball by the Shelbyville hitter to clinch the game and district championship for Coffee County. The Raiders won over Shelbyville by a final score of 3-2.

Awards

Robertson was named district Pitcher of the Year. Caleb Moran received Co-Player of the Year while Coach Kyle Douglas was named Coach of the Year.

Carter McKenzie, Jacob Holder, Cole Pippenger, Nate Rutledge and Jayden Fellers were also named All-District.