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Baseball season is officially back in Manchester and while the Red Raiders have had no shortage of offense, two blown leads against Riverdale and Smyrna have kept them away from a winning start to the 2025 campaign.

March 3 at Webb

The Red Raiders’ season commenced with a rocky start in Bell Buckle on Monday, March 3 in a 6-3 loss to the Webb Feet.

Both teams managed four hits apiece, but two home runs by Webb; a two-run homer by Brady Sineus in the bottom of the third and a solo shot by Drew Baker in the bottom of the fourth made up the three-run difference between the two teams.

Coffee County’s pitching also struggled in the early innings, as starter Isaiah Deadman hit four batters with a pitch in the bottom of the first, helping the Feet scamper to a 2-0 lead after one inning of play. Deadman would go on to earn the loss on the mound after pitching three innings, allowing five runs on three hits and striking out just two batters.

Leiton Yancer pitched three innings in relief, giving up a single hit and striking out five batters.

Cole Pippenger, Colter Neel, Landon Abellana and Matt Moore would all tot up a single hit apiece with Pippenger and Moore each batting in one run.

March 4 at Riverdale

On Tuesday, March 4, the Red Raiders led Riverdale through the first five and a half innings of play, but a five-run sixth inning by the Warriors handed Coffee County their second loss of the season in an 8-4 decision in Murfreesboro.

The Red Raiders took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning with Colter Neel scoring on a line out by Matt Morre and Elijah Vernon batting in two runs on a ground ball single.

Coffee County’s lead would be short lived, as the Warriors wiped away the 3-0 advantage in the bottom of the second with a three-run bomb to center field by Jesus Gonzalez to knot the score at 3-3.

The Red Raiders grabbed the lead back in the top of the fourth inning after Matt Moore scored on a pop fly by Elijah Vernon to make the score 4-3.

Coffee County held the one-run lead through to the bottom of the sixth inning, and the Red Raiders were five outs away from their first win of the season, but a barrage of five runs by the Warriors flipped the script completely and the Red Raiders suffered an 8-4 loss.

Senior Cole Pippenger pitched 5.1 innings, but the Lipscomb signee was credited with the loss on the mound after giving up six runs on seven hits, committing two errors, striking out seven batters and walking two on 91 pitches.

March 7 at Smyrna

Similar to their Tuesday loss at Riverdale, the Red Raiders accrued a multiple score lead through the midway point of their Friday game with Smyrna, but six runs combined by the Bulldogs in the fourth and fifth innings dealt Coffee County their third loss of the season, 8-5.

Despite the loss, senior Colter Neel became the first Red Raider to hit a home run this season with a third inning bomb to center field.

March 8 Vs Clarksville Northwest

On Saturday, the Red Raiders finally broke through for their first win of the season with a 12-2 clubbing of Clarksville Northwest as part of the Grand Slam Tournament at Webb.

Cole Pippenger had a stellar night at the plate for Coffee County with four hits in four at-bats, including two home runs, the first of which was a two-run shot to center field in the bottom of the second inning and the second one coming on two-run pop fly to left field in the bottom of the third.

Davis McKenzie joined in on the fun with a two-run homer of his own in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the junior also got the win on the mound after pitching all five innings, allowing two runs on two hits, walking two batters and striking out 10.

The Red Raiders are scheduled to play their home opener on Monday, March 10 against Stewarts Creek at 6 p.m.