The Coffee County CHS baseball team got their first action on their home field on Saturday as they welcomed Grundy County to Powers Field for a 10 inning scrimmage. The Coffee County pitchers struck out 23 Yellow Jacket batters on the day as the Raider defense needed only 7 defensive putouts. The Red Raiders banged out 14 hits as they rolled to a 9 to 3 victory.
After surrendering a run in the 1st inning without giving up a hit, the Raiders captured the lead in the bottom of the 1st with a pair of singles and a pair of triples. Coffee County’s pitchers, throwing a maximum of 2 innings, did not surrender a hit until the 8th inning. Brandon Jernigan was the leading hitter for Coffee County as he had a triple, a double and 1 RBI. Griffin Meeker had a pair of singles and 2 RBI. Hayden Skipper had a triple, a single and an RBI. Noah Bradshaw added a pair of singles. On the mound, Jernigan stuck out 6 in 2 innings of work while Skipper had 5 punch outs in a pair of innings. Meeker struck out 3 batters in one inning of work.
“I was definitely happy with the way we threw the ball today” said Coffee County coach David Martin. “I was happy with our energy and our approach to the game in general” added Martin. Martin was happy with the confidence and maturity his team displayed despite not having any outdoor practice sessions prior to the game.
The Raiders will attempt to get in a week of outdoor practices as they prepare for another scrimmage on Saturday in McMinnville. Coffee County will square off against Warren County in a 10 inning scrimmage beginning at noon. The Red Raiders open the regular season on Monday, March 9th as they host Columbia. Thunder Radio will be on hand to bring you the broadcast of that game. First pitch is set for 4 PM.
