Stories from Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Thomas Osteen will lead the Marshall County High School Tigers onto Preston Hopkins Field in Lewisburg next season as he was recently named the new head football coach at MCHS. The Lincoln County native comes to Marshall County with extensive football experience under his belt. As a high school player, Osteen was selected All-Region for two years before the wide receiver walked-on at Middle Tennessee State University.

The Cornersville Lady Bulldogs (4-3) defeated the Marshall County Tigerettes on the softball diamond for the first time since 1997 on Friday night when they beat MCHS 3-0 at home behind a brilliant pitching performance from starting hurler Mary Taylor Hickman. Playing their first game without cleanup hitter McKenzie Anderson, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury, Marshall County (2-9) had their offense shutdown by Hickman after averaging five runs per game in their previous 10 contests. The hard throwing right hander limited the Tigerettes to just three hits in seven scoreless innings of work while issuing no walks and recording eight strikeouts en route to earning her second win of the season.

The Forrest Lady Rockets returned to the Field of Dreams for the first time in 12 days on Monday and after spotting Independence six first-inning runs, the Chapel Hill girls clubbed their way to a 22-6 three-inning, run-rule win. Katie Warrick, who relieved Sara Jordan in the first inning, tossed three innings of perfect ball in the circle for the win, while going 1-3 at the dish with a base on balls, one RBI and three runs scored.

Forrest knew coming in to Monday night's District 9A battle in Chapel Hill that facing Huntland ace lefty Kobe Foster in Chapel Hill was going to be a tough task and it turned out to be true as the Hornet hurler shutout the Rockets 3-0 on just two hits. Foster gave up a leadoff double to Jacob Daughrity in the bottom of the first before stymieing the Rockets over the next six and two third innings when Logan Hollingsworth banged a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh.

Coming off a humbling 11-1 loss to the Ross Rams earlier in the day, the Marshall County Tigers (9-2) avoided a potential sweep by Ohio based teams when they rallied to defeat the Wyoming Cowboys 5-4 on Sunday afternoon at home in the Rocket/Tiger Classic. Wyoming held a 4-3 lead through the first six innings of play, but self destructed in the bottom of the seventh, as the Tigers scored two runs in the frame without the benefit of a hit to claim their ninth win of the season.

On Friday night, the Marshall County Tigers (8-1) defeated the Cornersville Bulldogs (8-3) for the fifth straight time when they pulled out a hard fought 4-3 victory at home in the Rocket/Tiger Classic. The two teams were locked in a 3-3 tie through the first five and a half innings of play, but the Tigers scored a run in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out RBI infield single by Connor Bush before fending off a Bulldog rally attempt in the top of the seventh to claim their fourth straight win.

The Forrest Rockets finished off a perfect 4-0 weekend as co-hosts of the Rocket/Tiger Classic with a big 7-5 comeback win over Spring Hill on a frigid Saturday night in Chapel Hill. "When you play in these kind of conditions it's hard to stay pretty, whether you are Jennifer Anniston or the Forrest Rockets," said Forrest head coach Chris Parker. "We were able to fight through it and scratch it out and that is tournament baseball and I am proud of the guys' effort."

n Thursday night, the Marshall County Tigers (5-1) successfully kicked off the Rocket/Tiger Classic by crushing the Grundy County Yellow Jackets 11-1 at home in five innings. Aided by a five-run third inning, the Tigers pounded out 11 hits against two Grundy County pitchers to go along with eight walks and two Yellow Jacket errors.

The Forrest Rockets notched their fifth win in a row with a close 3-2 win over Class AA Creekwood Friday night at the Rocket/Tiger Classic in Chapel Hill. "That was big win for us, they have a real good baseball team with outstanding coaches," said Forrest head coach Chris Parker. "They also have a pretty good looking girls' basketball coach I am going to marry this summer that teaches at Creekwood, so it will at little easier for me to sleep tonight."

Forrest opened up the Rocket/Tiger Classic Thursday afternoon with a big 4-3 come from behind win over McMinn Central before stamping an 11-1 victory over Cannon County in a game that was suspended due to rain on Thursday and resumed on Saturday. In the Rockets' tournament opener, Forrest fell behind 2-0 on a pair of RBI two baggers by Jace Johnson and Will McInturff off FHS starting pitcher Alex Brewer in the top of the second inning.

The Marshall County Tigers (7-1) notched their third straight win on Friday afternoon when they defeated the McMinn Central Chargers 8-1 in six innings at Joe George Field in the Rocket/Tiger Classic. After Marshall County jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, the Chargers (6-6) trimmed the deficit to 3-1 in the top of the fourth inning.

The Cornersville Bulldogs suffered just their second loss of the season on Thursday afternoon when they dropped a 10-3 decision to the Grundy County Yellow Jackets (9-3) at Joe George Field in the Rocket/Tiger Classic. After both teams scored two runs in the first inning, Grundy County controlled the game the rest of the way and outscored CHS 8-1 over the final six frames to claim their ninth win of the season.

Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Cornersville Bulldogs (8-4) when they butted heads with the Ross Rams (1-0) on Saturday afternoon, as the defending Southwest Ohio Conference champs pounded CHS 24-0 in four innings at Joe George Field in the Rocket/Tiger Classic. Ross took control of the game right from the start and built a 2-0 lead in the first inning before pushing across five runs in the top of the second to open up a 7-0 advantage.

After dismantling Cornersville the previous day, the Ross Rams (2-1) took another pelt back to Ohio when they whipped the Marshall County Tigers 11-1 in five innings on Sunday afternoon at Joe George Field in the Rocket/Tiger Classic. The Tigers (8-2) were swimming upstream right from the start, as Ross built an 8-0 lead through the first two innings of play. MCHS then tallied a run in the bottom of the fourth to trim the deficit to 8-1, but the Rams responded with three runs in the top of the fifth to bring the mercy rule into effect.

After suffering a blowout loss to Ross, Ohio earlier in the day, the Cornersville Bulldogs (8-5) made a much better showing against their second opponent from the Buckeye state, but were still unable to come away with a victory, as they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Wyoming Cowboys at Joe George Field on Saturday night in the Rocket/Tiger Classic. The two teams were locked in a 1-1 tie through the first three innings of play before the Cowboys tallied two runs over the next three frames to seize a 3-1 advantage.

Pamela Byrd Price, 62, of Chapel Hill, died Friday, March 28, 2014. Mrs. Price was born in Toledo, Ohio, and was a daughter of the late Harvel Earl Byrd and Carolyn Leona Lindsey Byrd. She was a homemaker and was a member of Smyrna Baptist Church in Chapel Hill...

Edna Byrd Howell, 83, of Chapel Hill, died Thursday, March 27, 2014, in Columbia. Mrs. Howell was born in Davidson County and was a daughter of the late George Kelly and Anna Waller Byrd. She was employed with the United States Post Office in Chapel Hill where she retired as Assistant Postmaster. Following retirement, Mrs. Edna enjoying spending time with her husband, children and grandchildren on the family farm. Mrs. Howell was a longtime member of Holts Corner Baptist Church...

Laura Jeanne Hastings, 87, of Shelbyville, passed away Friday, March 28, 2014, at AdamsPlace in Murfreesboro. Mrs. Hastings was born Oct. 14, 1926, in Lewisburg, to the late Eulie and Maggie Shaw Hobby. She grew up in the Berlin Community and lived in Belfast, where she raised her family. She was a member of Mt. Zion Methodist Church...

Loyd Reed Graham, 67, passed away on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. Loyd was born on Feb. 22, 1947, in Lewisburg. He was a musician by trade and loved to play for pleasure as well. He also was a gifted writer of poems and songs. Loyd was dearly loved, and expressed a deep love for others. He was of the Nazarene faith. He was a devoted husband and loved his wife, Martha. They were married 41 years...

Amelia Katherine White, 54, of Lewisburg, died Thursday, March 27, 2014, at her residence. She was born April 19, 1959, in Marshall County, to the late Henry Alton White and Hazel Stinnett White, who survives of Lewisburg. She was a homemaker and member of Lewisburg First United Methodist Church...

Affes Cleveland Holder was born March 7, 1919, and died March 27, 2014, at 95 years old. He was a WWII veteran and spent time in the Phillipines and Japan. Mr. Holder was a member of the Robertson Fork Church of Christ, where he was a song leader and personal worker. He and his wife conducted services with the elderly at the Cornersville Retirement Home for 15 years. He was a retired farmer and worked at Heil Quaker for 28 years...

Arrested on drug charges Gary W. Wright, 56, Maple Street. Bond: $40,500; court date not stated. Wright was charged with possession of Schedule II and IV drugs, possession of a Schedule II drug for resale, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also had a failure-to-appear warrant from Lewisburg City Court, a county warrant for violation of probation, and a criminal summons for passing worthless checks...

By Karen Hall Editor At their meeting last week, Lewisburg Downtown Alliance members agreed to pull back from a commitment to hold a Second Saturday event on the square every month from May to September. Longtime member Ken Todd started the discussion by saying, "I think we have to cancel (Second Saturdays) due to lack of participation. I'm very busy with my own work, and I just don't have the energy for it I had in the past."...

By Karen Hall Editor The Tennessee Preservation Trust recently announced its "2013 Ten in Tennessee Endangered Properties List." This year's list includes a church in Lewisburg, at the corner of Water Street and 3rd Avenue North. The TPT calls it Water Street Abbey, but some older residents may remember it as the Water Street Church of Christ...

By Karen Hall Editor Cold wet weather Saturday did not deter Wes Pullen, Kathy Wood, and Linda and Jason Boshers from their plan to spend the day exploring cemeteries, and photographing and recording the GPS coordinates of Confederate graves. I joined them for visits to two cemeteries, Shiloh and Hill...