Stories from Friday, May 23, 2014

The Forrest Lady Rockets were not going to repeat last year's first-round Spring Fling dud as they came back from a 2-0 first inning hole with a dozen unanswered runs en-route to a 12-3 opening round shellacking over University High from Johnson City on Tuesday in Murfreesboro. "We got off to a shaky start there defensively," said Forrest head coach Becky Cheatham. "But once they got their legs under them they got the bats rolling and when we do what we do, we will be successful."

Although the Forrest Rockets (28-14) saw their season come to an end on Wednesday morning, coach Chris Parker's squad didn't go down without a fight, as they dropped a 7-6 decision to the Goodpasture Cougars (35-7) in the loser's bracket of the Class A State Tournament at Middle Tennessee Christian School. Facing a Goodpasture program that has won four state titles over the last 10 years, the Rockets stood toe-to-toe with the private school powerhouse and battled the Cougars to a 4-4 tie through the first four innings of play.

The high flying Forrest Lady Rockets' offensive machine came skidding to a halt Wednesday night as Gordonsville ace lefty Cori Jennings twirled a two-hit shutout, sending the Chapel Hill girls to the TSSAA Spring Fling Class-A loser's bracket. Lainey Mays had both hits for the Lady Rockets, beating out an infield single in the second inning and lacing a double in the fourth.

Nothing went according to plan for the Forrest Rockets (28-13) on Tuesday afternoon, as they suffered an 11-1 loss in five innings to the Boyd Buchanan Buccaneers (29-9) in the first round of the Class A State Tournament at Middle Tennessee Christian School. The Buccaneers took the wind out of Forrest's sails early and built a 7-0 lead through the first two innings of play. After the Rockets trimmed the deficit to 7-1 in the top of the fourth, Boyd Buchanan tallied four more runs in the bottom of the fifth to bring the mercy rule into effect. With Tuesday's loss, Forrest falls into the loser's bracket where they will face Goodpasture on Wednesday morning.

Fay Shores Wheeler, 68, of Lynnville, passed away Tuesday, May 20, 2014. She was born in Pulaski on Feb. 15, 1946. Fay loved her family and enjoyed spending time on their farm. She loved to entertain and cook for friends and family and enjoyed sewing...

Norah GraceAnn Johnson, age 2 of Pensacola, Florida died Monday, May 19, 2014 at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. GraceAnn was a native of Marshall County, and she was the daughter of David Ryan and India Humphrey Johnson of Pensacola, Florida...

Annie Ruth Murray Collins, 82, of Lewisburg, died Tuesday, May 20, 2014, in Williamson Medical Center. Mrs. Collins was a native of Giles County, and daughter of the late Edward and Lizzie Shelton Clifton. She was the former owner of Murray's Café in Lewisburg. She was a member of Westvue Church of Christ...

From Staff Reports Memorial Day is more than just a day off work, or an extra day to get together with friends and family members. It is a federal holiday, dedicated to remembering all the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces...

From Staff Reports On Tuesday, directors of schools across the state received an email from the Tennessee Department of Education explaining that the release of TCAP/MAAS scores will delayed. This delay will result in Marshall County School System students not learning their final grades, or whether or not they passed to the next grade, until well after the end of the school year...

By Karen Hall Editor The 3rd Annual Bark in the Park, held to raise funds for the Friends of Animals in Marshall County Humane Association, was a great success Saturday, in spite of the cool, rainy weather. There were vendors, display booths, lots of politicians, and, of course, dogs of all sizes and shapes, from the biggest Great Dane to the smallest Yorkie...

By Karen Hall Editor When Marshall County's employee benefits committee reconvened their meeting Monday, insurance broker Paul Roussel of Brown and Brown gave them a quick recap of the decisions made so far. "I appreciate you guys giving me another week," he said. "We've been running at a bad loss ratio with Humana (the county's current health insurance provider), and we were facing a tough renewal...