The Nashville Sounds stepped to the plate with the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame to provide free admission to visitors through Sept. 30.
Club officials say the gesture is their way of celebrating former Sound R.A. Dickey being part of the hall’s 2022 class.
Dickey is a former Montgomery Bell Academy and Tennessee Vols pitcher who spent the 2007 season with the Sounds after signing with the Milwaukee Brewers. He posted a 12-6 record with a 3.80 ERA and was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year.
Dickey went on to win the National League Cy Young Award with the New York Mets in 2012, a Gold Glove with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2013 and played a total of 15 years in the major leagues.
“We all know R.A. Dickey and know that he is a wonderful ambassador for the game of baseball,” Sounds vice president Doug Scopel said. “The one year he pitched for us in 2007 he had a great year but even if he’d have had a bad year he’s still such a wonderful guy and we want to support and promote him.”
Dickey will be inducted on July 23 at the Omni Nashville Downtown.
The Sounds also honored Dickey during the first home series this season with an R.A. Dickey shirsey giveaway.
The hall of fame has a large collection of Nashville Sounds, Nashville Vols and Negro Leagues memorabilia.
The hall is located next to the Visitor Center inside Bridgestone Arena and is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer visitors the opportunity to tour the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame free of charge,” said hall of fame executive director Brad Willis. “We appreciate the Nashville Sounds for stepping up to offer free admission through September, so visitors can learn about the heritage of sports in our state.”
Hillsboro and Trevecca baseball player John Anderson on The Bachelorette
Former Hillsboro and Trevecca baseball player John Anderson will be a cast member on “The Bachelorette” Season 19, which starts July 11.
Anderson was an outfielder who helped Trevecca reach the 2021 NCAA Division II College World Series,
He battled cancer earlier in his career and became one of the few Trevecca athletes to play seven years of college athletics due to a serious injury and the Covid-19 interruption.
Anderson is now a high school English teacher.
Keith Vroman replaces Dean Hayes as MTSU track coach
Keith Vroman was promoted Tuesday to coach of Middle Tennessee State’s track and field and cross country teams.
Vroman spent the previous 19 years as an assistant to MTSU legendary coach Dean Hayes, who died in January after spending 57 years as the Blue Raiders coach.
“Coach Vroman’s long history of success spoke for itself during the interview process, and he quickly became our first choice for the job,” MTSU athletics director Chris Massaro said. “The 19 years he spent learning from coach Dean Hayes here in Murfreesboro, alongside his track record recruiting and training elite athletes during that time, stood out to everyone on the search committee.”
Don Bruce makes hole-in-one at Whistling Straights
Don Bruce, a familiar face in Nashville because of his long-running home improvement television commercials, made a hole-in-one on the No. 3 hole at Whistling Straights in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
The par 3 hole was playing 195 yards and Bruce used a 5-wood in a 30 mph crosswind to make the shot.
It was witnessed by some of Bruce’s best golfing buddies Gene Lomax, Mike Murphy and David Clark.
Whistling Straights has hosted several major tournaments including the 2021 Ryder Cup.
Former Lipscomb golfer Aaron Flener cashes in as a PGA caddie
Nashville resident Aaron Flener had a big two weeks.
Flener, who played golf at Lipscomb (2001-04), is caddie for J.T. Poston, who won the PGA Tour John Deere Classic Sunday at Silvis, Illinois, and tied for second the week before in the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.
Poston won $2 million over the two weeks and caddies usually get 10% plus a bonus for a win.
Flener has caddied for Poston since 2017.
Tyler Reddick’s first NASCAR Cup win is with Franklin crew chief
Franklin native Clay Alexander is the crew chief for Tyler Reddick, who got his first NASCAR Cup Series win Sunday in the Road America in Wisconsin.
Alexander, an Independence graduate, is the son of Mike Alexander, a two-time Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway champion and member of track’s the hall of fame.
Clay Alexander started his career racing at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway before joining Richard Childress Racing in 2014 doing entry level work in the garage.
He worked his way up to being on the crew for Austin Dillion’s car and eventually became crew chief for Daniel Suarez and then Reddick.
OVC football media day returns to Franklin
The Ohio Valley Conference football media day is July 19 at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs.
It will be the first in-person media day since 2019. The last two were held remotely because of COVID-19.
The OVC office is in Brentwood. The head coach and two players from each conference team will be at the event.
Commissioner Beth DeBauche will address the conference’s new lineup during the meetings.
Over the last two seasons Austin Peay, Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky have left the OVC and Lindenwood has joined it. Murray State will play the 2022 season in the OVC and move to the Missouri Valley in 2023.
Belmont, which does not play football, also left while Arkansas Little Rock and Southern Indiana, which do not have football teams, joined.
TSU picks up former 4-star wide receiver transfer
East Carolina wide receiver Rayonta Rose, a former 4-star prospect, is transferring to Tennessee State.
The Belmont, North Carolina, native was a 247 Composite 4-star recruit in 2020. He was the nation’s 11th-ranked wide receiver by Rivals.
He had 84 catches for 1,654 yards and 22 touchdowns in his career at South Point High School.
Rose spent the 2021 at East Carolina but did not play.
Rose became the fourth wide receiver to transfer to TSU from FBS programs. The others are J.J. Holloman from Georgia, Chevy Benson from Ball State and former Father Ryan star Christian Smith from Eastern Michigan.
Chris Padilla is Cumberland’s new volleyball coach
Chris Padilla has been promoted to men’s volleyball coach at Cumberland.
Padilla, an Overton and MTSU graduate, spent the last two seasons as a Cumberland assistant.
Before that he coached at Hillsboro, Mt. Juliet Christian Academy, University School of Nashville, Webb and Providence Christian.
“We posted the job and had a lot of resumes,” Cumberland athletics director Ron Pavan said. “After an intensive search, Chris emerged as the best fit to be our new coach.”
Chris Rowland has big game in USFL championship
Former Ravenwood and TSU receiver Chris Rowland had a big game for the Philadelphia Stars in the USFL Championship. The Stars lost to the Birmingham Stallions 33-30.
Rowland had four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown, three carries for 29 yards and two kickoff returns for 59 yards. He also made three tackles.
C.J. Marable, who recently moved to Nashville, rushed for 23 yards on seven carries and had a tackle for Birmingham.
Birmingham’s defensive coordinator is former Tennessee Vols defensive coordinator John Chavis and the wide receivers coach is former TSU wide receiver and offensive coordinator Mike Jones.
Keirce Kimbel returns to Austin Peay as hitting coach
New Austin Peay baseball coach Roland Fanning added a former Governor to his staff by hiring Franklin native Keirce Kimbel as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator.
After beginning his career at Columbia State Kimbel played at Austin Peay in 2015 and 2016 and served as the operations assistant on the staff in 2017.
Kimbel began his coaching career at Kentucky as graduate assistant and spent the last three seasons as pitching coach at Evansville.
Mt. Juliet and Tech pitching great Dorris Sullivan dies
Former Mt. Juliet and Tennessee Tech standout pitcher Dorris Sullivan died on June 30. He was 68.
Sullivan, a powerful right-hander, made the All-Nashville Interscholastic League Eastern Division team in 1971.
He went on to play at Tech (1972-74) where he set the career ERA record at 2.11 and also starred on the Nashville Merchants city league teams coached by Jack Lavender.
After his playing plays Sullivan spent many years as a local high school and summer league umpire.
MTSU golfer Daniel Love transfers to Austin Peay
Former MTSU golfer Daniel Love has transferred to Austin Peay.
Love competed in all three fall events for MTSU in the 2020-21 season and turned in a 78.1 stroke average. The Owensboro, Kentucky, native was a three-time Kentucky All-State honoree who played at Daviess County and set the school records for tournaments won (12) and stroke average (72.07).
He won the 2018 Kentucky Junior Amateur championship.
Former Tennessee Miss Basketball joins Tennessee Tech staff
Two-time Tennessee Miss Basketball Division II Class AA Jasmine Cincore has joined the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball coaching staff.
Cincore, who played at Briarcrest, also made the USA Today All-Tennessee first team in 2014.
She went on to play at Nebraska then began her coaching career at Murray State College in Oklahoma and spent two years at Rogers State.
Cincore was on the staff last season at Eastern Illinois.
Ex-TSU receiver Andrew Bather joins Texas A&M staff
Former Lavergne and TSU wide receiver Andrew Bather has joined the staff at Texas A&M as a personnel assistant.
After playing at TSU (2012-15) Bather became the wide receivers coach and director of player development at Brevard College. He returned to TSU in 2020 as wide receivers coach2020.
If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
