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BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Given that her Gibbs softball team would have to play a morning game and afternoon game Wednesday to open the TSSAA Class 3A state tournament, longtime Lady Eagles head coach Carol Mitchell wondered how her team would respond to having Tuesday’s game washed out.
“Well, when we got up at 6 this morning, and we were screaming and yelling and hootin’ and hollerin’,” Mitchell said, “I knew it might be a good day.”
It was, indeed.
Gibbs (39-3) stormed out of the gates with a 12-1 win over Covington to begin the day and then capped its Wednesday slate with a hard-fought, 3-2 win over Heritage.
Now, the Lady Eagles — the 11-time state champ and defending champion, at that — will have to be beaten twice Thursday to not reach Friday’s championship round.
“We’re in the ideal spot,” Mitchell said. “You just have to go out and play the games. We go one game at a time and one step at a time.
“This was Step 2.”
Senior pitcher Lacey Keck led Gibbs in Game One on Wednesday, tossing a one-hitter in the 12-1 win while also going 3 for 3 with three RBIs. Shelby Williams (2 for 3, two RBIs), Bri Baker (2 for 2, three RBIs) and Maddi Whaley (2 for 3, RBI) each hit a home run apiece against the Lady Chargers.
In Gibbs’ second game, Heritage popped for two runs in the first inning, finding a way to manufacture runs against a stiff 15-to-20-mile-per-hour wind blowing in from the outfield.
The Lady Mountaineers (28-9), who began their day with a 3-0 win over Creek Wood, got their two first-inning runs with two outs. The first came on a Gibbs throwing error, as Heritage pressured Gibbs on the base paths. The second Heritage run came on a double by senior third baseman Autumn Perrin.
Gibbs struck back for two runs in the bottom of the first with RBIs from Williams and Baker.
Williams’ RBI-double in the third gave Gibbs a 3-2 lead.
Heritage got two runners on in the top of the fourth, but Keck got two strikeouts and a groundout to end the threat.
And when Heritage wanted to summon a rally in the final inning, Keck squashed that with two quick strikeouts. She got Carly Smith to pop out to end the game.
Keck pitched all seven innings for Gibbs in its second game of the day, allowing five hits, two walks — and striking out nine.
“Well, I mean, she’s pretty much been the pitcher for four years,” Mitchell said of Keck. “Anytime she’s out there, I’m really comfortable.
“We struggled a little bit early in the game, because we couldn’t get a take on the strike zone. But once we figured out the strike zone, I thought she pitched really well.”
Gibbs will play at 11 a.m. Central time Thursday against the winner of a 9 a.m. Thursday game between Heritage and Creek Wood.