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BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Carol Mitchell, the legendary head coach of Gibbs Softball, did some offseason calculations following the Lady Eagles’ 2024 Class 3A state championship win.
Curiosity stirred, and Mitchell needed to know the percentage chances of TSSAA softball teams repeating as state title winners in Class 3A.
When she reached the end of her number crunching, Mitchell figured up that only 16 percent of those defending state champions had repeated the following season.
Gibbs could alter that Friday.
Lacey Keck pitched a gem Thursday, and the Lady Eagles knocked off Creek Wood, 1-0, at the McKnight Softball Complex to win a Class 3A semifinal and advance to Friday’s championship game against DeKalb County (26-5-1).
The game is slated for a 10 a.m. start and will be played at Middle Tennessee State’s softball stadium, where Gibbs topped Carter in last year’s finale.
Gibbs (40-3) has 11 all-time state softball championships.
It repeated in 1983-84, 1986-1988 and from 1998-2000.
“You have a 16 percent chance to do it. That’s what I told them (back in July): ‘Sixteen times out of 100 it’s going to happen,'” Mitchell said. “I said you’re probably going to hear that number a lot as we go through our offseason, because their goal every year is: let’s make it to state and let’s win state.
“When we got that first state championship (last year) since 2017, these girls have craved getting back to that game — and getting into that 16 percent category. All year, that’s what they’ve worked for.”
Gibbs had percentages in its favor Thursday, as it had to lose twice to Creek Wood to not advance to the title round.
But the Lady Eagles didn’t allow Creek Wood to force that if-necessary contest later in the day.
Shelby Williams’ RBI-single in the first inning put Gibbs ahead.
Keck fired a three-hitter and struck out five against one walk.
Creek Wood stranded two runners in the third, one in the fourth, and one in the fifth.
“I just had to remember to keep my ball down and hit my spots,” Keck said of working a one-run lead.
Keck slammed the door in the seventh, getting the final two outs via strikeout.
She’s not a volume-strikeout kind of pitcher but can summon one or two when the moment calls for it.
“I think Lacey is very confident in her pitches. So any pitch we call, she’s confident she can put it where it’s supposed to be,” Mitchell. “Hopefully they don’t hit it. Or if they do, they don’t hit it well.
“I thought she did a really good job today of mixing up her locations. She may not strike out a lot of people, but it seems like when you need a strikeout you get one. The last inning was a good example with their 4-5-6 hitters up.”