How Gibbs softball won first state title since 2017 and 11th overall
MURFREESBORO – It was a return to form for Gibbs softball.
Gibbs defeated Carter 6-1 on Friday in the Class 3A title game at MTSU to claim its first TSSAA softball state championship since 2017. It’s the 11th title for one of the winningest programs in TSSAA history, third most all-time.
“We like to think that there's no better way to end May than, you know, at the state tournament," Gibbs coach Carol Mitchell said. "And this group, we made it a point, we talked about (the TSSAA state tournament) every day.
"In the offseason, 'Why are we lifting weights? Why are we doing this? Why do we do the extra lap or the extra sprint?' and so this team, we know why. We (broke) every practice down with 'Win state' this year, so it was on our forefront.”
Mitchell has led Gibbs to six state championships since taking over the program in the 1993-94 season. Prior to coaching at Gibbs, Mitchell played for the Lady Eagles for five seasons, winning four state titles.
She’s personally led Gibbs to the state tournament 28 times, yet making the trip to Murfreesboro never gets old for Mitchell.
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“It was a pretty fantastic feeling when you hear them say, this is Gibbs' 37th appearance at the state tournament. I was like, 'Wow,' like that was a wild moment ... it doesn't (get old) and every team is different, even if they're made up of the same girls," Mitchell said. "And you just kind of get that little giddy feeling inside and it was exciting walking into a stadium. We haven't played in a stadium since the (1999-2000) team, we played at UT's stadium, so this was nice."
Despite the historical success that Gibbs softball has had, they hadn’t won a title in seven seasons.
After finishing as runner-up at the state tournament in 2022, Gibbs was knocked out in a semifinal matchup with Lexington last season. That only fueled the desire to return to the state tournament and get over that final hump, said star pitcher Lacey Keck.
Keck pitched the entirety of the state tournament for the Lady Eagles, striking out 21 batters in 27 innings, while allowing just three earned runs.
“She's the rock on the mound. She doesn't get too hot, she doesn't get too low, she's solid," Mitchell said. "She's a competitor, you know, I don't know if it was the third or fourth inning, but she jacked up her speed. You know, it was like, 'Let's go, it's go time.'”
Harrison Campbell covers high school sports and more for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@gannett.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: TSSAA state tournament: Gibbs softball wins program's 11th title
