By Jesse Smithey, [email protected]
Gibbs High School softball coach Carol Mitchell knows a quality win when she sees it.
After all, the program has won 10 state championships — including one last season.
Monday’s 10-0 win over Alcoa was classified as a “struggle” win in Mitchell’s eyes.
To her, the Gibbs hitters never really found their grooves. And her top two pitchers, who’ve recently returned from the injured list, knocked off some rust.
Nevertheless, Macey Hughes went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and six RBIs. Olivia Wheeler was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Kennedy Henry pitched four innings of five-hit ball, and Rayna Pendleton polished off the rest by allowing no hits in the final innings.
Gibbs (29-7) will face Kingston on Wednesday night in the Region 2-AA championship, as Kingston eliminated Union County by a 3-1 mark.
“I felt like we kind of struggled. I know that sounds crazy, but we never got comfortable offensively,” Mitchell said. “We had a couple of situations where we had a hit at the right time to score multiple runs. I just felt like offensively we weren’t really good tonight.”
Region 1-AAA
Jefferson County 8, Cherokee 0: Lauren Acker hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to give the Lady Patriots a 7-0 lead. Jefferson County, the District 2-AAA champion, will face its old district foe Morristown East, a 9-7 winner over David Crockett on Monday, for the region title on Wednesday.
Region 2-A
Sale Creek 7, Coalfield 0: Coalfield managed just two hits and was eliminated from the posteason. Sale Creek advances to face Tellico Plains – an 8-6 winner over Harriman on Monday.
Region 1-A
North Greene eliminated Cosby, 4-1, and Unaka took care of Greenback, 8-1. North Greene and Unaka will square off Wednesday for a region title.