The only two unbeaten teams remaining in the Class 2A Spring Fling softball bracket squared off in an all-out war on the diamond in Thursday night’s winner’s bracket final with the Forrest Lady Rockets (30-3-1) scratching across two runs while holding the Lexington Lady Tigers scoreless.

The defending and three-time state champions have won 22 games in a row and will play for their fourth state title at 2:30 p.m. today versus the winner of this morning’s loser bracket final between Lexington (36-10-1) and Gibbs (31-12).

“We have played both so we know a little bit about both,” Forrest coach Shelby Lightfoot said. “Gibbs actually hit us a little bit better than Lexington and with Lexington we have a little bit of trouble with their pitcher.”

“We know she (Cadey McDaniel) doesn’t throw real quick, but she keeps you off balance and we knew she was going to throw at least one change-up to each batter and we didn’t do a good job of adjusting to that so that is something we have to work on and we will make that adjustment going in to tomorrow.”

Lexington won the state championship in 2013 and finished runner-ups to Forrest in 2019 while Gibbs has won 10 state titles with the last one coming in 2017.

Ashley Milligan was dominant in the circle for Forrest in Thursday’s winner bracket final, giving up a second inning single to Lauren Hall before retiring the next 17 Lexington batters in a row to record her second shutout of the tournament.

“We stressed to her that this has to be her best game and honestly this was one of the best games where she hit the spots she wanted to throw to all year,” Lightfoot said.

Forrest only had six hits in the game with Jenna Blanton coming with a pair of hits, including the eventual game winning RBI in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Karley Daughrity, Macyn Kirby, Katelyn Helmick, and Abby Ferguson all went 1-for-3 in the contest with Daughrity driving in the insurance run in the fifth inning.

Forrest threatened in their first at bat as Blanton led off the bottom of the first inning with a base hit up the middle and Laura Mealer drew the first of her two being pitched around walks.

Lexington had to play some defense and they did on three consecutive ground ball outs to escape the early jam.

With two outs in the top of the second, Hall singled to centerfield and stole second and third base before Karley Daughrity scooped up a ground ball at third and gunned to Katelyn Helmick at first for the third out.

Lexington did not have any baserunners after that.

Forrest had another scoring opportunity in the bottom of the third inning when Maggie Daughrity reached on a Lexington error and was sacrificed to second by Blanton.

Mealer drilled a ground ball, but it was right at Lexington third baseman Kennedy Brown, who gunned to first for the first out and the play at home to get Daughrity was bang-bang, but she was called out to end the inning.

Milligan struck out four out of the next six Lexington batters as the game moved to the bottom of the fifth inning where Ferguson fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches before singling to right field.

Briley Burnham laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that moved Ferguson up to second.

After a strikeout, Blanton scorched the first pitch up the middle and Ferguson scored easily for the first run of the contest.

Mealer was intentionally walked and Karley Daughrity came through again in the clutch, ripping an RBI base hit to right field to make it a 2-0 contest.

“You want your seniors up with two outs and runners in scoring position and Jenna had to go there, we were feeling really confident at that point,” Lightfoot said. “In the postseason Karley has been hitting well.”

“It’s really not what you do about the two at bats before, it’s what you do in the moment and we knew there was going to come a time when in big moments they would walk L.A. (Mealer) and Karley had to produce behind her and she has come up big doing that.”

Milligan got the first two outs in the top of the sixth inning on fly outs to Macyn Kirby in center field and an inning ending strikeout.

Forrest could not add to their run total in the bottom of the sixth inning and Lexington was down to their last three outs.

The first Lady Tigers’ batter went down looking, the second flied to Kirby in center and the final out was also caught by Kirby, sending Forrest to its eighth title game since 2002.

Forrest won the state championship in 2008, 2015, and 2019 while finishing runner-ups in 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2017.

Lexington 000 000 0-0 1 1

Forrest 000 020 X-2 6 0

Lexington: Lauren Hall 1-for-2.

SB: Hall 2.

Team LOB: 1

Fielding

E: Shay Hollingsworth.

DP: Kennedy Brown.

LP: Cadey McDaniel (6IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, 1K, 2BB).

Forrest: Jenna Blanton 2-for-2, Karley Daughrity 1-for-3, Macyn Kirby 1-for-3, Katelyn Helmick 1-for-3, Abby Ferguson 1-for-3.

BB: Laura Mealer 2.

IW: Mealer.

RS: Blanton, Ferguson.

RBI: Blanton, Daughrity.

SAC: Blanton, Briley Burnham.

ROE: Maggie Daughrity.

FC: Karley Daughrity, Ferguson, Ashley Milligan.

GIDP: Mealer.

SB: Blanton, Karley Daughrity.

LOB: 6

WP: Ashley Milligan (7IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 10K, 0BB).