Philip McKinney remembers it like yesterday.

Five years ago, McKinney had a tough decision to make. The Warren East softball coach faced a dilemma as the Lady Raiders opened the season at state-ranked No. 12 Daviess County.

McKinney had three pitchers – a freshman, an eighth-grader and a seventh-grader – and he had to choose one to start the opener. McKinney waited until the team arrived at the field in Owensboro, filed into the dugout and sat down before picking up the game ball and handing it to seventh-grader Katie Gardner.

“I took the game ball, tossed it to Katie and I said, ‘Go get loose,’ ” McKinney said.

Gardner then went out and tossed a shutout as Warren East won that opener 3-0, and she’s been the Lady Raiders’ ace ever since. On Thursday, Gardner signed her national letter of intent to play college softball at UT Martin. McKinney thinks the Skyhawks may have found an ace of their own by inking Gardner.

“UT Martin’s been after her since her freshman or sophomore year, like really hard,” McKinney said. “She’s definitely going to really get a good look to get some innings as a freshman.”

For Gardner, the signing seals a long relationship with UT Martin.

“I really liked how small the university is and I really liked how much they wanted me,” Gardner said. “ … I’ve gotten to know a bunch of the girls on the team and I really like how they run things down there.”

Gardner has helped the Lady Raiders to consistent success since taking over as the team’s primary pitcher, including a dazzling run in last season’s KHSAA State Softball Tournament that ended with a championship-game loss to Scott County.

Warren East never would have made that run without Gardner, who’s tough-minded approach is just the right fit in the pitching circle.

“You need to have that mentality, to be honest, to be a pitcher,” McKinney said. “There’s certain positions in certain sports that you’ve got to have a little bit of an attitude. … She’s got that attitude. She wants the ball.”

McKinney almost faced a disaster last season when he gave Gardner a rare opportunity to run the bases. Bad move, as Gardner broke the thumb on her pitching hand diving back into second base. That cost Gardner three weeks, but fortunately the Lady Raiders had developed pitching depth and weathered her absence.

Even with that missed time, Gardner dominates the school’s record book. She owns the career marks for wins (78) and strikeouts (890) and sports a career ERA of 1.76.

“To be honest with you, Katie could probably have 1,500 strikeouts,” McKinney said. “Some coaches, they get a stud pitcher and they throw her and throw her and they throw her. Fair or not fair, Katie doesn’t always get the easy games and she probably hasn’t since her eighth-grade year. She’s got to throw all the tough games. She’s got to throw against all the ranked teams.”

Gardner, who’s also thrown three perfect games and nine career no-hitters at Warren East, wants one more crack at a state title before she’s through.

“The state tournament’s always huge,” Gardner said. “This year we have semi-state and that’s going to be a little bit difficult, but overall I think we’ll get back and hopefully we’ll win a state championship.”{&end}