MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — I’ve been in pregame, halftime and postgame locker-room gatherings. I’ve covered a variety of sports from press boxes and sidelines and once sat cross-legged in a corner of an overpacked gym for a sub-state basketball game.

But I don’t know that I’ve ever had more fun than I did standing in GPS’s dugout for the Division II state softball tournament game Thursday.

The first thing I realized during the Bruisers’ 7-4 win over St. Benedict is that I should have brought earplugs. The constant dugout chatter, cheering and singing associated with softball teams is fine unless you’re standing in a space about the size of a hotel bathroom with two coaches and a trainer while 15 teenage girls hyped up on Snickers candy bars scream at the top of their lungs.

There are more than 2,200 athletes here this week for the Spring Fling, but there isn’t a group in any sport enjoying their stay more than the softball Bruisers.

“We’re pretty much a traveling circus,” GPS coach Susan Crownover said. “If they’re quiet, I know something is really wrong.”

Apparently one of the young reserves is responsible for remembering which cheers have already been used and suggesting new ones. And certain cheers can be vetoed if there is too much thinking involved. As one Bruisers player admitted, “Let’s don’t do the cheer where we have to spell really fast. I can’t keep up.”

Sticking a teammate with a nickname she hates, then yelling it really loud when she steps up to bat also is held in high regard. So is finding creative practical jokes to overcome the boredom of down time between games.

Assistant coach Kim Leffew was reminded earlier this year that everyone is fair game at any time. During one out-of-town tournament, she turned down her bed covers to find what she thought was a huge sewer rat next to a pillow. Before she realized it was plastic and that she had been had, Leffew’s screams woke everyone on her floor.

“I honestly thought she was going to keel over and pass out or die before she realized it wasn’t real,” Crownover said. “It could be IcyHot on your toilet seat or any number of things. You have to be on your toes at all times with this bunch.”

The team’s five seniors are typically at the root of any practical joke but also know when to get serious. That group will play in the state-title game tonight for the fourth consecutive year. Last year they helped GPS beat its four state tournament opponents by a combined 45-3, and now they are one win from defending their title and claiming the program’s fifth overall championship.

Like their baseball brethren, softball players and coaches are a superstitious lot. Because of that, the Bruisers players have been without their cell phones for much of the week. Crownover began a tradition of no cell phones during last year’s tournament and has continued it this year, hoping for the same result.

Hoping to avoid any distractions, players can use their cell phones during the time between breakfast and boarding the team bus, but as they leave their rooms Leffew holds open a bag for each to drop their phone into, reminding them to “power down and deposit.”

“The first time we took their phones, they all looked like they were lining up to get shot,” Crownover said.

The only other time players have use of their phones is on the bus ride after a game.

“It’s not that big a deal for most of us because we know why we’re up here to begin with,” said first baseman Jessica Phillips. “It just means we hang out and talk to each other more.”

Phillips and center fielder Kamri Chester have signed with Memphis University, while utility infielder Amy Campbell will play at East Tennessee State University and second baseman C.C. Gordon is headed to Howard University. Pitcher Megan Wagner knows the type talent surrounding her, which allows her to just throw strikes and rely on the defense.

“We’ve played together since about the sixth grade, so we know what each of us is capable of,” Phillips said. “We’ve always been very close. We like to have a good time, but we’re all serious about the game.”

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