The church bake sale that broke my sourdough confidence

Last spring I volunteered to bring two loaves to our church's bake sale in Concord. I had been baking sourdough for about 8 months and thought I had my starter figured out. Morning of the sale, I pulled the loaves out of the oven and they looked amazing, nice ear, good color. Cut into one for a sample slice and it was gummy as heck in the middle, like raw dough stuck together. I almost panicked but ended up slicing both loaves thin and toasting them into crostinis with rosemary salt, sold every piece in 40 minutes. The lady running the sale asked if I made "artisan crackers" and I just said yes. Since then I always do a crumb check with a toothpick before committing to a fancy shape. Has anyone else had a fail that turned into an accidental win with a quick pivot like that?