Gator squads earn silver

BYRON — The Gateway Gators Blue and Green teams took to the diamond on Wednesday to participate in the Special Olympics Softball District “A” regional in Byron.

The Blue Gators’ bats supplied plenty of offensive firepower in their first matchup, as they topped Rockford “A” 32-1. The Blue Gators had 12 extra-base hits with Chrystal Morse, Jimmy Bermes, Jason Hanson and Tina Allen all hitting doubles. Cody Geiger hit a home run, Mike Morse had a pair of doubles to go along with a triple and Tyler Clift added a pair of triples for the winning effort.

In their second matchup of the tournament, the Blue Gators once again brought out their bats, tallying 19 runs in a 22-19 loss to the Sycamore Opportunity House Heat. Trailing by five runs starting the fourth inning, the Blue Gators rallied for a pair of scores, and looked to be threatening the Heat lead until a game-ending double play to end their rally.

Jimmy Johnson went 3-3 with a double and triple, Hanson went 2-3, knocking out a home run, Cody Geiger finished with a double and triple and Morse had a pair of doubles to lead the Blue Gators offensive charge against the Heat. Also for the Blue Gators, Chrystal Morse finished 3-4 with three singles, Jimmy Bermes went 3-3 with a double, Tina Allen, Billy Allen and Donny Bermes finished 1-3 at the plate

Blue Gators coach Phyllis Fargher was proud of her squad’s progression and tournament silver medal in just their first year of softball competition.

“I think we did really well, we improved a lot since our game day in June,” Fargher said. “I’m looking forward to next year.”

Fargher said the Blue Gators were a “little disappointed because they didn’t get the gold medal, but they’re also happy with the way they improved.”

The Blue Gators game against the Heat was a rematch from their first game in June, where the Heat won 16-2. Fargher said the much closer second contest highlights how far the team has come since starting out this summer.

• The Gateway Green team split a pair of games with the Kreider Wildcats of Dixon, winning the first contest 11-9, and falling just a bit short in the second game, 14-10, to earn a silver medal in the tournament.