Four Owensboro Special Olympics Softball Teams Strike Gold at Regionals
It was a golden weekend for four Special Olympics softball teams from Owensboro and those teams have more hardware in their sights.
It's softball season here in Kentucky for Special Olympics teams across the state. Over the weekend, seven teams from Owensboro-Daviess County traveled to Paducah for the Region 1 Championship. At stake? Berths in the Special Olympics State Softball Tournament, which will be held in Owensboro in September.
The regional battle was held at Lone Oak Park and 90 athletes from our area made the two-hour drive there for a chance at winning gold and advancing to the state finals.
Local Special Olympics Coordinator Kim Johnson described the weekend as "Exciting. Amazing. Nail-biting. Spectacular!"
When it was all said and done and the fields were cleared, four teams from Owensboro-Daviess County brought home GOLD!
THE ANGELS
THE STINGERS
THE TERMINATORS
THE BLASTERS
Another local team, the Thunder, snagged a silver medal and were able to punch their ticket to the State Tournament as well!
THE THUNDER
We also have to give a shout out to these teams, who battled bravely and still have the opportunity to earn an at-large bid for state. Those bids are given to select teams that didn't earn an automatic bid into the tournament. As Kim explains, "A few teams are drawn to fill in the brackets for each division."
THE PURPLE CRUSHERS
THE DODGERS
There is also a Skills Competition at the state tournament and some of those athletes will compete in that as well.
Following the close of the competition, Kim Johnson added, "Our families and friends filled the stadiums to cheer on the teams. I loved seeing our athletes support their friends on other teams. Our coaches rocked!"
So, now the teams look ahead to September 11th through the 13th when they'll take the field to play for more gold.
CHECK IT OUT: 100 sports records and the stories behind them