Staff photo by Jeremy Behnke Gibbon pinch-runner Evan Davis scored Gibbon’s only run on Saturday in a 9-1 loss to Faribault. Despite the tough loss, the Reds fans and players had a season to remember.

Gibbon player/manager Ryan Panning was all smiles after Saturday’s state amateur baseball game in Green Isle.

Adoring fans, both young and old, greeted Panning in the dugout after the game. It was the Reds’ last game of the year, a 9-1 loss to Faribault at Irish Field. Yet, despite what the scoreboard said, there was not one player or fan who was upset wearing the color red that afternoon.

“It’s been fun,” Panning said. “Of course you always want to win your last game, but there’s only one team that can say that [at the state amateur tournament]. You just gotta be happy with what you got and it’s just great to see the whole community come out. They’re loving it.”

Gibbon entered the Tomahawk East League in 2005 and the team is hardly known for a lot of success on the field. But this year, Panning and the Reds accomplished the unthinkable — a state tournament berth in a region that has some pretty good teams.

A town of roughly 750 people, the Reds feature players from the Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop school district and a small mix of players who graduated from small area high schools. There are only four players who played college baseball on the roster, a number that seems small compared to some of the traditional powers at the state tournament.

Yet, there they were. Making their first tournament appearance since 1964, they got down early to Faribault and never recovered. They appeared a little nervous and aside from Hanska draftee Dayton Larson, there was very little state tournament experience on the roster for Saturday’s game.

The Gibbon fans came in big numbers. They filled the third base line and grandstand area. And for less than three hours, everyone who showed up remained positive even though Faribault was pulling away slowly.

I don’t often attend a lot of amateur baseball games, but when I do, it always hits me how special this sport is to so many people in the area. The Reds may not have come out on top Saturday, but it hardly mattered to those wearing Red. For them, it was a memory that will stay with them forever.