Spring sports

Last glimpses of spring sports

And we were there

By RICHARD A. ROSS

The sweetest of sports seasons has finally drawn to a close. Bracketed by snowy, wind-driven sleet at its outset and the balmy, euphoric days of summer at its close, the spring sports season enjoys a unique place in the hearts and minds of track team members, baseball and softball players and golfers.

Many of these same kids who spent the last two and a half months running races, shagging fly balls or lining up their shots on the greens began their athletic endeavors this year during the crisp days of fall as cross-country runners and soccer or football players.

As days shortened and the air turned frosty, many of them invested their dreams in the allure of basketball or took on the challenge of indoor track. Gyms packed with cheering basketball fans brought life, hope and magic to the dreariest of evenings, and sectional tournaments brought moments of high drama that remain imprinted in the psyches of those who played as well as those who cheered.

Now, as the school year winds down, the resonance of the games of spring provides a coda to a most memorable year of scholastic sports. We at The River Reporter salute all of the athletes who participated in this year’s busy sequence of games and meets. Kudos also goes out to the coaches who guided them and the parents who supported them.