It’s been a week since the official end of the spring sports season, and what a spring it was.

Tournament time/the playoffs have a way to capture the hearts and minds of the communities that the teams call home, and that was absolutely the case in the Ohio Valley.

Big Red softball coach Gus DiMarzio, whose team was honored by city council on Tuesday, talked about the community support after his team’s state tournament appearance. Big Red nation definitely got behind a team that was as fun to watch as any I’ve covered down the stretch on their historic run.

The next week the Valley was rallied behind Harrison Central’s baseball team, which finished state runner-up, filling social media with posts and also traveling far and wide or cheering from home.

And, of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Oak Glen’s softball team. On its way to a third state tournament in as many seasons, home tournament games at the Field of Dreams Complex were packed.

Both the Huskies Mike Valesko and the Bears Sherrie Garner also praised the community support.

Also, let’s not forget the great performances by our local track and field athletes who had state-level success and made the area proud, too.

Aside from just the state level, the tournaments from start to finish were full of great moments I could list in a much longer column. Maybe another time.

It truly was a memorable spring. Often times I found myself listening to or following games on GameChanger that I wasn’t at, sometimes even during time “off the clock” just because one can easily get so invested this time of the year.

I traveled over 1,000 miles to and from tournament games this spring, and the effort, hard work and memorable performances of our local athletes made it worth every mile.

To our local athletes whose efforts on the field of play made it so special, our coaches that took time to talk to me and my colleagues after their best and worst moments, and to the fans and supporters that made the atmospheres what they were, thanks for a great spring!