By DREW GRANTHUM/Sports Editor

Well, it’s all over.

With the final strike out and subsequent dog pile celebrating the Spain Park Jaguars’ first baseball championship, the final high school sports season came to a close.

As with the case with Kenny Perry sinking the winning shot of the Regions Tradition, so ends the crazy sports month of May for Shelby County.

There is nothing like it. It starts with so many of our teams in varying rounds of playoff competition in baseball, softball, track and field, tennis and soccer. Trying to make sure we get each of the athletes on each team in all of those sports is tough, no doubt. Rewarding, but tough. There’s always the fear of overlooking someone or something and running the risk of missing a great opportunity or some player’s game of a lifetime.

As the playoffs wind down, the number of team does also. That said, while there may only be four or so teams left in the championship hunt, the locations change as well. It no longer becomes a drive to Indian Springs or Thompson High, and instead becomes a weekend trip to Huntsville, or two days in Montgomery.

Days tend to run together, but that’s not a complaint. As you chase the stories surrounding the teams chasing greatness, you kind of understand where these fans and athletes are coming from.
In a way, we serve to chronicle the feats and champion the efforts of these teams, their fans and their communities. They’re our home-county teams, and we their paper. It’s like watching a local music act hit it big; you kind of take pride being able to say you’ve been following them this whole time.

With the end of the school sports season comes a sense of accomplishment. It’s over. Those players gave everything they had to chase a trophy, and we try to do our best to chase the most accurate yet best representation of our athletes as possible.

Now, there’s a little bit of a lull —but not for long. Football’s coming soon, and it all starts back again.

And I’m already looking forward to it.