As basketball season heads into the postseason and winter winds its way toward spring – despite that pesky groundhog’s prediction of six more weeks of winter – there’s one thing on the brain for many of us: spring sports.

There’s no denying we love our football, and there’s nothing like a little basketball action to beat the winter blues, but we want to encourage you to take the opportunity to support our spring student-athletes.

Taking center stage, of course, are baseball and softball. These perennial favorites are strong in Franklin County, with each county high school as well as Russellville High School fielding teams.

From the crack of the bat, to the cloud of dust as a player slides into the home, the sights and sounds of these diamond sports are almost synonymous with spring. Baseball is woven right into our heritage as “American’s pastime,” so whether you’re in it for the peanuts and cracker jacks or the action on the field, baseball and softball give us plenty to be excited about this spring.

Root, root root for the home team!

A few other sports are popular in our local high schools, as well, and we hope you take the opportunity to support these students and coaches, too.

For one, soccer is becoming firmly established in Franklin County prep sports. Russellville led the way in this area, establishing boys and girls soccer programs in 2017, and now Tharptown has followed suit with teams of its own. Youth soccer holds a special place in the hearts of many, and now the opportunities are growing for our young men and women to pursue that passion to the high school level – and, perhaps for some of them, even beyond.

Rounding out sports offerings for local student-athletes are tennis, golf and track. Students across Franklin County are involved in these activities, and we hope you will take every chance to cheer them on and congratulate them on their successes.

With the return of sunshine as spring officially approaches – are we the only ones counting down the days? – we’re all ready to get back outside and get reacquainted with the world, throwing off the soggy winter that has kept us bogged down. Watching spring sports is the perfect way to both enjoy the outdoors and show support for our young student-athletes.