Top moments during the spring

The spring sports scene was filled with big moments for teams and individuals, on and off the field.

There were state champions, exciting upstarts, near-misses and heartfelt off-the-field moments.

The following is a look back at some of the moments that, in one way or another, stand out above the rest for spring sports in the Bi-City.

Spring state champions

This spring, the Bi-City had four team state champions and two individual state champions.

The Columbus boys golf team was dominant for its entire year and was able to capture its 11th state championship win in program history. Led by Nolan Miller’s 6-under-par 66 at the state tournament, which captured him medalist honors, the Blue Devils shot a 6-under 282 to earn the win.

That win was somewhat expected among area teams. Columbus had, after all, been among the state’s best all year. Brookstone, however, found a way to reach new heights after a strong but not elite regular season when it, too, won a state championship.

The Cougars shot a 4-over-par 292 to easily defeat First Presbyterian by 10 strokes in Class A-private. It was Brookstone’s 15th state championship in program history.

In girls tennis, both those schools also had top-notch success in the spring. The Brookstone girls captured their 11th state title in program history, and Columbus its first championship ever.

The Lady Cougars were led by fantastic depth, but especially by No. 1 singles star Gracie Hemmings, who went undefeated for the year. Columbus, too, was led by a lot of depth, as well as freshman Mary Weston Courville. The Lady Blue Devils’ season was made even more impressive by the fact that they went 25-0 despite a challenging schedule.

Individually, Kareema Grier and Alonie Sutton both won titles, Grier in the 400 and Sutton in the triple jump.

Northside, Central baseball take league titles

There were plenty of other talented and successful baseball teams in the area this spring, but both Northside and Central stood out because of their abilities to go from missing the playoffs a year ago to winning league titles this year.

Northside captured the Region 1-5A championship, its first region championship in team history, with a win over Columbus. The team was ecstatic that night and, even though it didn’t make it out of the second round of the state playoffs, the success of the season can’t be understated.

The same can be said for Central. The Red Devils, under the guidance of coach Bobby Howard and a talented staff of assistants, won an area title and advanced to the state quarterfinals before bowing out against Auburn.

Both teams were good in 2015, having chances to make the postseason, but both missed because of little things they were able to improve on this season. Central was more complete on the mound with the addition of Tanner Belcher and Northside, in the words of coach Dee Miller, were just a little better at everything.

Columbus girls soccer returns to title game

It was a bittersweet end of the season for the Lady Blue Devils in soccer as they did reach the state title game for the third time in program history, but still came up short against McIntosh.

Despite falling short, the difficulty of the team’s schedule as well as its postseason success makes it one of the top stories of the spring.

It’s unlikely that any team in Georgia played as difficult a schedule as the one Columbus played and the team appeared battle tested as it rolled through the playoffs to the title game.

The most exciting moment of the postseason came in the semifinals for Columbus, as it defeated defending state champion and then-No. 1 Starr’s Mill in penalty kicks. The Lady Blue Devils had to score late to force overtime and then keeper Sam Munyon saved three of four penalty kicks to help give her team a win.

It was one of the biggest wins in the program’s history.

Community rallies around Carver

The worst and best moments of the spring occurred in April, when Carver baseball coach David Pollard was killed in a hit-and-run driving accident.

It was a terrible tragedy that cut to the core of the Pollard, Carver and Columbus communities. But it was also an opportunity to bring out the best in what Bi-City athletics has to offer.

In undoubtedly the best moment of the spring sports season, Carver picked up its first region baseball win in three years with a victory over Shaw on the day it was honoring its late coach. A large crowd of supporters from all corners of the community showed up to watch, and the Tigers honored their coach in the best way possible.

It was an emotional day that will likely be remembered for a long time to come.

This story was originally published June 12, 2016 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Top moments during the spring."