Cranston West baseball players, from left, Shane Milan, Michael McClarnon and Matthew Clarkin.

Journal photo / Kris Craig

The symbols of athletic success come in various shapes sharps and sizes.

In 2006 and 2007, the Cranston West baseball team took home the big baseball glove-shaped trophy that goes to the R.I. Interscholastic League Division I state champion.

This year the Falcons made the Final Four of the state tournament once again, but didn’t capture the state title.

 Yet, in the grand scheme of what high school sports is supposed to be all about, maybe the piece of hardware that the 2009 Falcons will be putting in the Cranston West trophy case this spring is as important as those state championship trophies of a few years ago.

 “The players take their cue from the coaching staff. I feel the coaching staff sets the pace for fair, hard and great sportsmanship in their play,” wrote a baseball umpire on his nomination of Cranston West for the 2009 Dick Reynolds Boys Spring Team Sportsmanship award.

 In each of the three high school sports seasons –– fall, winter and spring –– The Providence Journal and the R.I. Interscholastic League Injury Fund present an award to one boys and one girls team that demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship throughout the season.

 The award is special because the only way a team can be selected is if it is nominated by either an opposing coach or a game official. Coaches cannot nominate their own teams, fans can’t vote for their favorite team. The nominations must come from people who are not cheering for a team, but are watching the way the team plays the game.

 The physical symbol of the award is a plaque engraved with a portrait of the late Dick Reynolds. Reynolds was a Journal sportswriter for five decades from the 1930s to the 1970s. His specialty was high school sports, and for nearly 50 years he wrote about the process as well as the results of Rhode Island high school sports. Dick Reynolds always cared “how the game was played.”

 That’s why I know Reynolds would have loved watching the Cranston West baseball and the Central Falls softball teams play this spring.

 The Central Falls softball team, coached by Nick Pagliaro, is the recipient of this spring’s girls Reynolds award. The Warriors posted an 11-7 record against Division III competition this season, but win or lose they were a model of consistency when it came to sportsmanship.

 “I officiated this team five times this season and they were on the losing end of most games. Not once did any team member, fan or coach get frustrated or dispute any calls,” wrote a softball umpire in his nomination of the Warriors.

 Of course Central Falls and Cranston West, coached by Rob Malo, were not the only teams that impressed people with the way they played the game this spring.

 The Mount St. Charles and Cranston West softball teams, the Barrington and Cranston East boys volleyball teams, the Smithfield baseball team, the Tiverton boys lacrosse team and the Rogers boys track team also were nominated for the awards.

 They are all teams whose players understood success in high school sports isn’t measured strictly by games won, fast times, hits and runs or goals scored.

 Dick Reynolds would have loved writing about them.

All-States

 The Reynolds award winners share the spotlight with the student/athletes whose Providence Journal All-State selections will be featured over the next 12 days in HS GameTime in both the Journal and on Projo.com.

 As always the All-State selections merit special attention.

 The numbers alone make an All-State selection a significant accomplishment.

 There were about 9,000 students playing high school sports in Rhode Island this spring, yet only approximately 200 earned first or second-team Journal All-State recognition. So the All-Staters are in the top 2 percent of this year’s Rhode Island high school spring sports class – that’s impressive company.

jgillool@projo.com