PARRISH, Fla. — The sights and sounds of a high school softball game are unmistakable — hearing the dugout chatter, and seeing the hits and strikeouts.

And for 48 years, Sarasota Herald Tribune sports reporter Dennis Maffezzoli was a permanent fixture in the stands, recording every hit, every out and every special moment.

“This is all I wanted to do,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t good enough to play, and that career was going to be short. So, all I wanted to do was be relevant in sports somehow, and this was the best way.”

As the softball winds down, so has Dennis’ illustrious newspaper career.

Dennis says he got bit by the reporter bug during his time at St. Anthony’s High School in Trenton, N.J. He was the scorekeeper for the baseball team and after each game, he’d call in the score to the local newspaper.

“I was pretty efficient, I guess,” he said. “And they said, ‘You should come in and take some scores over the phone, just take the scores like you would call them in.’ And that’s how I got started.”

Dennis’ career eventually landed him in Florida — first with the Charlotte Observer and then the Sarasota Herald Tribune. He’s covered it all — from the pros to college to high school state championships, and he’s had a front seat to see athletes create memories for a lifetime. And Dennis documented them all.

“They were the special moments. State championships were it,” he said. “I mean, that’s what you work for. You want to make those stories good because you hope they keep them for a long time.”

In his final column, Dennis gave a huge thank you to everyone who supported his passion. He wrote about his incredible journey and how administrators, coaches and the athletes have helped contribute to his dream job.

For nearly five decades, Dennis produced scrapbook-worthy material that documented some of the best times in people’s lives, while he lived out his best life.

“Just all the people,” he said. “Just watching all the action and the people, that’s what it’s all about.”