Time to award the second annual Buddys

The time has come again for the most anticipated sports-based awards for athletes in our coverage area.

Hollywood has the Oscars, the music industry has the Grammys, but those pale in comparison to the Buddys -- honoring the best moments of the 2007-08 high school sports season.

Best game -- The Lowcountry always produces some of the best contests in the state, but you don't get many 13-inning baseball games between rival schools.

That's why this Buddy goes to Battery Creek's 9-8 win over Beaufort High School in a 13-inning marathon on April 2.

Creek jumped out to a five-run lead before Beaufort's bats finally got going. A Matt Witt double gave Beaufort a 7-6 lead heading into the top of the seventh, but a bases-loaded walk allowed BC to tie the game.

From there, it was the baseball equivalent of a war of attrition. Whose pitching would hold up better? Who would make the key defensive mistake?

Creek took a 8-7 lead in the top of the ninth but gave it away in the bottom half of the inning on a fielding error that gave Beaufort new life.

Four more innings elapsed as Gray Segars and Chase Goude pitched terrific relief for both squads. Segars had the misfortune of giving up the winning run in the top of the 13th on a single by Michael Miller.

The final stats of the game included 17 combined runs on 30 hits in a four-hour time span.

Runner up: Thomas Heyward's 21-20 win over Hilton Head Prep in football on Sept. 28. The key region game was decided by a missed extra point and left HHP placekicker Tom Thomas crouching on the sidelines by himself after the game.

Best in-game boys performance -- I ran out of adjectives to describe how good Beaufort RB Adrene Byas was before he ran for 266 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carries against James Island High School.

Even more impressive is that it was Beaufort's second game in four days. The Eagles had to play a make-up game at Berkeley High School earlier that week.

Runner up: THA's Jacob Baker might have rushed for more than 200 yards if he had gotten more touches in that Sept. 28 game against Hilton Head Prep. His 146 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries was augmented by an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter that turned out to be the game-winning score.

Best in-game girls performance -- This Buddy will have to be cut in half and given to Battery Creek's Catrina Watson and Ridgeland's Shaquilla Mitchell.

Watson surprised some by winning the 400-meter sprint at this past weekend's state meet after coming in with the sixth-fastest time.

Mitchell, Ridgeland's only state qualifier, represented by bringing home gold in the high jump and bronze in the triple jump at the state finals.

Most impressive athlete -- Devin Taylor received a lot of pub for his performance on the football field. But the 6-foot-6, 220-pound defensive end was also Beaufort's best low-post scoring threat in basketball and brought home gold in the triple jump at the state track meet this past weekend.

It takes quite an athlete to compete at such a high level in three sports.

Best team performance -- Beaufort High football was one half away from capturing the school's first state championship since 1945. Clover High School prevented the Eagles from ending the drought, but it doesn't diminish Beaufort's impressive season.

The Eagles won 12 games, had a runningback that rushed for almost 2,000 yards and a defense that handled everything that was thrown at it, with the exception of Clover's triple-option offense.

Runners up: The Battery Creek wrestling squad and Beaufort's boys soccer team both made return trips to the Lower State semifinals.

Best atmosphere -- A football state title game played in the engrossing confines of Williams-Brice Stadium is hard to top.

Runner-up: Ridgeland basketball continues to churn out the faithful, even though their newgym doesn't have the same vibe the Jaguars' Den had at the old Jasper County High School.

True Grit award -- Beaufort wrestler Travis Wynn knew his team needed him to win every time he took the mat for the Eagles to reach the playoffs for the second straight season.

He nearly did that (going 45-1) on his way to the 171-pound state championship and helping earn Beaufort a playoff berth.

It's been another stellar sports year in the area and with Battery Creek dropping down to Class AAA and Beaufort Academy wading into the varsity football waters for the first time, the 2008-09 school year should be just as interesting.