In just a few days, the year of 2011 will be behind us and 2012 will be upon. I know this is said every year at this time, but where did the year go?
The sports year of 2011 here in the Brewton area saw many great things. There were several athletes that signed scholarships during the year, games won, games lost, championships won, and other moments to remember.
As we ring in the new year of 2012, I looked through stories from the year of 2011 and came up with some end-of-the-year awards.
While many things happened over the course of the 365 days, I am sure there are some I have overlooked and I apologize, but here is what I found:

Best comeback:
The category of best comeback this year saw plenty and too many to decide a winner. I will list out the ones I decided were the best and you can choose your own winner as this year, they will all be winners in my book.
One of the comebacks this year was the W.S. Neal baseball team’s 10-9 win over Northview in their own Eagle Classic. Trailing 9-7 in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and the bases loaded, Jeremy Myers ended the game with a bases clearing hit to give the Eagles a 10-9 win.
Another comeback involved the Eagle baseball team again as they trailed T.R. Miller at home in East Brewton 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning and scored four runs in the inning with the winning run coming off the bat of Logan Williamson to stun the Tigers 7-6.
The T.R. Miller Lady Tiger softball team had a nice comeback of their own in their area tournament in Excel. The Lady Tigers were facing elimination in the tournament against Clarke County as they trailed 4-3 with two outs in the game in the top of the seventh inning. The Lady Tigers scored four runs in the inning and denied a Clarke County rally in the bottom of the inning to win 7-4 and advance to the championship of the area tournament before losing to Excel.
As if those comebacks were not enough, we still have two more.
In the Brewton 11-12 Cal Ripken district all star game against Opp, the two teams battled to a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning. That is when Jordan Williams connected for a three-run homerun to send Brewton to excitement with a thrilling 3-0 walk off win over Opp.
In the final comeback, the W.S. Neal Lady Eagle softball team stunned Thomasville 3-2 with a walk off hit by Haley Lum to score Lauren Boatwright for the win.

Best individual milestone/best athlete:
This would have to go to T.R. Miller cross county runner Karisa Nelson. Nelson won her third straight individual state championship this year for the Lady Tigers.

Best team milestone:
After 20 straight losses, the W.S. Neal Eagle football team picked up their first win this football season as they defeated Monroe County 55-14. This was also first-year head coach Doug Hoehn’s first win as a head coach for the Eagles.

Best coaching milestone:
JDCC head basketball coach Allen Gainer earned coach of the year honors this past year as he led the Warhawks to the second round of the regional basketball tournament. Gainer and the Warhawks finished the season 14-13 and 10-6 in conference play. The 14 wins were the most win in seven seasons for the Warhawks.
Another coach up for a coaching award this year would be first-year W.S. Neal Lady Eagle head coach Jeff Haney as he led the Lady Eagles to the regionals.

Best streak:
The T.R. Miller Lady Tiger volleyball team claimed their seventh straight Escambia County tournament championship this year in East Brewton.

Best team:
Anytime you win a championship, you had a great season. The T.R. Miller Lady Tiger track team claimed the state 3A championship this year to get this award.
Also, the Brewton Cal Ripken softball 9-10 team won the overall state championship and advanced to the World Series in Tennessee.
I hope everyone had a great 2011 and I hope your 2012 is an even better one. Until we meet again here or out in the world of sports, God bless.