Top 10 sports stories from the Pee Dee

Each year at this time, we here in the sports department get together and come up with what we believe to be the Pee Dee’s top 10 sports stories from the previous 12 months.

Using the following criteria — all nominations must consist of a story that takes place in the Pee Dee or involves a person directly tied to the Pee Dee — we compile a list and rank that list.

It’s easy to come up with nominations — there are plenty of stories to keep us hopping throughout the year — but ranking those stories is another thing altogether.

But here are the top 10 stories we came up with for 2009.

10. Florence American Legion baseball team has year to remember
Post 1 doesn’t accomplish its goal of winning a state championship, but coach Derick Urquhart and his squad have a season they won’t soon forget.

Florence goes unbeaten in League II, sets a team record for home runs and finally has a 22-game winning streak snapped in the state tournament in Spartanburg. Post 1 finishes the season 27-5.

9. Marion girls win 2A basketball title
The Swamp Foxes beat Pendleton to claim their first state championship since integration. Until now, they haven’t taken home a trophy since 1955.

It doesn’t come easily. Marion loses an 11-point lead in the fourth period, but hits 13 of 20 free throws to pull out a 58-54 victory at Colonial Life Arena.

8. Orlando Hudson stars in Hollywood debut
The “O-Dog,” a native of Darlington, makes much of his first year as a Dodger, going to his second All-Star Game in three years and winning his fourth Gold Glove.

Hudson hits .283 with 62 RBI and sports a .988 fielding percentage, committing just eight errors in 692 chances.

He finishes the season slowly offensively, though, and plays in five postseason games with only four plate appearances.

7. Lawrence Timmons gets a ring, becomes a starter
Timmons, the former Wilson High School standout and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2007 first-round draft choice, helps his team win the franchise’s sixth Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLIII in February
against Arizona, then earns a starting position when the 2009 season rolls around.

Timmons takes over the inside linebacker position vacated by Larry Foote, who departed Pittsburgh for Detroit.

6. Hannah-Pamplico football coach returns after spinal injury
Kirk Mays falls from a tree stand while deer hunting near the end of 2008 and is partially paralyzed, but doesn’t allow that to keep him from coaching the Raiders in 2009.

Mays, who is confined to a wheel chair, spends most of his early recovery time in Atlanta at the Shepherd Center, a hospital devoted to the care and rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries and diseases.

Mays is back home March 4, rehabbing and is working fulltime again at Hannah-Pamplico High by early April.

5. The Chesterfield football machine keeps rolling
Coach Steve Taneyhill wasn’t kidding when he talked about turning around the Chesterfield High School football program a few years ago.

The Rams make their fourth straight trip to the Class A Division I state title game and bring back their third straight trophy by beating Lamar 36-6 at Oliver Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg.

The Rams’ defense is dominant, sacking Lamar quarterback Trevor Norris three times, forcing one fumble and getting three interceptions, including one for a touchdown.

4. Francis Marion women advance to Sweet 16
Heather Macy’s FMU women’s basketball team continues its winning ways, earning its second straight Peach Belt Conference regular season championship and making a lot of noise in the NCAA
Division II tournament before bowing out against Clayton State.

The Patriots beat Peach Belt foe USC Aiken in the first round, take out the Southeast regional’s top-seeded team, Lenoir-Rhyne, in the round of 32 before falling to the Lakers, another PBC team, in the regional finals.

Francis Marion finishes the season 27-5 and ranked No. 14 in the final USA Today/ESPN Division II coaches poll.

3. Pee Dee football players answer colleges’ calls
On an unprecedented football national signing day for Pee Dee high schoolers, 10 area players sign scholarship papers to play at Football Bowl Subdivision colleges.

West Florence leads the way with four players, including Clemson signee and standout defensive end Malliciah Goodman.

Three Marlboro County players sign, while Lake View, Lake City and Hemingway have one apiece.

2. Mark Martin tames Darlington Raceway in Southern 500
The 50-year-old veteran driver outlasts Jimmie Johnson in a wreck-filled race at the “Lady in Black.”

It is Martin’s first Darlington victory since he won the 1993 Southern 500.

Martin dodges 17 cautions and leads the final 46 laps to earn his 37th career Sprint Cup victory.

Martin goes on to finish second in the Chase, ending the year 141 points behind Johnson.

1. Dillon football team does it again
After going 0-3 in his first three state championship appearances, Dillon coach Jackie Hayes brings home the trophy for the second year in a row.

The Wildcats hold off Central 21-20 to claim their second consecutive Class 2A state title.

Jabo Lee’s 61-yard touchdown run and extra point early in the third quarter proves to be the difference and the Dillon defense clamps down on the Eagles late to secure the victory.

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So there they are. The Pee Dee’s top 10 sports stories for 2009.

We appreciate you taking us into your homes each day and will try our best to bring you the best coverage of every significant Pee Dee sports story in 2010.

From the Morning News sports staff to you, all the best in the new year.