Published April 11, 2007 07:23 am - attachments, please ...
NEC coaches tab Warriors Softball Insider...
Star Beacon
Edgewood
is favored
to win sixth
straight title
With Mother Nature finally allowing the area to slip past the vice-like grip of her frigid fingers, the 2007 Northeastern Conference title chase finally got under way Tuesday in Painesville, with the defending champion Edgewood Warriors outscoring Harvey, 33-0, in sweeping a doubleheader at Recreation Park.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Edgewood is the favorite to win a fourth straight undisputed conference crown, and a sixth straight overall (the Warriors shared the 2003 championship with Conneaut).
With every position player - save one - returning from last year's squad that stormed it's way to Division II sectional, district and regional championships and a spot in the Final Four at Brookside Park in Ashland, it's not difficult to fathom why Edgewood has been tabbed the favorite to win another NEC title in the Star Beacon's annual Coaches' Poll.
The Warriors received four of six first-place votes, compiling 33 out of a possible 36 points.
Still, coach Shelley Monas, who led Edgewood to a 25-3 finish, 14-1 in the NEC, isn't taking anything for granted.
"The NEC is strong," she said. "Any team can beat any other team. I've been telling our girls that we have to bring our 'A' game every time we play. We have a lot of respect for every coach and every player in the league. We can never take anyone for granted.
"We have got to play our best against everybody in the league. We cannot take anybody lightly."
Monas admitted last season's Final Four berth has raised the bar to previously unforeseen heights for the Warriors.
"Oh, absolutely," she said. "We've got this huge, huge target on our backs. But we teach the kids, first things first. Concentrate on the task at hand, play one game at a time and worry about the present."
Which means the first "task at hand" is trying to defend their NEC crown.
"It's definitely a priority for us," Monas said. "In fact, it's our first goal - take care of the NEC again."
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