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Lady Aztecs hoping talent will help deliver state title

By Brian Gomez

There’s no room for big egos on the Corona del Sol High School varsity softball team--not at a place where the talent is as rich as the tradition.

Armed with five Division I prospects, all of whom have their own goals and ambitions, the No. 1-seeded Lady Aztecs are again in the midst of another run at the Class 5A state title.

This past week, they hoped their experience would carry them farther than the state quarterfinals, their final destination in 2002 during a memorable season that ended prematurely with a 1-0 loss to eventual state champion Tucson Flowing Wells.

“They work off each other and they pick each other up,” said Corona head coach Jennifer Mendes-Ray, whose team was ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation this season by USA Today a year after holding the country’s top spot for several weeks.

“They all support one another, whether they’re on or whether they’re not playing well. They support each other in the good times and the bad.”

After the Aztecs (31-3) took care of business by winning the Central Region Tournament, they began thinking about what could unfold in this week’s state playoffs. But they are simply taking things one day at a time, a mentality that has proven effective for a team that has won 62 of its past 68 games.

“I’m afraid if we look too far ahead that we’ll lose our focus,” Mendes-Ray said. “I know it’s in the back of their minds. We think about it, but we don’t talk a lot about it.”

Corona doesn’t need to look toward the future when seniors like second baseman Stephanie Brown (Notre Dame), first baseman Megan Hansen (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), third baseman Lisa Jones (undecided), center fielder Katie Logan (Northwestern) and catcher Megan Willis (Texas) are capable of doing plenty of damage for the time being.

The star-studded handful of promising prospects has provided the backbone for success, which has come with relative ease in recent years.

Mendes-Ray doesn’t know exactly how many region titles the Aztecs have captured in the past decade. She does realize that her team has been consistent enough to cause someone to make routine trips to the rafters inside Sammy Duane Gymnasium.

“I really don’t know,” Mendes-Ray said.

“It’s happened a couple years in a row. I’m not really into the stats.”

Corona has received quality efforts on the mound this season, even in the absence of college-bound pitchers Becky McDonald (Nevada-Las Vegas) and Tara Hansen (Fairfield University). Megan Hansen and junior Michelle Farrell anchor an efficient rotation matched by few other teams in state.

“This is one of the most talented teams I’ve ever coached,” Mendes-Ray said. “They’re a lot of fun to coach and to be around. They all seem to want to be out here all the time.”

Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@wranglernews.com.

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