The season finally starts this week for the Moore fastpitch team. The 31 games that took place before this week were really just a long preamble to what the Lions had been waiting on.

The 2008 postseason began Tuesday with Regional tournaments. With a 29-2 record, Moore is hosting one of the eight host sites in Class 6A. But out of the 32 teams competing for a spot in the state playoffs, MHS is the only one that is a defending champion.

"We beat US Grant 29-0 and Edmond Memorial 10-0," Moore coach Robert Wakefield said. "Norman plays Edmond Memorial today at 4 p.m. and we play the winner at 6 p.m."

Heading into playoffs, Wakefield said he likes the way his team is looking.

“We look pretty good,” Wakefield said. “We had three big wins last week with a good game against Norman North. We hit the ball really well against their pitcher (Toni Little) compared to a week ago when we struggled against her. I think Brianna Nunley is getting better every outing and of course Katie Lynn is the rock of our team.”

Lynn leads the Lions with 16 wins on the season and Nunley has 12. Both were part of a squad that rolled through the last year’s postseason with little trouble. But the way Wakefield is using his rotation may make this year’s version even better.

“We have been alternating Katie and Brianna on pitching this season and hopefully we will have two pitchers fresh and ready for the playoffs this year,” Wakefield said.

Offensively, the Lions will count on Leslie Martini (35 RBIs), Drew Wright (30) and Alex Milligan (26) to kick-start the offense. They will be responsible for driving in Stefani Schubach Sydney Garcia, who lead the squad in runs. Wright also leads the team in hits with 47.

“We will need to play good defense and cut down on our errors and putting runners on base and get some timely hitting,” Wakefield said. “We need for our one and two hole hitters (Sydney Garcia and Stefani Schubach) to get on base with their speed and make things happen. This gives our three-four-five hitters a chance to knock them in and score some runs.”

With the experience they have from last year and the desire to hold on to their crown, MHS has everything it needs to be the last team standing when it is all said and done.

“We just need to keep doing the things we have been doing is get good pitching and hitting the ball in key situations,” Wakefield said. “The team just has to be ready to play every game because we are not going to surprise anybody this year.”

Westmoore, the state’s No. 1 team, starts its postseason by hosting a regional tournament at Westmoore High this week. Del City, Eisenhower and Norman North also will be competing for the regional title and a spot in the state tournament. The top two teams will advance.

Southmoore will travel to Mustang and battle, Edmond Santa Fe, Lawton and Mustang.