Published: May 02, 2008 03:55 pm         

Lady Lions rush to conference title

Never in 10 years would North Central Texas College’s Van Hedrick ever think he would win 400 softball games as the Lady Lions’ head coach.

At least not after going 15-46 in the first year of the program, which started up 10 years ago.

“Four hundred wins is just a number,” Hedrick said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “But when you consider all the great players and assistant coaches I have had over the years, that is what makes it so special.”

At this point Hedrick’s Lady Lions are 400-209 for the 10 years the program has been in place.

After going 15-46 that first year, for a winning percentage of .250, Hedrick’s teams have gone 385-167 in the past nine years. That is a winning percentage of .700. Overall, the Lady Lions have a 570 winning percentage.

“Those 400 wins are a very good recruiting tool,” Hedrick said. “But, like is said, it would never have happened without the players and the great assistants I have had through the years.”

Lady Lions’ assistant coaches include Marla Davis, Shelli Pennington, Bryanna Hill and current Assistant Coach Taylor Christian.

Along with his 400 wins, Hedrick, and the Lady Lions, also collected the Northern Texas Junior College Conference championship.

This season NCTC went 44-14 on the season and 23-5 in conference. The Lady Lions clinched the title Monday when working out.

“When Grayson defeated McLennan Community College in the first game of a doubleheader Monday,” Hedrick said. “We clinched the title.”

To say the least, the Lady Lions were very happy when they heard the news.

On April 2, Hedrick said he was not at all sure the Lady Lions could win the championship. “We got swept (in a doubleheader) at Vernon that day,” Hedrick said. “After that, we pretty much knew that we would have to win out to have any chance to win the title. We were two games behind McLennan.”

Now the Lady Lions are looking to start all over. “It’s going to be a tough tournament,” Hedrick said. “There are three or four teams, besides us, that could win the tournament.

The first game of the tournament, for the Lady Lions, will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday in McKinney.