Matt Wixon

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McKINNEY – When asked about the playoffs, McKinney junior shortstop Ashley Thomas offers a sports cliché – "We're just taking it one game at a time." But then she admits that the team looks ahead sometimes.

"We do like to talk about the playoffs," Thomas said.

Hard to blame them, because McKinney will be in the playoffs this year. That's not a big achievement for some teams, but consider where McKinney (22-8-1, 9-3 in District 9-4A) has been recently:

Last season, McKinney finished 10-18 – its best record in at least five years. Prior to last season, McKinney went a combined 17-70 from 2004 to 2007.

"Before it was accepted that if we lost, it was OK," said outfielder Kelsi McCarthy, the team's only senior. "Because it was just what we did."

BEN TORRES / Special to DMN

McKinney softball head coach Jeremy Greenway (right) joins his team for a cheer.

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Coach Jeremy Greenway aimed to change that when he took over the program before the 2007 season. He and assistant Terry Drain had the players focus more on fundamentals and required them to, in McCarthy's words, "actually work hard in practice."

The coaches took over a program that had grown accustomed to losing since its last playoff appearance in 1998. But they also discovered a talented freshman class.

"We were actually surprised at some of the athletes we had that year as freshmen," Greenway said. "We knew with those athletes, if we focused on the things that would really make a difference, we would start winning in a couple of years."

It took a couple of years to build what looks to most like an overnight success. McKinney has clinched a playoff spot and is No. 7 in SportsDay's Class 4A-others rankings. It has wins this season over several good 5A teams, including Plano West and defending 5A state champ Alvin, as well as a victory over Forney, which is currently No. 2 in SportsDay's 4A-others area rankings.

Junior Jennifer Gilbert, one of those talented freshmen from two years ago, is the team's star pitcher and best hitter with an average over .500. She's one of six juniors joined in the starting lineup by two sophomores and a freshman.

So McKinney shouldn't be a one-hit wonder. The young talent should ensure that, as well as the new commitment to winning. On a recent Saturday, when she could've been enjoying some time off from softball, junior outfielder Haley Pruitt called Greenway to ask if he would open the batting cage so she could get some extra practice.

"I asked her why she was wanting to do this extra stuff," Greenway said, "and she told me that when the hit's needed, she wanted to come through for the team."

Pruitt was among the freshmen who two years ago patiently waited for their chance to win. Just wait until we're juniors, they said, as they got clobbered by teams such as Frisco and McKinney North.

This year, McKinney swept both those teams in district.

"Before, it was just try not to lose by as much. Now, it's win," Thomas said. "It feels a lot better."