MOULTRIE — Although the 2005 Colquitt County softball team turned in the best season since the school began playing fast-pitch softball in 2001, Lady Packers coach Carman Phillips was not content.

And she was not going to let her players be content either.

Phillips took her players to a strong camp in Marietta during the summer and has had her players working with Colquitt County strength and conditioning coach Tony Long.

The extra work and weight training are aimed at helping the team improve on the 11-14 record it posted last season.

The Lady Packers finished No. 4 in Region 1-AAAAA and made it to the state tournament, where they won two games before being eliminated.

And Colquitt lost just two seniors from that team. The 16-player 2006 varsity roster is dominated by juniors, most of whom played contributing roles last year.

The Lady Packers open the 2006 season by meeting Cook High at 4 p.m. and Americus-Sumter County at 5:30 p.m. on Friday in the Thomas County Central tournament.

Colquitt will play four more games on Saturday as Phillips tries to get a little better feel for what kind of team she can expect to have when the Region 1-AAAAA part of the schedule kicks in a week from today against Tift County at home.

The junior varsity game against Tift will begin at 4 p.m. The varsity game will follow at 5:45 p.m.

The Lady Packers will again play their home games at the Jim Buck Goff Recreation Complex field.

“I’m pretty excited about what we have,” Phillips said. “Our defense has been good. And I’ve been impressed with our hitting. Our hitting has really improved.

“We just have to keep our heads on straight.”

Phillips again will be joined on the varsity staff by Amy Chason Hagan, who has missed some practice time recently after undergoing knee surgery. Nikki Lacey is back to coach the B-team.The Lady Packers have a veteran pitcher back in senior Leigh Norman, but junior Camille James also is pushing for time.

The varsity roster includes seniors Norman, Morgan Jones, Nikki Hudson and Danielle Flom and juniors James, Ashley Chafin, Lunden Connell, Ashley Everett, Lori Griner, Jessica Harvin, Brittany Sikes, Ashley Skeen, Tiffany Troupe and Ashley Weldon.

Ninth-grader pitchers Harley Grimm and Christy Harper also will dress with the varsity.

The junior varsity team will include sophomores Maggie Davidson, Christian Davis, Alyson Eldridge, Alejundra Fuentes and Katie Rice and freshmen Grimm, Harper, Kathryn Boyd, Caitlin Carr, Kaley Clark, Jana Harvin, Brooke Hood, Aubrey Anna Perryman and Amber Phillips.

Junior Melanie Bass and freshman Kayla Alderman will help Phillips will administrative duties, the coach said.

Phillips said the team is getting strong leadership from its four seniors.

Hudson and Jones are coming off outstanding junior seasons after which they were named to the All-Region 1-AAAAA team, along with the graduated Ashley Stafford.

Jones was the first-team catcher after hitting .342 with 12 runs batted in.

Hudson, an outfielder, received honorable mention.

Hudson spent all summer in Hawaii, where her father was stationed with the U.S. Army.

But the rest of the team played softball all summer and took advantage of attending the Marietta Championship Softball Camp.

“That was a big success,” Phillips said. “We played 12 games and between games we received a lot of instruction.”

Phillips said she hopes the weight training program recommended by Long will help her players become not only stronger, but faster, quicker and more accurate with their throwing.

The additional strength and playing more fundamentally sound softball will be needed when the Lady Packers begin their quest for a second-straight trip to the playoffs.

Coffee and Valdosta failed to qualify for the playoffs last season, but with Warner Robins joining Region 1-AAAAA, three teams will not advance this year.

Defending region champion Lowndes appears to be the team to beat again, with Tift County and Houston County again expected to be strong.

“And I’ve heard Warner Robins will be pretty strong,” Phillips said. “But I think we can hold our own with anybody.

“If we keep our attitudes in line and hit the ball, we should be all right.”