Last season was a good one for Cherokee County softball teams as four of the county's six high school programs reached the postseason, while two - Cherokee and Creekview - won region championships.

Cherokee surprised several teams with a spirited run through the month of October to win its second region championship in three seasons.

Clinging to a 13-11 record at the end of September, the Lady Warriors entered the Region 5AAAAA tournament as the No. 4 seed. It was there that they went undefeated to clinch their second title since 2008, and they then swept their first-round state playoff series against Duluth before falling to Grayson in the second round.

The march to a region title propelled Cherokee to its sixth straight state playoff appearance under coach Tonya Carlisle, and although the Lady Warriors have since lost key players like starting pitcher Torie Reeves, Brianne Welch and four-year starter Natalie Rhodes, they return plenty of experience from a year ago with seniors Lauren Mullinax, Anna Rowe and Bree Wells joining a talented crop of juniors.

"Our focus this year is putting ourselves in better position going into the region tournament," Carlisle said. "We don't want to have the kind of letdown week that we usually have going into the playoffs. We want to be consistent all the way through the season."

Creekview knows a thing or two about region championships and state playoff appearances. The Lady Grizzlies have made four postseason appearances in five years and won back-to-back Region 7AAA crowns in 2008 and 2009 to go with their Region 7AAAA title in 2010. In the process, Creekview combined to go 47-0 against like-classification schools in the regular season and region tournaments.

While Creekview's past successes were impressive, its future triumphs will come under the watchful eye of first-year coach Chance Cain, who took the reins of the program from Mike Nayman, who chose to focus on his role as the school's baseball coach.

The Lady Grizzlies graduated seven seniors, but they also return a solid core in seniors Alexis Chumbler and Audrie Pryor, as well as junior Anna Tankersley. Junior Kallie Martin and freshman Gracie Dorr will look to replace four-year ace Haley Brannon in the circle as the Lady Grizzlies attempt to make their third straight trip to Columbus this season.

Etowah, under fourth-year coach Tonya Sebring, is looking to bounce back from a disappointing finish to last season, which saw the Lady Eagles lose seven straight to end the year. Despite those setbacks, Etowah made the state playoffs for the second consecutive year, and the team hopes that its depth will pay big dividends this season.

"We were plagued by injuries at the end of last year, so we have more depth, and we're deeper on the bench this time around," Sebring said.

With no seniors and 10 juniors on her roster, Sebring believes last year's team has matured, and their year of experience will benefit them. Pitcher Chelsi Palazzo - who missed the 2010 season with a back injury - returns as do Torrie Garner, Courtney Atkinson and Allie Brown.

"Eight of our 10 juniors played varsity last year," Sebring said, "so we were young. Those sophomores who are now juniors have been in the Etowah system for a while, so their experience will be beneficial."

Woodstock is entering its fourth season under coach Kortney Dempsey. The Lady Wolverines were a young team last year with five sophomores and two freshmen on the roster, along with four seniors. That unit, which is now a year older and a year wiser, will be led by seniors Lauren Perhson and Lindsay Snowden as Woodstock looks to return to the postseason for the first time since 2007.

Sequoyah has a strong history of reaching postseason play, following its 17th trip in 18 years last season. The Lady Chiefs, under the direction of veteran coach Todd Morrissey, have reached the elite eight six times and captured the state championship in 2006.

As competition in Region 7AAAA continues to improve, Sequoyah has several veterans back in the fold in 2011, including seniors Valerie Box and Missy Perkowski, along with juniors Liz Prance, Courtney Gibbs and Hannah Kidd.

River Ridge is entering its first full varsity season, led by third-year coach Scott Bradley. The Lady Knights have several veterans returning in juniors Sara Bennetts, Ashley Evans and Jordan Livesay, along with sophomores Jessica Baker and Michelle Friesz.

Although they were young, the Lady Knights posted a winning record last year playing a combined varsity and junior varsity schedule in their second season. They're not doing that this time around, which should give Bradley a much better idea of what his team can do.

"We are still young with our group as we have four juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen," Bradley said. "However, this freshmen class that we added this year will be a big contributor to our club and all four have the ability to be mainstays in our lineup.

"If we can stay healthy, I think our team has a great chance to break into the top four of the region and get one of those state playoff spots."