The goals have been in place since before the first practice in February. Achievement will be determined in the first week of May.

Three Warren County High School teams will begin their quests for District 6AAA championships in the upcoming week. The Lady Pioneer softball team starts things off Thursday, while the baseball team will be on the diamond Friday and the boys soccer team next Tuesday.

Coach Gooby Martin and his Lady Pioneers, who finished the regular season 16-8-1, are hoping to defend their tournament title from a year ago. Warren County will start play against Rhea County Thursday at 7 p.m. That game, and all tournament games, will be played in Cookeville.

“Our play entering the tournament has been inconsistent. We’re either really good or really bad at times,” said Martin. “We need to clean it up defensively and eliminate the one bad inning. We also need some girls to step up at the plate – we can’t have automatic outs this time a year.

“The girls will be prepared and they will play as hard as they can.”

Warren County swept Rhea County in the regular season, winning 11-1 and 7-3. Both wins came down the stretch, when the Lady Pioneers won 10 of their last 12 games.

The Pioneer baseball team looked like the favorite through April, winning five of its first six district games by a combined score of 66-12. Once top pitcher and hitter Brooks Helton went down though, the Pioneers had to claw their way to a top-two finish.

Warren County’s dramatic, extra-inning win over White County last week gives it home-field advantage for this weekend’s best-of-three series against the Warriors.

The Pioneers, who are 15-18 after a 7-4 win on the road Monday, will welcome White County to Patrick Ramsey Field Friday at 6 p.m. The second game is set to be played in Sparta Saturday at 2 p.m. If the teams split the first two games, a deciding game will be played Monday at 6 p.m. at Patrick Ramsey Field.

The WCHS boys soccer team will have the longest wait to get into tournament mode. Though the schedule won’t be final until Wednesday afternoon, coach Matt Jackson knows his first-round opponent. The Pioneers will play Cookeville next week, with the winner advancing to the finals and earning a berth into the region tournament.

The championship game in the softball tournament is for Tuesday, May 7 at 7 p.m. The baseball championship game, which will be held at the higher seed’s home field, will also be May 7 at 6 p.m.