MONROE - Hogan Edwards took the final offseason of his prep baseball career as a long-term homework assignment.

For the second straight season in the summer and fall, the Monroe High School senior played on a Champions International Baseball Academy team out of Middleton with players from Janesville, Sauk Prairie, Illinois, Iowa and Cuba.

Edwards attended the CIBA facility in the winter to work on his swing. The CIBA facility has a 3,000 square-foot batting cage, a 5,000-square-foot turf field and a 2,200-square-foot fitness center.

"I went to the facility in Middleton over the winter to work on my swing," Edwards said. "I came in and just didn't want to swing for practice. I came in and wanted to hit for contact. It helped a ton playing on the CIBA team. The hitting coach up there is really nice, and he knows what he is talking about. I definitely wanted to work on my swing and the mechanics behind it. I wanted to make it one fluid swing. It was a step in the right direction."

The practice with his swing has paid dividends this spring. Edwards is the leading hitter for the Cheesemakers with a batting average of .364 and a team-leading seven doubles. He is second on the team with seven RBI. He played in 20 to 30 games over the summer in various tournaments, including two in Chicago and several in Wisconsin.

Edwards plans to play baseball in college. He has narrowed his list of colleges down to three - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Madison College and UW-Platteville. Hogan's father, Todd, is a golf pro at the Monroe Country Club. Edwards is considering playing baseball and golfing in college.

"It's baseball that is definitely my main priority," he said. "If I'm able to keep my grades up I would love to play baseball and golf."

Edwards plans to major in business management or accounting. When he's not playing baseball or studying, his hobby is fishing.

Edwards said he hopes to have a decision on where he will play baseball in college within a week. The decision of where he will play next year has not been a distraction this season.

Edwards also remains the No. 1 pitcher for the Cheesemakers. As Monroe's ace, he has posted a 1-3 record with a 2.82 ERA and 44 strikeouts.

Edwards said he hasn't felt any pressure to make a decision on which college he will attend.

"It's definitely been motivation," he said. "It gives me an extra boost to work even harder if I know I'm going to play at the next level."

Monroe coach Dustin Huffman is confident that Edwards has what it takes to become a college baseball player.

"He definitely has the pitching stuff to play college baseball whether it's junior college, community college or Division III," Huffman said. "He's got much better at driving the ball. That is why you see him hitting more doubles. It's been fun to watch him grow as a hitter."

However, Huffman said Edwards' future in college probably remains as a pitcher.

"I think right now his best pitches are off-speed," Huffman said. "He has a really good curveball and when he throws it for strikes it's almost unhittable. When he's able to get ahead in the count and get his fastball over that makes his curveball even better. He has to work on his mechanics. A lot of it is just getting stronger."

With freshmen and sophomore starters in many games, Edwards has been relied on as a leader. He has worked with the other young pitchers, including freshman Jared Dillon, sophomore Max Lang and sophomore Dagon Rach.

"I think he has done a pretty good job of showing them the way," Huffman said. "He has done a nice job of instilling confidence in Jared Dillon."

Before then, Edwards is focused on trying to lead the Cheesemakers (6-16) to a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal win over Clinton today. Edwards is expected to be the starting pitcher against the Cougars.

Edwards said he hopes he doesn't have to pitch 10 innings like he did in a regional semifinal game last year against Evansville that the Cheesemakers lost 4-3 in 14 innings.

"Clinton is a good team," he said. "They have a lot of talent on their team. It should be a really good game."

Edwards said the regional game last year is when he started to get into a groove with his curveball.

"Everything just fell into place that game," he said. "I was able to command my curveball a lot better since then. My changeup is developing. With my fastball, I can still get wild at times. I'm usually around the dish."

Edwards wants the Cheesemakers to set the tone early against Clinton.

"I just hope we go out and have a good first inning," he said. "If we can score in the first inning and hold them that will give us some momentum to boost us."

Edwards is confident the younger players can deliver in the postseason. He pointed to freshman Nick Bansley, who is batting fifth and has had some clutch hits recently and played spectacular in center field. He is confident in Lang, Dillon and Rach on the mound.

"Jared and the sophomore pitchers have pitched well," he said. "I know if we are in a tough situation they will be there to step up to pick us up."