21 local teams moving on to Section III softball tournament
SYRACUSE, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) — Section III softball reached the end of its season on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, the section convened its seeding meeting to see who would continue on the road to a banner.
In all, 21 local teams over all six classes will be continuing their seasons for at least one more game. Three local teams also received top seeds in their respective classes after the section's seeding meeting on Wednesday, May 21.
The top two classes — Class AAA and AA — each had one local entrant, with 11-2 Whitesboro picking up the top seed in Class AA. Despite six cancelled games across the season, Whitesboro finished winning five of their last six, their only loss coming against fellow top seed New Hartford. Led by junior pitcher Addison Cook and sophomore infielder Emma Zyskowski, Whitesboro racked up four shutouts — all of them double-digit victories.
Whitesboro earned a bye into the Class AA semifinals, where they will await the winner of the first round game on Saturday between Central Square and Oswego.
In Class AAA, despite a 6-4 record to begin the month of May — which included losses to New Hartford and Fayetteville-Manlius, the Rome Free Academy Black Knights came roaring back into the playoff picture, winning five of their last six games by a combined score of 59-16. Their only loss came to Class AA top seed Whitesboro on Tuesday, May 20 by just one run.
RFA is led by junior Haylee Bostwick, who is tied with fellow junior Madison Safin and senior Alexa Thompson in extra-base hits — all of them have seven.
The Black Knights will play those same Hornets from Fayetteville-Manlius on Saturday, May 24 at Onondaga Community College. First pitch is set for 1:30 pm.
The New Hartford Spartans picked up the top seed in Class A, despite being two and a half games behind 13-3 Camden in the standings. The Spartans did not start too well, however, splitting a Class AA series with Proctor and RFA and finishing 1-2 on a road trip to Myrtle Beach. Nobody has been able to stop New Hartford in the last week of the season, though: the Spartans went 3-0 over their last three games, outscoring Proctor, VVS, and Whitesboro by a combined 41-2.
Despite their 5-3 finish to the month of May, the Spartans' 11-6 record was good enough to earn them the top seed in the Class A Tournament.
They will face the winner of Central Valley Academy and Homer, which will start at 5 pm on Friday in Ilion. New Hartford's game against the winner is scheduled for 1 pm at Accelerate Sports in Whitesboro.
In Class B, the top local seed was Utica-Notre Dame, who are looking to avenge their last-inning loss to Marcellus in the final last season. Led by the Trinkaus sisters — Erin, Ella and Maggie — once again, the Jugglers started out the season with four straight wins, but hit a snag when the calendar turned over to May. Notre Dame went 3-4 at one point of the season before ending with a bang. The Jugglers won three of their last four games, including a 23-6 destruction of the last Class B school to make it in — 16th seeded Holland Patent.
The Jugglers only played two games against Class B competition, but weren't playing lightweights either: all the rest of their 15-game season were against Class A opponents and above, and even splitting two games with Class AAA Rome Free Academy and Proctor.
The Jugglers' performance this season was good enough to earn them the fourth seed and a possible redemption game against top-seeded Marcellus in the semifinals. First, they will have to play the 13th-seeded Adirondack Wildcats on Friday, May 23. The last time these two teams met will have been three years to the day, with the Jugglers coming out on top, 5-1.
In Class C, despite an 11-2 season, the Cooperstown Hawkeyes picked up the highest local seed at number seven. The Hawkeyes tore through the Class C competition this season, even though they only having four games under their belt by May 1.
When they hit the field, however, the Hawkeyes hit it hard, not scoring less than three runs in any game this season. Junior Katie Crippen led the way for Cooperstown with a scorching .824 batting average. Crippen also led the team in runs (14) and was second on the team in RBIs (11). She also led the team with 15 stolen bases. No other Cooperstown player had more than five.
The Hawkeyes will begin their road to Carrier Park on Friday, May 23 when they host 10th seeded Cincinnatus. First pitch is scheduled for 5 PM at Cooperstown High School.
In Class D, the Hamilton Emerald Knights earned the top seed in the class with an impressive 13-2 record. Despite two losses in the middle of the season to Class C's Cooperstown and Sauquoit Valley — both of whom made their respective playoffs, the Knights have bookended those with win streaks of six and seven. Both streaks include a 20-run game (against Waterville and New York Mills, respectively) and at least one shutout of 12 runs or more.
The Knights are led by sophomore ace Ellie Freeth, who holds a 2.69 ERA and 150 strikeouts this season while only allowing 47 hits and 32 runs. At the plate, senior Adriana Catania leads the team in both batting average (.444), RBIs (19) and home runs (two).
Hamilton's performance has earned them a bye, where they will await the winner of Friday's game between eighth-seeded Oriskany and ninth-seeded LaFargeville. First pitch on Saturday in Hamilton is scheduled for 1 pm.
The full schedule for this year's Section III Football Tournaments are listed below (local teams in bold italics, times and dates are subject to change):
Class AAA
Thursday, May 22#5 Baldwinsville @ #4 Liverpool, 5 pm– Winner will play #1 Cicero-North Syracuse, Saturday, May 24 @ 11 am @ Onondaga CC
Saturday, May 24
Finals: Saturday, May 31 @ 2 pm @ Carrier Park — East Field
Class AA
Saturday, May 24#5 Oswego @ #4 Central Square, 1 pm @ Brewerton Elementary#7 Auburn @ #2 Fulton, 1 pm#6 East Syracuse Minoa @ #3 West Genesee, 1 pm
Semifinals: Wednesday, May 28 @ 7 pm @ Carrier Park — East FieldFinals: Saturday, May 31 @ 1:30 pm @ Carrier Park — East Field
Class A
Friday, May 23#10 Indian River @ #7 Westhill, 5 pm
Saturday, May 24#6 South Jefferson @ #3 Jamesville-DeWitt, 1 pm#5 Syracuse CBA @ #4 Chittenango, 1 pm
Semifinals: Tuesday, May 27, 4:30 pm @ Carrier Park — East FieldFinals: Friday, May 30, 5 pm @ Carrier Park — East Field
Class B
Friday, May 23#12 Phoenix @ #5 Lowville, 5 pm#14 Canastota @ #3 General Brown, 5 pm @ Brownville-Glen Park Elementary School
Semifinals: Tuesday, May 27 @ 4:30 and 7 pm @ Onondaga Community CollegeFinals: Friday, May 30 @ 5:30 pm @ Carrier Park — East Field
Class C
Thursday, May 22#17 Bishop Grimes @ #16 Tully, 5 pm– Winner will play @ #1 Sandy Creek, Friday, May 23, 5 pm– Winner will play @ #2 Port Byron, Friday, May 23, 5 pm#19 Bishop Ludden @ #14 Weedsport, 5 pm– Winner will play @ #3 Thousand Islands, Friday, May 23, 5 pmFriday, May 23Bishop Grimes/Tully @ #1 Sandy Creek, 5 pm#13 Fabius-Pompey @ #4 Beaver River, 5 pm#10 Cincinnatus @ #7 Cooperstown, 5 pmBishop Ludden/Weedsport @ #3 Thousand Islands, 5 pm#11 South Lewis @ #6 Cato-Meridian, 5 pm
Semifinals: Tuesday, May 27 @ 7 pm @ Carrier Park — East FieldFinals: Saturday, May 31 @ 11:30 am @ Carrier Park — East Field
Class D
Friday, May 23#10 Belleville-Henderson @ #7 Copenhagen, 5 pm– Winner will play @ #2 McGraw, Saturday, May 24 @ 1 pm
Saturday, May 24#5 Alexandria @ #4 Sackets Harbor, 1 pmBelleville-Henderson/Copenhagen @ #2 McGraw, 1 pm
Semifinals: Wednesday, May 28 @ 4:30 pm @ Carrier Park — East FieldFinals: Saturday, May 31 @ 11 am @ Carrier Park — East Field
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