The Region 3A and Region 3B Championships will be decided this weekend in Corning, NY as Corning Community College hosts the Region 3A and 3B Softball Championships Series Friday, May 17th and Saturday, May 18th. Prior to the weekend matchup a quartet of semifinal games are scheduled to be played Tuesday, May 14th across the Region. The top four seeds in the tournament will play host to the 5th - 8th seeds in the semifinals of each championship.
Region 3A Semifinals
Herkimer College once again enters the post season as the top ranked team in the Region, their fifth consecutive year as the top seed. Herkimer is currently the third ranked team in Division III in the NJCAA, following a 42-6 record overall and 27-1 in Region III. The Generals will host eighth seeded Monroe Community College who enters the tournament at 17-16 overall, 12-9 in the Region. Herkimer swept a pair of games from Monroe earlier this month, winning the first game 8-0 and the second game 15-3. The two teams are scheduled to square off at 4:00pm on Tuesday.
The second Region 3A semifinal features a pair of Western New York Athletic Conference foes. Fourth seeded Erie Community College will host fifth seeded Genesee Community College in their semifinal game at 3:00 pm on Tuesday. The Kats will be hosting their first Regional Semifinal since the current format was adopted for the Regional Championship, with a Region 3A and Region 3B champion. Erie earned the fourth seed in the tournament finishing their regular season 14-7 in Region III and 17-10 overall. Genesee was named the fifth seed after finishing the season with a 15-9 Regional record, including wins over the second, third, and fourth ranked teams in the tournament. The two teams split an early season double header when Genesee earned a 7-2 victory in game 1 and Erie came back to take the second game 3-2.
Region 3B Semifinals
Onondaga Community College is the second overall seed in this year's tournament and the top seeded team in the Region 3B bracket. The Lazers are currently ranked 7th in the nation after 32-11 regular season and a 25-3 in Region III. Onondaga will host the tournament's seventh seed, Columbia-Greene Community College, in the post season opener. The Twins enter the post season 15-7 overall and 9-7 in the Region. CGCC will be headed back to Syracuse for the second time this season; the teams met for a regular season double header in mid April. OCC took game 1 by a score of 7-0 but needed extra innings to pull out a 10-7 win in game two. First pitch for tomorrow's post season matchup is scheduled for 5:00 pm.
The fourth tournament semifinal will see a pair of Mid-State Athletic Conference foes face each other for the third time this season. Sixth seeded SUNY Broome Community College will travel down I-86 on Tuesday to take on third seeded Corning Community College at 4:00 pm. Corning enters the tournament 26-15 overall, 20-9 in Region while Broome starts its post season after a 17-13 regular season campaign, 17-11 in Region III. Corning picked up a pair of wins at Broome during the regular season, winning game 1, 9-7, and game 2, 10-5.
With rainy weather in the forecast for much of the State on Tuesday check the Region III Scoreboard for game updates.