With the regular season concluding May 22, the Homer, Cincinnatus and DeRuyter softball teams have all qualified for the Section III playoffs. Homer will be participating in the Class B tournament and Cincinnatus and DeRuyter are in Class D.
Homer (8-9) is the last seed, No. 14, in the Class B bracket and will face No. 3 Chittenango at 5 p.m. today at Chittenango High School. The two teams didn’t meet during the regular season.
The Trojans qualified for sectionals after an up-and-down season. Homer started the season 2-7, with four of those losses coming by more than 15 or more runs. After that, Homer won five games in a row and six of its next seven. The Trojans scored in double digits in four of those six wins. Entering the tournament, Homer has lost its last two games to Solvay and A-P-W, the No. 11 seed.
Cincinnatus enters the Class D tournament with a 5-8 record and the No. 9 seed. The Lions will be traveling to face No. 8 Hamilton (13-5) in the first round at 5 p.m. today. The winner will go on the road to face No. 1 Stockbridge Valley (14-2) at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The Lions started the season 2-6 before splitting the last six games of the season.
Cincinnatus finished 0-12 last season and had very few close games. The Lions’ program is developing and making sectionals is a sign of the growth.
“Our district has been working hard to build the softball program here at Cincinnatus,” head coach Ashley Bush said. “This year we were able to field a modified, JV and varsity softball team. After a tough season last year, I am proud of how far the girls have come this year. Hamilton will be a tough fight, but the girls continue to put in the work and have really come together as a team.”
DeRuyter earned the No. 5 seed after a 7-4 regular season. The Rockets will host No. 12 Alexandria (6-9) at 5 p.m. today.
DeRuyter was on a four-game win streak before dropping its final game of the season to Stockbridge Valley.
DeRuyter lost in the first round 19-8 to LaFargeville last season.
