The field is set for the 2017 Region III Division III Softball Championships Final Four, which will take place on Friday and Saturday (if necessary) at host site Genesee Community College. Top-seeded Herkimer College and fourth seed Genesee CC will play a best of three series for the Region A title and second seed Corning CC will take on third seed Onondaga CC for the Region B crown, a rematch of the 2016 finals. Both champions will earn an automatic bid to the NJCAA Softball National Tournament.
Genesee earned the No. 4 seed after an 18-14 regular season and a 16-6 regional record, and defeated Erie CC 5-0 in the sub-regional round on Tuesday to play its way into the final four for the second time in the last three seasons. The Cougars split its season series against Herkimer, with each team winning one game.
No. 1 seed Herkimer, ranked No. 2 nationally, put together a 28-6 regular season record, including a 17-1 mark in regional play. The Generals defeated Columbia Greene CC 10-1 (F/5) on Wednesday in the opening round of the tournament and have won a regional title in each of the last five seasons.
Corning held the second best regional record this spring (20-3) and tallied a 25-6 overall regular season record. The Red Barons defeated Monroe CC on Tuesday in the sub-regional round 4-3 and split a pair of games with Onondaga CC earlier this year.
Onondaga, ranked No. 8 nationally, will defend its 2016 regional title as the three seed after a 26-14 regular season record and a 21-5 record in the region. The Lazers topped Niagara County CC 6-4 in the sub-regional round to advance to the final four and will look for its first regional title repeat since they won three straight in 1990-92. OCC defeated Corning in three games to win last year's regional title.
Final Four schedule:
Friday, May 12:
10am: (2) Corning vs. (3) Onondaga
12pm: (1) Herkimer vs. (4) Genesee
2pm: (3) Onondaga vs. (2) Corning
4pm: (4) Genesee vs. (1) Herkimer
Saturday, May 13:
12pm: (2) Corning vs. (3) Onondaga (if necessary)
2pm: (1) Herkimer vs. (4) Genesee (if necessary)
Sunday, May 14:
Rain date for completion of the tournament
For updates and results throughout the Region A and Region B finals, follow Genesee Athletics on Twitter: @GCCSports. Live stats will be streamed for all games.