Championship weekend is here

Greetings Section V fans,

This is the time of the year we've been waiting for.

No, not because of National Corn on a Cob Day. Rather, Rochester-area athletes and teams are competing in state championships all across New York State.

Tournaments like golf and tennis have already crown champs. Softball and baseball will play for titles this weekend.

Here are some Section V highlights from some NYSPHSAA tournaments.

McQuaid baseball two steps away

While players and athletes can say they want to win a state championship, turning that dream into a reality is something different.

But here are the McQuaid Knights, who reached the semifinal round of the baseball state tournament, just two wins from taking the Class AA title. Palmyra-Macedon, another team in Section V, is at the same point in Class B.

The last team from Section V to win a baseball state championship? The 2019 McQuaid Knights.

"Seeing what the 2019 team did and seeing that we can repeat that has been super motivating to us," McQuaid senior pitcher/first baseman Daniel McAliney said.

The Knights have to get past Massapequa on June 10 at Binghamton University, in order to play in the championship game June 11 at Mirabito Stadium, home of the Class AA professional Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

McQuaid, which was stopped in the semifinal round during the 2021 sectionals, defeated Victor in this season's Section V Class AA Tournament final, then Orchard Park of Section VI or Buffalo region in the state regional round.

"Obviously, winning sectionals was great, but at the beginning of year our main goal was to win a state championship," McQuaid senior pitcher/outfielder Will Taylor said. "Knowing we are two games away from that is exciting."

When one sport isn't enough, why not compete in two?

Lacrosse regionals or state golf tournament?

How about both?

That's what Victor senior Caitlin Keenan did last weekend.

On Saturday, Keenan, a Division I Bentley University lacrosse commit, scored in Victor's 16-2 win over Section VI's Fairport in the NYSPHSAA Class B Far West Regionals in Pittsford.

Keena then drove straight to Wilton that night for the first round of the NYSPHSAA Golf Championships Sunday morning. Her Section V golf teammates gave her notes on the McGregor Links Country Club since she missed Saturday's practice round to lax.

The notes seemed to work. Keenan tied for 33rd place after shooting a 173. She made two birdies for an 85 on Sunday, and birdied a third time during Monday's 88 final round.

Keenan also took home Section V's sportsmanship award for her long weekend.

Next for Keenan, she'll join Victor's lacrosse team in state semifinals against Section III's Fayetteville-Manlius at 11 a.m. Saturday at SUNY Cortland.

"You have made @VictorGirlsGolf extremely proud your entire career and I couldn’t be more grateful to be your coach! You are one of the kindest most hardworking young women I have ever met!" Victor coach Trevor Sousa tweeted.

Email Marquel Slaughter at mslaughter1@gannett.com and follow his on Twitter @MarquelSports. 

And then there were four

Section V girls lacrosse put on an impressive display of dominance in the state regional round last weekend, sweeping Section VI teams by a cumulative score of 68-14 in Classes A, B, C and D.

Girls lacrosse uses a running clock once the score margin reaches 10 goals and a running clock was employed in all four games at Pittsford Sutherland, including the Class C game that saw it kick in with 1:30 left in the first half of Honeoye Falls-Lima’s win over Grand Island.

The result is four Section V teams in the state semifinals, which goes down on Friday at SUNY Cortland. Rush-Henrietta (Class A) plays Baldwinsville, Victor (V) plays Fayetteville-Manlius, HF-L (C) plays Fulton and Palmyra-Macedon (D) plays Skaneateles.

Friday’s winners advance to Saturday’s championship games.

Email James Johnson at JAMESJ@Gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JJDandC. 

Canandaigua hustles in to state final

The Braves haven’t exactly been an underdog but they admit a run to the Class B state championship for boys lacrosse was not expected.

It’s well-known in lacrosse circles that the team that emerges from Class B in Section V is well-prepared for competition across the state and Canandaigua has proven that with a tight win over Hamburg of Section VI in the regional round and then a suffocating defensive performance against West Genesee for a 5-1 win in Wednesday’s semifinals.

On Saturday, the Braves play for a state championship against Garden City. Canandaigua has one state title, in 2009, while Garden City goes for its seventh overall title, the last one coming in 2018.

Until next week, keep up on Section V's sports scene by going to our high school page.

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Championship weekend is here