“It ain’t over ’til it’s over,” baseball legend Yogi Berra once reasoned.
The Our Lady of Mercy softball and McQuaid Jesuit baseball squads would heartily agree.
Both teams made stirring, last-inning rallies en route to recent sectional championships. Their heroics highlighted a spring high-school sports season that also featured sectional crowns by Bishop Kearney girls’ flag football and McQuaid golf, as well as individual titles by track standouts from Catholic high schools in the diocese.
Improbable comeback secures Our Lady of Mercy’s softball crown
In their first two post-season games, the Monarchs ably demonstrated how they had earned the No. 1 seed in Section 5 Class A. They won 21-3 over No. 8 Newark in quarterfinal play May 23, and 13-1 over No. 4 Geneva in semifinal action May 27.
The going was much more rugged in the title game May 30. Down to its final three outs, Mercy found itself on the wrong end of a 3-0 score against third-seeded Batavia.
However, the never-say-die Monarchs produced four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to come away with a 4-3 victory. Leah Sperry’s two-out single drove in Lillian Seiffert to tie score at 3-3, and Kendall Schiffhauer added a single to bring home Sperry with the winning run.
Following its memorable sectional triumph, Mercy saw its season end with a 9-7 loss to Depew of Section 6 in a state Class A first-round game June 3.
Ninth-inning home run clinches Section 5 baseball title for McQuaid
The Knights, seeded second among three teams in Section 5 Class AAA, started their playoffs strongly by winning 8-2 over No. 3 Rush Henrietta in semifinal action May 22. That victory advanced the Knights into a best-of-three championship series against top-seeded Fairport.
Game 1, played May 26, went to the Knights by a 2-1 decision. In the second game, two days later, McQuaid trailed 6-4 going into the seventh before producing two runs to force extra innings. The Knights’ Thomas Bailey then brought the game to a dramatic close, blasting a leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth for a 7-6 win. That victory gave McQuaid a successful defense of its 2025 Class AAA crown.
McQuaid’s season came to a close in state Class AAA first-round play June 2, with the Knights incurring a 5-2 loss to Niagara Falls of Section 6.
Bishop Kearney girls team brings home sectional flag football crown
Bishop Kearney, seeded fourth in Section 5 Class C2, claimed the sectional title with a 20-0 win over No. 2 C.G. Finney in the championship game May 23. That victory followed a 25-7 quarterfinal decision over No. 5 Livonia May 19, and a 13-7 conquest of top-seeded East Rochester in semifinal action May 21.
After its sectional title win over Finney, BK scored a 31-21 triumph over Hornell in state Class C regional qualifier action May 26. The win vaulted the Kings into the state quarterfinals May 28, where a 26-0 loss to Pioneer of Section 6 brought their season to its conclusion.
This year’s title run continued Bishop Kearney’s success in the growing sport of girls’ flag football. In addition to its 2026 sectional crown, BK won sectionals in 2024 and went on to capture the inaugural state Division II title.
McQuaid golf squad scores narrow victory to wrap up Section 5 title
The Knights went down to the wire to earn the Section 5 Class AA championship, held May 28 at Webster Golf Club.
Top-seeded McQuaid shot a five-man team score of 390, narrowly placing ahead of second-seeded Fairport’s 393 total. The Knights were led by Reid Wilson, who fired an 18-hole total of 70. Closing out the Knights’ top five scorers were Ace Erdmann, with 76; Fletcher Weins, 79; Colin Clifford, 80; and Vince Lecce, 85.
The Knights had earned their way into the sectional final by winning 197-234 over No. 8 Greece Athena in quarterfinal play May 19 at Oak Hill Country Club, and 399-416 over No. 5 Victor in a semifinal meeting May 21 at Irondequoit Country Club.
McQuaid posted a team record of 16-1 this season, and Wilson and Clifford qualified for state-tournament play.
Lacrosse, flag football, track success add to high-school highlights
- McQuaid boys’ lacrosse reached the Section 5 Class A final. The Knights, seeded No. 1, scored a 11-9 semifinal win over No. 4 Rush Henrietta May 27, but dropped a 13-3 decision to No. 2 Penfield in the title game May 30.
- Aquinas Institute flag football reached the Section 5 Class C1 final. The Little Irish, seeded No. 2, won 27-19 over No. 7 Batavia in quarterfinal play May 19, and 21-14 over No. 3 Mercy in semifinal action May 21 before falling to No. 1 Hornell, 26-6, in the May 23 final.
- In girls’ track, Mercy’s Rachel Lynck captured the triple jump at the Section 5 Class B2 meet May 30. She went on to win that event at the state-qualifier meet June 5, then achieved a fourth-place finish in Class B at the state championships June 13-14.
- Aquinas’ Santino Young won two individual titles — the 400- and 800-meter runs — at the Section 5 Class C1 boys’ track championships May 29. Other first places for AQ were Akeem Jeffries in the 200 dash, as well as the 400 and 1,600 relays.
- McQuaid produced a first places from Colby Coon in the 3,000 steeplechase, as well as the 1,6oo relay, during the Section 5 Class A boys’ meet May 30. At the state qualifier June 4, the Knights’ Thomas Steele won the steeplechase and the 1,600 relay took first as well.
- Aquinas’ Blessing Muhammad captured first place in the long jump at the Section 5 Class C1 girls’ meet May 29. The AQ 400 relay also placed first.
- Elijah Jamison of Bishop Kearney/Chesterton/Archangel won the Section 5 boys’ Class C2 3,000-meter steeplechase May 29.
- Elmira Notre Dame’s Eleanor Green placed first in the triple jump at the Section 4 Class D girls’ championship meet May 27.
