Section X Spotlight: The Road Gets Narrower

A week ago, dozens of Section X teams still had championship dreams.

Today?

Only two remain standing.

That's not a knock on the teams whose seasons ended.

That's a reminder of how brutally difficult it is to survive June in New York high school sports.

Every round gets tougher.

Every opponent gets better.

Every mistake gets magnified.

And yet, as the dust settles across diamonds and lacrosse fields from Canton to Heuvelton, two Section X teams are still packing bags for the Final Four.

The Canton Golden Bears girls lacrosse team.

The St. Lawrence Central Larries softball team.

Everybody else may be done playing.

These two aren't done dreaming.

## Canton Girls Lacrosse Refused to Panic

If there was a "How To Win A Regional Final" manual, Canton apparently threw it out before taking the field.

The Golden Bears spotted Schuylerville a three-goal lead.

Then calmly decided they'd rather win anyway.

After trailing 6-3 midway through the third quarter, Canton unleashed a rally that completely flipped the game. The Bears outscored the Horses 6-0 the rest of the way and punched another ticket to the state semifinals.

Saige Blevins was everywhere.

Olivia Francey delivered in the biggest moments.

Madison Ayrassian sparked the comeback.

Elena Abplanalp tied the game.

By the time the final horn sounded, Canton had turned a season-threatening deficit into a 9-6 victory.

Championship teams don't always dominate.

Sometimes they simply refuse to lose.

That's what Canton looked like.

## The Larries Keep Doing Larrie Things

Every year someone asks if St. Lawrence Central can keep it going.

Every year the Larries answer the same way.

By winning softball games.

The Section X champions rolled through regional play and earned yet another trip to the Final Four, continuing one of the North Country's most consistent runs of postseason success.

At this point, deep playoff runs are becoming a spring tradition in Brasher Falls.

The names change.

The graduating classes change.

The uniforms get replaced.

The winning doesn't seem to.

Now the Larries head to Binghamton carrying the hopes of an entire region with them.

## The Seasons That Deserve Remembering

The final scores won't define these teams.

The banners will.

Heuvelton baseball's season came to an end against defending state champion Oriskany.

The Bulldogs finished 20-1.

Read that again.

Twenty wins.

One loss.

A Section X championship.

A regional final appearance.

Most programs would build a trophy case around a season like that.

The Bulldogs built a legacy.

Tupper Lake baseball saw its postseason run conclude against a talented Ticonderoga squad.

The Lumberjacks may not be heading to Binghamton, but they reminded everyone why June baseball matters so much in small towns.

Packed stands.

Community pride.

Kids believing anything is possible.

That's the good stuff.

Massena boys lacrosse battled all the way to a regional final before running into a powerhouse Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake team.

The Raiders didn't just represent themselves.

They represented Section X.

And they did it well.

Potsdam boys lacrosse gave fans one of the wildest games of the postseason before falling in overtime to Schuylerville.

One shot.

One bounce.

One overtime goal.

Sometimes that's the difference between heartbreak and history.

Massena baseball and Canton baseball both carried Section X championship banners into state tournament play.

Canton softball made another deep run before running into defending state champion Chatham and one of the state's most dominant pitchers.

These teams may not be advancing.

But nobody should confuse elimination with failure.

Not in June.

Not at this level.

## The Final Two

When the week began, Section X had championship dreams spread across baseball, softball, and lacrosse.

Now the spotlight narrows.

Two teams.

Two opportunities.

Two chances to bring a state championship back to the North Country.

Canton girls lacrosse.

St. Lawrence Central softball.

The rest of Section X will be watching.

The rest of Section X will be cheering.

And if this postseason has taught us anything, it's that betting against North Country athletes is usually a bad idea.

The road to a state title is never easy.

But for two Section X teams, the journey continues.

And honestly?

The best stories are usually saved for the end.