Cazenovia College softball slugger Madison Cieslak (Whitesboro) ended the regular season with a bang, homering seven times in her last 10 games and earning North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Player of the Week honors on Monday.

Now, Cieslak and her former high school teammate, the hot-hitting Olivia Simone (Whitesboro), hope to celebrate their post-season “homecoming” with a victory in the NAC Tournament at SUNY Polytechnic Institute of Technology in Marcy.

When the six-team, double-elimination tournament begins Sunday, fourth-seeded Cazenovia (10-2 NAC, 19-15 overall) will play fifth-seeded Maine-Presque Isle (5-5, 11-20) in the 10 a.m. opener and SUNY Cobleskill (6-6, 11-23) plays Thomas College (7-3, 14-13) at noon. The top two seeds, Husson University (10-0, 27-12-1) and West Division regular-season champion SUNY Poly (11-1, 20-5), receive first-round byes. The tournament runs through Tuesday.

Powered by Cieslak and Simone, Cazenovia ended its regular season by sweeping its weekend series with Cobleskill. Simone went 6-for-8 with three doubles and four RBIs and Cieslak had three hits and two RBIs in the second game as the Wildcats swept Friday’s doubleheader 7-1 and 12-4.

In Saturday’s regular-season finale, Cieslak homered twice and had five RBIs and Simone had two hits and two RBIs in a 12-7 win.

Cieslak is batting .379 with 35 RBIs, and the senior first baseman leads the NAC with 10 home runs and a .792 slugging percentage. Simone enters the playoffs with a 19-game hitting streak (38-for-66 with 31 RBIs), and the junior catcher leads the conference in batting average (.509), RBIs (40), hits (55) and doubles (19).

NAC Tournament host SUNY Poly has a lineup loaded with locals, including infielder Kimberly Birmingham (Camden), a .456 hitter with three homers and 32 RBIs. Aeron Hamm (Oriskany) is batting .413 with three homers and 28 RBIs, Gabriella Ellixson (Whitesboro/Notre Dame) is hitting .382 and senior leadoff hitter Maddelyn Hoehn (Oriskany) is batting .325 and is tied for third in the NAC in runs scored (30).

In the circle, SUNY Poly ace Trinity Critelli (Frankfort/Frankfort-Schuyler) is 15-2 with a 1.79 ERA, three no-hitters and 176 strikeouts in 105.1 innings pitched and teammate Joy Stevens (Whitesboro) is 4-0 with a 2.04 ERA.

At the junior college level, Herkimer College’s Olivia Friend (Oneida) went 3-for-3 with an RBI in a 13-1 win over SUNY Adirondack, and she homered and had three RBIs in a 9-2 win over Finger Lakes Community College.

Mohawk Valley Community College’s Brianna Grogg (Boonville/Adirondack) homered in a 7-4 loss to Herkimer and MVCC pitcher Alivia Neff (Waterville) matched her season high with 13 strikeouts in a 7-6 loss to Onondaga Community College.

Le Moyne’s Roden homers in three straight games

Le Moyne College baseball player Dewey Roden (Sherrill/VVS) homered in three straight games this past week, raising his team-high total to seven this season.

When the Division II Dolphins ran their winning streak to 10 games with a doubleheader sweep of Adelphi University, Roden homered and had two RBIs in an 8-6 win and then clubbed a two-run homer in a 7-5 victory. Pitcher Sam DiGeorge (Canastota) improved to 5-1 in Game 2.

The following day, Roden homered again and Zach Brush (New York Mills) had an RBI single in Le Moyne’s 10-8 loss to Adelphi. Brush then hit a two-run homer and the Dolphins earned a doubleheader split with a 7-6 win.

SUNY Oswego’s Blake VanDreason (Sherrill/VVS) had two hits, including an RBI single in the eighth inning that helped the Lakers edge SUNY Oneonta 5-4 in the first game of a doubleheader. Oneonta won the second game 12-8, and relief pitcher Tom Roefaro (Utica/Notre Dame) got the win. Roefaro, now 4-1, threw 2 1/3 hitless innings and struck out five.

Ithaca College’s Riley Brawdy (Rome/RFA) had two hits and an RBI in a 7-0 win over Hobart College.

MVCC’s Harvey, Mohamed win Region III track titles

Mohawk Valley Community College distance runners Taylor Harvey (Clinton) and Omar Mohamed (Utica/Proctor) were winners on the opening day of the NJCAA Region III Track & Field Championships in Troy.

Harvey won the women’s 10,000-meter run with a time of 41:17.07 and Mohamed won the men’s 10,000 with a time of 34:13.93.

Herkimer College freshman Brian Reile (Herkimer) won the men’s decathlon with 4,512 points.

At the SUNY Cortland qualifier, Utica University’s Jane Fahy (Oriskany) won the shot put at 43 feet, 8 inches. Utica’s Jade Dening (Remsen) won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a regional qualifying time of 11:50.40 and teammate Mackenzie Mix (Camden) won the 200-meter dash in 25.90 seconds.

At the St. John Fisher University Classic, Brockport’s Sarah Crockett (Rome/RFA) won the shot put with a toss of 44 feet, one-half inch.

Cubino wins twice in conference tennis semis

SUNY Cortland junior Karlie Cubino (Marcy/Whitesboro) was a two-time winner during her tennis team’s loss to Oneonta State in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) semifinals.

Cubino won her fifth singles match 6-2, 6-2 and she also was an 8-3 winner at third doubles.

During Cortland’s combined fall/spring season, Cubino had a 10-2 record playing fourth and fifth singles and she was 6-5 playing second and third doubles.