On Saturday at Greenlight Grand Slam Park in Binghamton, the 44th edition of the James "Ace" Morabito Invitational Softball Tournament took place.

The tournament features 16 high school softball teams from all over the state, including three teams representing Section IV such as Elmira Heights, Horseheads, and Deposit-Hancock.

Co-Tournament Director Lou Bishop says that the field in this tournament is very strong and that historically their seems to be a correlation between the winner of the invitational tournament and how far that winner will go in the state tournament.

"If you go by history of the 44 years the winner of this event usually win their wins their respective class in the state," said Bishop. Many of the teams here will be at the final four".

Bishop also saying that this will be a good preview for the state championships in the upcoming years which will be held at the park beginning next year in 2025 and will last till 2027. 

The semi-finals for the tournament are scheduled for Sunday at 9 A.M. with the championship scheduled for 3 P.M.