VERO BEACH, Fla. (April 28, 2016) - Sixteen teams will convene on Historic Dodgertown beginning Friday, April 29 for the start of the 2016 NJCAA District/FCSAA State Softball Tournament.
All 10 teams in the final Region 8 Softball Coaches' Poll qualified for the tournament, led by No. 1 College of Central Florida, who sports an impressive 61-3 record.
The Patriots will play in Friday's 11 a.m. round against Polk State College.
Other 11 a.m. games include first-year program No. 4 Florida SouthWestern vs. Florida State College at Jacksonville, No. 10 Eastern Florida State College vs. No. 9 Gulf Coast State College and Miami Dade College vs. No. 5 Chipola College in a rematch of last season's state championship game.
Four more games will swing into action at 1:30 p.m.: No. 6 State College of Florida vs. No. 7 Seminole State College, No. 3 Indian River State College vs. Tallahassee Community College, St. Petersburg College vs. No. 7 Daytona State College and Palm Beach State College vs. No. 2 Northwest Florida State.
The winners and losers of the 11 a.m. games will play one another in four different 4 p.m. games while the 1:30 p.m. winners and losers will do the same in a round of 6:30 p.m. games.
A total of 16 games will highlight day one action at the tournament, including four elimination games which will reduce the field to 12 teams by day's end.
Day two action begins at 10 a.m. Saturday concluding with the winner's bracket final at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to Sunday's championship game and also earning a berth in the NJCAA Division I Softball Championship in St. George, Utah.
Three games are scheduled for Sunday, beginning at 10 a.m. with the loser's bracket semifinal. The winner advances to the noon loser's bracket final, where the winner will earn Region 8's second berth to St. George and advance to the 2 p.m. state championship game against the survivor from the winner's bracket.
Select games can be seen live online throughout the tournament, beginning with a pair of 11 am games on Friday - Florida SouthWestern vs. Florida State College at Jacksonville and Polk State vs. Central Florida.
To view a complete listing of games that will be streamed online, visit the FCSAA Sports YouTube Channel.