There indeed needs to be a penalty on the Cassadaga Valley Central School baseball team in regard to a forfeit last year in the boy’s postseason tournament, but does it need to be so harsh? School and booster club members are asking Section 6 to reconsider its rules that if a team does not play a contest after the brackets are finalized, that team will be ineligible next year.

The Cougars had a 7-10 record last year under head coach Al Roller. Six seniors were on the team, with five underclassmen. The team was set to host Randolph on Friday, May 17 in the opening round of the Section VI baseball playoffs.

But that date presented a problem: Cassadaga Valley’s senior trip clashed with the scheduled playoff game. Because of the scheduling issue, the six seniors on the team were forced to choose between their senior trip and one last home game on the baseball diamond. They chose the trip.

“It wasn’t that Randolph showed up Friday afternoon and Cassadaga’s coach was standing there with his hands in the air, saying, ‘Sorry, I don’t have enough guys to play, get back on the bus and go home.’ They literally tried to mitigate the problem, and Section VI wouldn’t let them do that,” said David Christy, a supporter of Cassadaga Valley athletics.

Though CVCS was denied after an appeal of the decision, silence from Section 6 leadership is just as despicable. Despite numerous calls to officials who oversee athletic decisions in the region, no one returned a call to our newspapers.

That’s disrespectful — and offers many an idea of how Section 6 operates with much of their budget tied to public money. Shame on those in charge.

Their unsaid message basically is this: don’t call us, we’ll call you.