Softball champs make LI proud

Twelve girls from neighboring communities in southeastern Nassau County, with varying backgrounds and experiences but all skilled softball players, came together this summer to form a special competitive team — the Massapequa International 12-and-under softball team. Less than two months later, they won the softball Little League World Series in North Carolina, the first team from New York State to do so.

Congratulations all around!

A lot goes into these kinds of victories. The girls had talent in abundance but also fortitude and perseverance. They made big plays at key moments. Most had to adapt to play different positions than they do on the travel teams for which they compete the rest of the year. And, as often is the case with magical postseason runs, a little luck helped.

The players also had a ton of support — from their families and friends, and from younger softball players in their communities and their families. These kinds of successes rarely occur in a vacuum. And the girls, also to their credit, recognized the value of that backing.

History helps, too. Massapequa’s Little League softball and baseball teams have a long record of success. Last year’s Massapequa International 12-and-under softball team won the state title, and the Massapequa Coast 12-and-under baseball team reached the Little League World Series last year and has won three state titles in a row. Winning begets winning and turns the improbable into the possible.

Massapequa International’s championship game win was televised nationally, which says a lot about how far girls and women’s sports have come. For decades, the spotlight shined more brightly on their male counterparts — and still does. Many Long Island parents of female athletes remember well the fights for equal treatment for their girls in all sorts of sports. Progress surely has been made but just as surely more is needed, not only in youth sports but at the collegiate and professional levels as well.

The attention being given to the Massapequa International girls, including a Women’s Day honor by the Mets at Citi Field later this month, is well-deserved and well-earned. Just one out away from clinching the Little League World Series title, they demonstrated the tight bonds they had quickly formed when they gathered at the mound and shouted, “Family!”

After the win, catcher Sienna Erker told CBS News New York, “It’s just an incredible feeling because I’ve always dreamt of this and to have it happen is just insane.”

So here’s to dreams and insanity, to the satisfaction that comes from setting goals and meeting them, to the girls of Massapequa International for their pioneering success, to the communities that nurtured and supported them along the way, and to progress wherever it is made and whatever form it takes.