Emily and Meghan McGurk lead Babylon to Long Island Class B softball title
Babylon after beating East Rockaway in Long Island Class B softball championship at Eastport-South Manor Athletic Complex on Thursday, June 2, 2022. Credit: George A Faella
Babylon softball can travel as far as sisters Emily and Meghan McGurk take them. That sentiment rang true as they competed for a Long Island championship together.
Babylon defeated East Rockaway, 14-4, in the Long Island Class B championship/Southeast Regional semifinal on Thursday at Eastport-South Manor Athletic Complex. Meghan McGurk pitched a complete game, striking out seven. Six-year starter Emily McGurk hit a double, a triple and drove in three runs. Catcher Mikayla Sasuk had two hits and three RBIs.
Meghan McGurk was faced with the task of navigating an East Rockaway lineup which had scored 42 runs in its last three games. She fired three scoreless innings to open the game but found trouble in the fourth.
Babylon held a 6-0 lead after a five-run bottom of the third, but East Rockaway got RBIs from Grace Wooding, Julia Walsh, and Adriana Ramirez to cut their deficit to 6-4 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
“I know how to work with her [Meghan], I know how to calm her down,” Sasuk said. “We take things one step at a time, and I knew we’d get through it.”
Babylon responded with a four-run bottom of the fourth to grab a 10-4 lead, spearheaded by Emily McGurk’s RBI double and Sasuk’s RBI single.
Meghan McGurk then settled in, firing three more scoreless innings to end the game. She allowed no more than one baserunner in each of those innings.
“I’ve played in three LIC games and this was the best, watching my little sister perform in the circle like that,” Emily McGurk said. “Watching her grow as a player and a person has been something special.”
Babylon (14-1) moves on to the Regional final where they await either Marlboro Central or Rye Neck. The win not only gives Babylon another game, but an opportunity for the McGurks to stave off the end of their days playing softball together.
“I love playing with my sister and it’s going to be hard to watch her go to college,” Meghan McGurk said with tears in her eyes. “All the years I’ve played with her, she’s helped me with everything.’
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
