Babylon softball falls at state semifinals
Babylon's No. 3 Sophia Hagerty-Cori makes contact at the plate during the NYSPHSAA Class B softball state semifinal against Dobbs Ferry at Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park in Binghamton, N.Y., on Friday, June 12, 2026. Credit: Nicholas Soccocio
BINGHAMTON — Babylon displayed youthful exuberance after scoring multiple runs in the opening inning of the game. But the team, featuring just three seniors, struggled to keep its offense rolling.
Dobbs Ferry (Section I) defeated Babylon, 7-4, in the softball state Class B semifinals at Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park on Friday.
Brianna Mazeika and Addy Bennett hit back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the first for Babylon (12-7). Two wild pitches brought across two runs as Babylon grabbed a 4-0 lead.
“We just wanted to keep pushing, keep hitting,” senior Julie Goldstein said. “Keep screaming in the dugout and just do as much as you can to keep things rolling.”
Dobbs Ferry's Lucy Logan singled home a run with the bases loaded to cut Babylon’s lead to 4-1 in the second. Sophia Hagerty-Cori retired the next two batters for Babylon.
Bela Abraham drew a walk with the bases loaded in the third, but Hagerty-Cori picked up a strikeout and induced two pop-ups to keep Babylon’s lead at 4-2.
Kamryn Addid hit a two-run triple and Emily Marron had an RBI single to give Dobbs Ferry (20-3) a 5-4 lead in the fourth.
“Some of the girls are understandably pretty down, but they have so many years ahead of them,” Goldstein said. “They’re only going to get better from this point.”
Goldstein and Eliana Romero each singled in the sixth inning, but back-to-back strikeouts ended Babylon’s threat. The Panthers stranded eight runners between the second and sixth innings.
“I think we may have been focusing on the big picture too much,” Goldstein said. “We were all focusing on driving in runs instead of just trying to hit our singles and taking it one play at a time.”
“It shows our age. You’re putting seventh, eighth and ninth graders in these big spots that they haven’t experienced before,” Babylon coach Nicole O’Donnell said. “They've never faced this pressure, but now they can turn this experience into results for the next couple of years.”
Babylon won its first Long Island championship since 2022 with a win over Carle Place, which had defeated it the prior two years.
“This year our goal was to be in this position,” O’Donnell said. “It wasn’t just making the playoffs. It was making the LIC and winning it to get here. We lost the past two years to Carle Place in the LIC and even with this young team, we wanted this year to be different."
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.
