Ward Melville softball honors 'resilient' Julia Scourakis, who throws first pitch before win
Julia Scourakis (third from left) poses with the Ward Melville softball players before the start of the game, Saturday, April 22, 2023 at Ward Melville. Credit: George A Faella
When Julia Scourakis took the field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Saturday, she wasted no time firing a strike amidst cheers from onlookers.
“I was afraid I was going to miss,” Scourakis said. “But after I practiced for a bit, I knew I would be good.”
Scourakis suffers from Escobar syndrome with Arthrogryposis, a condition that affects around just 70 children worldwide. Her condition causes a webbing of the skin, lack of muscle movement and joint contractures. None of those issues have prevented Scourakis from living life with a smile.
“Julia is a very resilient young lady,” Ward Melville coach Joseph Burger said. “She doesn’t let her disability affect her focus on life.”
Burger, who is Scourakis’ teacher at Hampton Bays High School, inquired further about her disability to make her comfortable in the classroom. He learned from her mother, that she is the only person with Escobar syndrome to have her specific genetic sequencing.
“We discovered shortly after she was born, what she had,” Julia’s mother, Jill Scourakis said. “We recently found out that she’s one of a kind, the only one with her genetic sequencing.”
Julia tossing out the first pitch wouldn’t have been possible without surgeries to her spine and legs done by Dr. Lenke (spine) at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Dr. Feldman (legs) at the Paley Institute in West Palm Beach.
Aside from the life changing surgeries, some of Julia’s biggest supporters have been her sister and stepfather, Nicole Scourakis and George Hoffman.
“My sister means so much to me,” Julia said. “I feel like she is always supportive of me.”
Julianna Russ tossed a shutout, as Ward Melville (7-2) defeated Deer Park (3-4) 9-0, in non-league. The eighth grader allowed just two hits on a day that had a little more meaning than usual.
“It was just really important for me and for the entire team,” Russ said. “Julia is nice and very strong, we had to get a win for her.”
Ward Melville and Deer Park took the field sporting shirts with the phrase, “Sometimes, real superheroes live in the hearts of small children fighting big battles”, in support of Scourakis.
They raised nearly $8,000, to donate to the Fresh Air Home in Southampton. The Fresh Air Home is a camp for disabled children and was Julia’s choice for the donations.
“This seemed crazy, because it seems like there’s always people thinking disabilities are weird and don’t like them,” Julia said. “So I thought it was pretty cool that they wanted to raise awareness here.”
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.
