No. 1 Donovan Catholic falls to No. 2 Mount St. Dominic in NJSIAA Non-Public A softball state final

SOUTH ORANGE — A tremendous season by the Donovan Catholic softball team ended one win short.

Junior first baseman Jillian Cianfrocca smacked a lead-off home run in the top of the seventh inning and Ava Kelshaw worked around a one-out walk to close it out as No. 2 Mount St. Dominic defeated No. 1 Donovan, 4-3, in the NJSIAA Non-Public A state final on Wednesday at Ivy Hill Park.

Ciancfrocca went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two walks, and Kelshaw went the distance with seven strikeouts and two earned runs allowed, giving the Lions their first state title in 11 years and denying the Griffins in their quest to win their first state title since 2022. Donovan finished the season with a 26-2 record.

Donovan struck first to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Isabella Maria walked to lead off the inning and Olivia Kurth reached on a bunt single to put runners on first and second. Senior shortstop Christina Ginex then lifted a fly ball to center field and Maria tagged and sprinted for third after the catch was made. The ball got away from the Mount St. Dominic third baseman to allow Maria to score for a 1-0 lead. Kurth also tried to score on the play but was thrown out at home.

Mount St. Dominic took a 3-1 lead in the top of the second inning with the assistance of five walks issued by Donovan. Catcher Brooke Mundy led off with a walk and left fielder Kaylan Bartolozzi singled up the middle to put runners on first and second with nobody out. With one out, Avery D’Ambola drew another walk to load the bases. Donovan starting pitcher Dani Rodriguez struck out her counterpart Kelshaw for the second out, but was lifted after Jillian Cianfrocca worked a walk to bring in a run and tie the game. Gylian Hixenbaugh came in to pitch, but Abby Cianfrocca and Jill Iannitelli drew back-to-back walks to bring home two more runs and give the Lions a 3-1 advantage. Hixenbaugh prevented any further damage by striking out Carlee Paez on a 3-2 pitch.

Both pitchers then began to settle in. After allowing the first two Donovan runners to reach base, Kelshaw retired the next 11 hitters outside of a batter reaching after a dropped third strike. Hixenbaugh came back strong in the third inning by retiring the first two hitters on a pop up and a strikeout, and shrugged off a two-out walk by getting D’Ambola to fly out to left field. Kelshaw singled to begin the third inning but a slick double play started by Donovan second baseman Isabella Cino cleared the bases and Hixenbaugh got Abby Cianfrocca to ground out to shortstop. Hixenbaugh then retired the side in order in the fifth.

Donovan clawed its way back to tie the game with a run in the fourth inning and another in the fifth. The Griffins’ two-out rally in the fourth began when Cino ripped a triple off the left-field wall. Sophia Senger plated Cino with an infield single to cut Mount’s lead to 3-2.

The Griffins tied the game in the bottom of the fifth by staging another two-out rally. Kurth singled with two outs and scored when Ginex roped a triple into the right-center field gap. Catcher Jaelynn Nunez walked and advanced to second on defensive indifference, but Kelshaw stopped the Griffins by getting a strikeout to end the inning.

In the sixth, Hixenbaugh worked around a leadoff walk to set down the next three hitters. Senger began the bottom of the sixth with a walk but was thrown out at second when Caroline Kopp reached on a fielder’s choice. After Gia Gordon flied out to center field, Kopp was thrown out stealing to end the frame.

Jillian Cianfrocca’s homer in the seventh over the right-center field fence put Mount St. Dominic up by one. The Lions almost broke the game open when two walks and a single loaded the bases with no outs, but Senger, who came on in relief of Hixenbaugh after the home run, got out of the jam with a strikeout, a force out at home on a grounder to third and a grounder to short stop.

Kelshaw retired the first batter in the bottom of the seventh before Maria walked to put the tying run on base with one out. Kelshaw retired Kurth on a fly ball to right field for the second out. Mount St. Dominic clinched the state title when Kelshaw got Ginex to line out hard to second base for the final out.

“We did everything we could to try to keep our pitchers in the game,” Donovan head coach Debbie Schwartz said. “It was a very difficult game for all the pitchers, not just ours. Congratulations to Mount St. Dominic, they played a great game.”