Nine of the 10 schools are in an early-season Top 20, including the top three teams in the state. And, the one team not ranked just defeated the No. 15 team in the state.
What is most certainly on tap is one of the better early-season softball showcases, the Pride Essex Challenge, with five very intriguing games this Saturday (April 11) at Essex County Ivy Hill Park in Newark.
Among the teams set to play are No. 1 ranked Mount St. Dominic, the reigning state Non-Public A state champions, and two other Non-Public A powers in No. 2 ranked St. John Vianney, which was the 2024 state champs, and No. 3 Donovan Catholic, which was the runner-up to the Mount in last June’s state final.
The one team not ranked in that early-season nj.com Top 20 set to play in Saturday’s showcase event is Red Bank Catholic which just knocked off No. 15 Colts Neck, 8-1, on Monday (April 6) and is yet another very capable team which operates in and out of the powerful Shore Conference.
RBC will meet 16th ranked Hanover Park 10 a.m. Saturday to help get the Pride Essex Challenge off and running.
At noon it is No. 8 Columbia vs. Vianney followed at 2 p.m. with Donovan Catholic taking on No. 5 Immaculate Heart. The Mount faces Colts Neck at 4 and No. 6 Morris Knolls takes on No. 11 Morris Catholic at 6.
The first game features coach Sergio Rodriguez’s talented Hanover Park team led by a very capable lineup led by Long Island University-bound infield star Grace Waldrum and hard-hitting catcher Sabrina Casok (Sacred Heart University).
The Hornets reached the Group 2 state final last spring and could be a strong state contender once again this spring along with challenging the likes of Morris Knolls and Morris Catholic in this season’s Morris County Tournament.
RBC, guided by coach Tony Flego, has a young pitcher to watch in sophomore Mackenna Savage and a potent lineup led by junior shortstop Grace Lombardi.
In Game 2 Saturday at noon, coach Cliff Smith’s Columbia Cougars will face one of the biggest tests of the 2026 season vs. a Vianney team that features all-state pitcher Madison McDougall and hard-hitting shortstop Gabby Gonzalez.
Vianney captured the Non-Public A state title in both 2023 and 2024 while defeating the Mount in both finals.
Columbia counters with its own strong presence in the circle in talented Boston University-bound senior Claire Shupe along with a strong lineup led by her senior batterymate Eva Clevenger.
In the 2 p.m. contest Donovan Catholic’s strong lineup, featuring Auburn commit Bella Marin, slugging catcher Jaclynn Nynez and pitcher Gylian Hixenbaugh, takes on veteran coach Diana Fasano’s IHA Blue Eagles, a perennial Non-Public, North A title contender along with the Mount. The Bergen County team is led by pitcher Gabby Dellavolpe and hard-hitting Leah English.
In the 4 p.m. game, the Mount, which has had recent 1-run victories over Ramsey (in 10 innings in last Saturday’s Public vs. Private showcase at Ivy Hill Park) and Governor Livingston, looks to warm up in terms of more hitting as the weather’s temperatures also cooperate with a promising, more spring000-like forecast for higher temperatures this weekend.
Coach Rob Stern, who also is president of the NJ Pride travel organization, has a deep and ultra-talented squad returning from last spring’s state champs, including slugging Villanova-bound first baseman and leadoff batter Jill Cianfrocca, her younger sister, sophomore third baseman Abby, who bats second, and junior shortstop Bella Iannitelli, who hits third.
