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Sideline Chatter's repeat Essex County Player of the Year is Mount St. Dominic junior Jill Cianfrocca who was one of state's top hitters to ignite one of Jersey's best lineups during the 2025 spring season. Jill is seen with her sister, freshman Abby Cianfrocca, the Essex 'Newcomer of the Year' as they each display the Essex County Tournament championship hardware. SC's Essex Pitcher of the Year is Columbia's Claire Shupe, while the Lions, seen with their ECT trophies, were the Essex 'Team of the Year.' And, their coach Rob Stern, seen holding NJSIAA state championship trophy while joined by family members, from left, his son Joe, wife Jennifer and daughter, former Mount Lion star Gianna, is the 2025 SC Essex 'Coach of the Year. after guiding the Caldwell school to its memorable season. (Photos by Jeff Stiefbold-jstiefbold.smugmug.com)

Essex County Team of the Year: Mount St. Dominic

The crescendo of the 2025 season for the Mount was certainly knocking off the state’s No. 1 team Donovan Catholic, 4-3, to capture its first overall Non-Public A state championship since 2014. The Lions, who had just one senior starter in veteran outfielder Carlee Paez, saw their young players continue to improve as the season progressed and while there wasn’t another regular season SEC-American Division title, there was the program’s 12th ECT championship, achieved with a solid 6-2 win over SEC champion Cedar Grove. The Lions’ formidable schedule included independent wins over the likes of Group 3 state champion Steinert and highly-touted Red Bank Catholic along with impressive state tourney triumphs over the likes of longtime North A rival Immaculate Heart and culminating with the state championship triumph vs. Donovan Catholic while also gaining a bit of redemption for a setback to the Griffins in the 2022 Non-Public A state final.

Runner-Up Team of the Year: Cedar Grove

The Panthers thoroughly dominated the Group 1 field in rolling to a third straight state title joining Steinert (in Group 3) as the first two public schools to win three consecutive state championships. Coach Nikki Velardi’s veteran squad had memorable seniors such as pitcher Cayce Kavakich, catcher Ava Oeckel, first baseman Marina Bryant, second baseman Gabby Floree and shortstop Gia Fernandez who led an impressive lineup that was just too strong for any small public school in the state. Cedar Grove also captured the SEC-American Division title, including a pair of regular season wins over perennial conference champion Mount St. Dominic.

NOTES- Montclair won eight of its last nine games in finishing 21-7 overall and a fine 9-1 in the SEC-Liberty to capture the division title under the guidance of coach Mike Goldstein and led by one of the conference’s top players the past four years in Wellesley College-bound shortstop-outfielder Brooklyn Awad…A number of Essex County teams advanced to the semifinals in their respective state sectional tournament fields including Nutley, which showed progress under veteran coach Luann Zullo before falling to Summit in the N2G3 semis. Verona, under first-year head coach Jacquellne Selby was 13-11 and 7-3 in the SEC-Liberty while advancing to the N2G1 semis vs. archrival Cedar Grove and gave the Panthers a bit of an early scare in that contest before falling, 7-1. Livingston also had a first-year head coach in longtime Jason Daily assistant Ian Matten and the Lancers also won a couple of state tourney wins before falling to state power Morris Knolls in the N1G4 semis. Livingston is also bidding adieu to one of the county’s all-time great outfielders in the always-highly productive Allie Nankivell, who is headed to the University of Delaware. Caldwell, behind legendary coach Mike Teshkoyan, advanced to the N2G2 semis vs. Governor Livingston. A very nice event in Caldwell’s season came in April when its softball diamond was dedicated to the brothers Mike and Mark with the new Teshkoyan Field. Mike and Mark teamed up to guide the Chiefs softball program for more than three decades together and Mike continues to direct the team since Mark’s passing in 2021.

SC’s Final Essex Top 10:

1-Mount St. Dominic (27-4)

2-Cedar Grove (25-5)

3-Columbia (20-7)

4-Livingston (11-14)

5-Montclair (21-7)

6-Caldwell (10-15)

7-Nutley (15-12)

8-Verona (13-11)

9-Glen Ridge (10-12)

10-West Essex (10-17)

Sideline Chatter 2025 All-Essex:

First Team:

P- Cayce Kavakich, senior, Cedar Grove

P- Claire Shupe, junior, Columbia

P- Ava Kelshaw, sophomore, Mount St. Dominic

C- Ava Oeckel, senior, Cedar Grove

Inf- Jill Cianfrocca, junior, Mount St. Dominic

Inf- Gia Fernandez, senior, Cedar Grove

Inf- Bella Iannitelli, sophomore, Mount St. Dominic

Inf- Marina Bryant, senior, Cedar Grove

OF- Allie Nankivell, senior, Livingston

OF- Carlee Paez, senior, Mount St. Dominic

OF- Brooklyn Awad, senior, Montclair

Utl- Abby Cianfrocca, freshman, Mount St. Dominic

Second Team:

P- Marley Kim, junior, Montclair

P- Sophia Rodriguez, junior, Caldwell

P- Siri Krabbe, freshman, Glen Ridge

C- Brooke Mundy, sophomore, Mount St. Dominic

Inf- Gabby Florre, senior, Cedar Grove

Inf- Gabriella Mariano, senior, Nutley

Inf- Lucia Luzzi, sophomore, Caldwell

Inf- Sophie Rothfeld, junior, Livingston

OF- Abby Coulter, junior, Columbia

OF- Brooke Gillen, sophomore, West Essex

OF- Val Dilanni, sophomore, Livingston

Utl- Eva Clevenger, junior, Columbia

Third Team:

P- Brianna Gillen, senior, West Essex

P- Liv Healey, sophomore, MKA

P- Teagan Weber, sophomore, Bloomfield

C- Chloe Chrobocinski, junior, West Orange

Inf- Danielle Imbriano, senior, Verona

Inf- Maya Bernstein, sophomore, Columbia

Inf- Nina Maglifiore, freshman, Verona

Inf- Avery D’Ambola, freshman, Mount St. Dominic

OF- Kaylan Bartolozzi, freshman, Mount St. Dominic

OF- Jamie Tarrow, freshman, Columbia

OF- Ella Reynolds, sophomore, Montclair

Utl- Ava Rodriguez, junior, Caldwell

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SC's runner-ups as the Essex County Player, Pitcher, Newcomer, Coach and Team of the Year are, from top, Cedar Grove's Cayce Kavakich, Mount's Ava Kelshaw, Columbia's Jamie Tarrow and Cliff Smith, and the Cedar Grove Panthers (Photos by Jeff Stiefbold-jsftiefbold.smugmug.com and also courtesy of Columbia and Cedar Grove softball teams)