Mount & Columbia 'The Big 2'
In Essex County Softball Tourney

State-ranked and now the top two seeds, respectively, in the 2026 Essex County Softball Tournament are defending champion Mount St. Dominic (14-2, 7-0) and Columbia (11-2, 5-1) who remain odds on favorites to reach the May 16 championship game at Ivy Hill Park.

A 28-team field, including for an invitational tournament, was seeded Monday night. Among the other top eight seeds are 3-Caldwell, 4-West Essex, 5-Nutley, 6-Cedar Grove, 7-Livingston and 8-Montclair.

Preliminary round action was contested Wednesday (April 29) with the first round to follow on Saturday (May 2) and quarterfinals on Saturday, May 9, all at the higher-seeded team’s home field.

The first round matchups will see 16-Payne Tech at 1-Mount St. Dominic, 9-University at 8-Montclair, 12-Verona at 5-Nutley and 13-MKA at 4-West Essex in the upper side of the bracket.

In the lower bracket it will be 14-Millburn at 3-Caldwell, 11-Bloomfield at 6-Cedar Grove, 10-West Orange at 7-Livingston and 15-Newark Academy at 2-Columbia.

The semifinals, 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday, May 15, and final, 7 p.m., Saturday, May 16, are once again to be played on Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field at Ivy Hill Park in Newark.  

The Lions, who were the No. 1 team in the state last year after winning the Non-Public A state title, and were No. 3 in a recent nj.com statewide poll,, have dropped early-season games to Summit (1-0, April 13) and Steinert (4-0, Sunday, April 26, in the Cedar Grove Black & Gold Invitational), and, despite boasting a fairly hefty .368 team batting average, have had their occasional offensive doldrums.

Columbia, ranked fourth in the state last week, lost to the Mount, 6-4, back on April 7 in South Orange and meet the Lions in their second regular season contest on Monday (May 4) in Caldwell. 

The Mount is once again led by one of the state’s top hitters, Villanova-bound senior first baseman Jill Cianfrocca, who entered recent action with incredible power numbers including 9 home runs, 26 RBI, a .500 batting average and 1.261 slugging %.

Jill’s younger sister, sophomore third baseman Abby Cianfrocca (.382 BA) and junior shortstop Bella Iannitelli (.468 BA) are among the other top hitters for the Lions, while junior University of Michigan commit Ava Kelshaw (0.27 ERA, 123 K’s in 78 1/3 IP) remains an ace in the circle for the Caldwell-based Catholic school.

Columbia continues to be led by senior Boston University-bound pitcher Claire Shupe (0.53 ERA) who is also a top hitter for coach Cliff Smith’s Cougars with 17 RBI and a .435 BA.

Freshman Alison Kelly (1.44 ERA) has emerged as a second ‘go-to’ hurler for Columbia.