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Former Mount St. Dominic coach Lorenzo Sozio will be a retired coach honored in Monday night's (June 10) annual NJ Pride Super 36 All-Star Game at Ivy Hill Park. Sozio, who stepped down as coach after the 2021 season, always worked closely with Rob Stern, the present Mount head coach and president of NJ Pride. The popular all-star contest celebrates the top seniors from the just-completed high school season. (SC photos)

Retired Mount Coach To Be Feted During Super 36 All-Star Game

By Steve Tober for sidelinechatter.com

While the standout senior players are always the main attraction at the NJ Pride Super 36 North-South Senior All-Star Game (see rosters below), this Monday night’s (June 10) 6 p.m. contest on Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field has very special meaning to softball fans of Essex County, and beyond, since the retired coach to be honored has particularly close ties to NJ Pride’s president along with many of those who have frequented Ivy Hill Park for high school softball games in the last several seasons.

Lorenzo Sozio, who carved a magnificent coaching career at Mount St. Dominic and is still the very active athletic director at the Caldwell-based Catholic school, will be that retired coach in the limelight at this year’s edition of the top high school all-star softball game to cap the spring season in the Garden State.

Sozio, who will be the State Coach of the Year Honorary coach, left his post with the Mount softball team after the 2021 season in order to spend more time following the playing careers of his three sons, Lorenzo, Jr., who is now in college, and two current Caldwell High School athletes: junior Marco, who plays baseball and basketball, and freshman Nico, who is an up-and-coming football and basketball propsect for the Chiefs.    

NJ Pride’s Rob Stern, who had served as Sozio’s assistant with the Mount for 11 seasons, and is now the third-year head coach for one of the top teams not only in New Jersey, but also around the nation, certainly misses his good friend who had manned the first base coaching box for so many years while guiding the Mount Lions to numerous memorable seasons and many county championships.

“I still miss him as the coach and friend beside me,” said Stern. “We were like Batman and Robin and not being together every day is still tough.

“We have the same common interests and I value what he does, which in his case is a terrific family with three great kids and a wonderful wife.

“I know that he wanted to try and be in both places, but he also knows that a softball program like ours means giving 150 % every day.

“Mount softball has been such a huge part of his life for so long, he still loves the program, and he is still our athletic director.

“I’m fortunate in that I’ve been able to coach both my kids in high school, my son Joe when he played football at St. Joe’s (Montvale) when I was on the coaching staff there, and I have been extremely fortunate to have coached my daughter (Mount senior second baseman) Gianna throughout her high school career and I totally get what it’s like to enjoy the heck out of coaching all the kids on a team, but still wanting to see your own kids play as well.”

“We have been very fortunate to have such knowledgeable softball coaches at the Mount,” said Sozio. “I appreciate all the support from the entire Mount St. Dominic community through the years.

Sozio was a 3-time Essex County Coach of the Year, who has compiled an impressive 617-173-1 record since becoming head coach at the Mount in 1996. His Lions teams have captured nine Essex County Tournament titles and have appeared in 16 ECT finals.

The Mount has also won eight sectional state titles, including seven in Non-Public A, and also captured the overall Non-Public A state championship in 2014.

Sozio’s coaching career began after he graduated from Kean University where he spent portions of his college days playing both football and baseball. He began as a JV coach for two years at West Essex before assuming the head job for one season in 1995.

He then became a full-time physical education teacher at Cedar Grove in 1996 and was also named as the Mount’s head softball coach. He then was named as AD at the Mount in 2000.

“I’ve enjoyed coaching at the high school level for a long time and I leave open the possibility of returning one day, but for now I’m going to enjoy watching my sons,” said Sozio. “Sports are my life and it’s great that we can have the entire family be part of that on-going experience.”     

As for the annual Super 36 all-star game, senior standouts from around the state who have just completed their scholastic careers will take to the diamond at Ivy Hill Park, which has become one of the state’s prime softball venue with events it hosts during the season, including the Pride-Essex Challenge, the semifinal and final rounds of the Essex County Tournament, and this season’s public school NJSIAA state finals.

It was previously also the site for the season-ending event of all- the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions, which was ended in 2022. 

Super 36 Honored Retired Coach Lorenzo Sozio At Mount St. Dominic:
Coaching Record – 617-173-1

Overall Non-Public A State Title - 2014

Non-Public, North A Champs - 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2018 and 2019

Non-Public, North B Champs – 1996

ECT Champs – 1996, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021

ECT Finals – 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021

Essex County Coach of the Year - 2001, 2004, 2008

Northern Hills Conference Coach of the Year – 1998, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009

***

2024 NJ Pride Super 36 All-Star Game Rosters:

North:
1-Naya Martinez infield Mount St. Dominic, Seton Hall
2-Sophia DeMarco infield Cranford, Seton Hall
3-Gianna Stern infield Mount St. Dominic, Monmouth
4-Katharine Heslin catcher Morris Catholic, UMass
5-Gianna DiMeglio infield IHA, Siena
6-Savanna McHale pitcher Weehawken, Binghamton
7-Hayley Wieczerak pitcher St. Thomas Aquinas, Albany
8-Hailey Errichiello pitcher, Roxbury, Albany
9-Nina Sarlo infield Bergen Tech, Georgetown
10-Angelina Gencarelli outfield West Essex, Manhattan
11-Ella Saxton outfield Ramapo, Boston College
12-Jocelyn O’Keefe outfield Blair, Lafayette College
13-Harper Nix infield Glen Ridge, Washington U. (St. Louis)
14-Sophia Mount pitcher Livingston, Villanova
15-Deja Suero outfield Bergenfield, Bloomsburg
16-Tia Shikar infield Watchung Hills, Drexel
20-Ella Stevinson infield Watchung Hills, UMass
27-Kate Buckley catcher Dayton, Albany
33-Olivia Bibbo outfield, Mount St. Dominic, Sacred Heart

South:
1-Sara Scozzari infield New Egypt, Albany
2-Alayna Giampolo infield Notre Dame, Wagner
3-Madison Konopka infield Shawnee, St. John’s
4-Ava Fisher pitcher St. Joe’s Academy, East Carolina
5-Emily Kurth, catcher Donovan Catholic, Eastern U
6-Marli Szeirer infield Immaculata, Palm Beach Atlantic
7-Lindsay Oller infield South Plainfield, Caldwell U.
8-Victoria Oliveira outfield Toms River North, Central Conn.
9-Isabella Plath inf/OF Raritan, FDU
11-Morgan Harnell-Alvarez infield Vineland, Morgan State
12-Jordyn Gautier outfield St. John Vianney, St. Thomas Aquinas
13-Madison Dollard pitcher Egg Harbor T, FDU
14-Brianna Estevez outfield, Perth Amboy, Manhattan
15-Ashley Viesta catcher Freehold Twshp, Central Conn.
16-Angelina Benitez outfield Hightstown, Seton Hall
17-Jordan Terefenko catcher, Red Bank Cathl, Lynn U.
18-Isabella Kwashek pitcher West Deptford, LeMoyne
20-Cami Johnson outfield Buena, Rider U   

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Lorenzo Sozio was a successful and beloved coach at Mount St. Dominic where he remains as the athletic director for all the Mount Lion sports.

Copyright 2005 Sideline Chatter