Stern’s big day, Kelshaw’s 1-hitter send No. 1 MSDA softball back to NPA final

• Updated: Jun. 04, 2024, 7:54 p.m.|
• Published: Jun. 04, 2024, 7:47 p.m.

Pitcher Ava Kelshaw on the mound in the top of the 5th as Mount St. Dominic beats Cedar Grove in the Essex County softball final, Monday, May 20, 2024, at Ivy Hill Park in South Orange, N.J. Mount won, 9-7.Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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• Jake Aferiat | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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Just in case her legacy over the last four years wasn’t secure enough, Mount St. Dominic second baseman Gianna Stern picked a good time to have a career day at the plate.

The Monmouth commit drove in a career high five runs and came a triple short of the cycle in No. 1 Mount St. Dominic’s 10-0 win over Pope John in the North, Non-Public A final, setting up a rematch with No. 2 St. John Vianney at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Kean in the Non-Public A state final.

• 6/4 - 4:00 PM Softball	Final
  Pope John	0
  Mount St. Dominic	10

Complete Box Score »

The game was also her final home game for the Mount and playing for her father, Rob, the Mount head coach.

“I left it all out today because this is the last time I play here and one of the last games with my dad, so I knew I had to come to play,” Stern said. “I’ve been watching Mount play since I can remember and just wanting to be a part of what it’s all about. It’s leadership, it’s friendship, it’s a sisterhood.”

After being held scoreless through Mount’s first two innings of play, Stern broke open the scoring with a hard hit double over the head of the center fielder to make it 2-0 in the bottom of the third, after which point Mount never trailed.

Also helping Mount’s efforts were the 1-hitter freshman ace Ava Kelshaw threw and the fact Mount didn’t make a single error in the field, despite plenty of balls put in play, especially to first baseman Jillian Cianfrocca and left fielder Fran Cutillo.

“To come out and do what we did in the fashion we did is a tribute to the season we’ve had,” Rob Stern said. “To do it in all three aspects of the game, I don’t think there’s a spot where we can say we had a bad phase, and when you do that and you beat anybody in state tournament play, is incredible.”

After Stern’s two-run double, Mount slowly increased its lead, first on a solo shot by Kelshaw in the fourth and then another solo shot by Stern in the fifth.

Then came the sixth inning, where Mount tacked on an additional five runs, with Carlee Paez’s single with no outs proved to be the difference and gave Mount the walk off win.

One of just three seniors on the team, this iteration of Mount softball is a young one, but that also means they don’t know what they don’t know.

So maybe that’s why Rob Stern said his group has enjoyed carrying the No. 1 in front of their name for the last six weeks.

“People have asked about being No. 1 all year and carrying the weight and I’ll be honest with you, I think it’s fueled them. I think they like it,” Rob said. “So I don’t think there’s any real pressure. But I think the pressure was to get there [to the state final]. This is such a great group of kids and such a fun group to be around and any coach wants to be coaching on the last day. I think the pressure was to get there. Now it’s the fun part to go compete.”