Chester Teen’s Game-Winning Home Run Secures Championship, Ends 11-Year Drought

NEWARK, NJ — A Chester teen at Mount St. Dominic Academy had a monumental moment in her high school softball career when her game-winning home run secured the state championship last week.

On June 11, the Mount St. Dominic Academy Lions faced off against Donovan Catholic Griffins in the 2025 Non-Public A State Championship game, a title that Mount St. Dominic Academy hasn’t clinched since 2014.

Several attendees gathered at Seton Hall University’s Ivy Hill Park to watch the game, which became tied 3-3 in the seventh inning.

That was when junior Jillian Cianfrocca stepped up to the plate and fired a solo-dinger, her tenth home run of the season, over the centerfield fence, giving the Lions a 4-3 lead.

“The pitch I saw coming in during my at-bat was right over the plate, so I took advantage and attacked it,” Cianfrocca said in a press release. “Since I was leading off the inning, I didn’t want to miss any opportunity. I was ready for anything close to the plate.”

The crowd erupted when Cianfrocca made the explosive contact, and her teammates stormed out of the dugout to congratulate her on the homer.

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Protecting the Lions’ lead in the bottom of the seventh was sophomore pitcher Ava Kelshaw of West Milford. Kelshaw shut the Griffins out in the inning to secure the championship win.

“What a run. What a team,” a Mount St. Dominic Academy social media post read.