It took an impressive comeback and a walk-off win for Steinert to achieve its part in making history in the Group 3 final, while Cedar Grove cruised to its record-setting triumph in the Group 1 championship game as both schools became the first public schools in the Garden State to capture three straight softball state titles during a busy Friday of group finals action at Ivy Hill Park in Newark.
The Panthers (25-5) concluded the incredible run by its memorable group of seniors with a convincing 6-0 triumph over Audubon in the evening’s final game of four NJSIAA public school group championship contests played on Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field in the park which also serves as the home of Seton Hall University women’s softball.
It is the eighth state title for Cedar Grove, which also won Group 1 titles in 1977, 1979, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2023-24, The the last five state championships have come under the guidance of ninth-year head coach Nikki Velardi.
Steinert scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the seventh to stun Randolph, 3-2, for the Group 3 title in the second game of the day after Gloucester edged Hanover Park, 3-2, for the Group 2 title. All that was left after the third game of the day as Hunterdon Central defeated Watchung Hills, 4-1, in the Group 4 final, was to sit back and see if Cedar Grove could equal the feat of the Group 3 champs from Mercer County and capture yet another Group 1 state crown in the evening’s nightcap.
Florida International University-bound senior Cayce Kavakich capped her brilliant scholastic career for the Panthers with what has become a very familiar combo-top-flight performance from one of the top hitting pitchers in the state as she banged out three hits while scoring an insurance run in the third inning, and shined in the circle as she hurled a superb 3-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts.
The Panthers’ biggest offensive moment of the evening came in the second inning when it wasn’t one of their noteworthy power bats such as Kavakich or Gia Fernandez delivering a home run, but rather DP Nina Caputo delivering a huge 3-run round tripper over the center field fence as the Essex County school jumped on top, 3-0.
Caputo added an RBI single in the fifth inning to finish with a memorable 4-RBI night.
For Cedar Grove, its impressive all-around performance in the Group 1 state final win vs. South Jersey champ Audubon (20-8), capped a simply dominant run in the 2025 state tourney as it outscored its six opponents, 59-2, with its closest games being a 7-1 win vs. its neighboring rival Verona in the North 2, Group 1 state sectional semifinals, and Friday night’s 6-0 Group state final.
The win vs. Audubon marked the final game for an unforgettable senior class of Panthers to remember including 4-year standouts and Division I commits in Kavakich (FIU), the powerful RBI machine in shortstop Fernandez (St. John’s) and strong all-around catcher Ava Oeckel (Manhattan College) along with other key performers such as the fleet-footed second baseman Gabby Florre, hard-hitting first baseman Marina Bryant, steady third baseman Danilella D’Angelo and very reliable right fielder Leah Weinstein.
It will be interesting to see how Velardi and her staff reshape the Panthers in 2026 when they return key underclassmen such as center fielder Bella Stolz and fellow junior Caputo along with sophomore left fielder Lena Willis, but for now there is plenty of time to enjoy the limelight of making history along with Steinert as that rare public school to win three straight group state titles.
