Clutch-Hitting Mount Freshman
Latest Parisi Fairfield/SC AOW

Each day this season Avery D’Ambola has been trying to soak up all that she can learn and experience as one of the freshmen starters for state power Mount St. Dominic.

 

And, while the early journey as a budding scholastic player to watch hasn’t always been a smooth ride in her rookie high school season, the payoff, like delivering what proved to be the game-winning hit in the 48th Essex County Tournament final, makes the process well worth going through during what has been an eventful 2025 spring campaign.

 

One of four freshmen in the starting lineup for a very youthful Mount squad (21-3), the Lions’ precocious 14-year-old third baseman is one of the talented youngsters providing fresh energy for one of New Jersey’s perennial softball powers.

 

For her continued solid efforts, which included going 2-for-4 with a run, a clutch, 2-run double and 3 RBI in a 6-2 triumph over Cedar Grove in the May 17th ECT final, D’Ambola is the latest Parisi Fairfield/Sideline Chatter Athlete of the Week. 

 

“You can’t help but realize right away just how much talent is on our team and It was a bit of an adjustment for me at the start of the season for sure,” said the Mount’s third sacker and No. 9 hitter in a deep lineup for the ECT championship game. “I played a little outfield at the start but then to be made the starting third baseman is an opportunity I am very grateful for and I work hard every day to continue to step up for every situation we face.

 

“Our upperclassmen have done a great job being leaders for the younger girls on the team and I’m getting used to high school softball which is definitely different than club.

 

“The competitiveness is there in both but I think high school brings the team closer together and especially here at the Mount which is a close-knit community to begin with and you see your teammates during the school day which is always great!”

 

The Mount coaches, from head man Rob Stern to strong assistant coaches Angelo Del Vecchio and Ashley DeYoung, are a big influence on helping merge the young players into the overall mix for a 2025 Lions squad which has just two seniors on the roster.

 

“Our coaches are amazing,” said D’Ambola, who entered recent action hitting .264 with 17 runs and 12 RBI. “They’re very good at teaching you so many things about softball and always have great tips on how to get better while being very positive at the same time.”

 

D’Ambola’s progress from pre-season workouts in the late stages of winter to the critical tournament time of ECT and state tourney action now in late May and soon early June has impressed Stern.

 

“If you told me in March that Avery was going to play for us I might have laughed at you, but she’s such a ‘gamer,’ she loves to practice, she asks questions, she wants to work, and she’s grown up very quickly this spring,” said the veteran Mount head mentor. “She is part of a very good freshmen class that has grown up together and 20-something games in now plus scrimmages before that, and they are not freshmen any more.

 

“Avery has been solid at third base for us, and keeps getting better as a hitter. She came up there in the top of the fifth (of the ECT final) with us trailing going into the inning, and after (freshman) Kaylan (Bartolozzi) tied the game (2-2) with a sacrifice fly, Avery came through with one of the biggest hits of the season!”

 

Indeed, it became a huge spot in the 4-run fifth when the Mount, trailing 2-1, sent eight batters to the plate and also responded well to a temporary setback during the frame when Carlee Paez was thrown out at the plate for the inning’s first out as Cassy Lopez’s hard single to right was handled well by the Panthers who executed a perfect 9-4-2 relay with right fielder Leah Weinstein quickly getting the ball to second baseman Gabby Floree, who in turn fired  perfect strike to catcher Ava Oeckel who applied the tag on the sliding Paez.  

 

Yet, the Mount was still not going to be denied as it loaded the bases with one out, the No. 8 hitter Bartolozzi delivered her sacrifice fly to plate courtesy runner Gabby Denninger and then D’Ambola delivered her huge hit with her 2-run double to give her team the lead for good, 4-2.

 

“I was just looking to have a good at bat there, foul back pitches if I had to, and hit anything close,” said the freshman third baseman and No. 9 batter in perhaps the deepest lineup in the state. “She (Kavakich) gave me a pitch a little outside and I just put it back where it came from.”

 

Junior all-state performer and Villanova commit Jill Cianfrocca, who has been one of the team’s top hitters the past two ECT championship seasons, then provided a bit more breathing room for the Lions with her RBI single plating D’Ambolia for an even more comfortable 5-2 lead.

 

Brooke Mundy, the Mount’s superb sophomore catcher and No. 5 hitter, delivered an RBI double to score Paez in the sixth inning to make it 6-2, and with reliever Ava Kelshaw in command, the Lions were well on their way to their fifth ECT title in the past six tournaments.

 

D’Ambola, Bartlozzi, who was a designated player in the ECT final and can also provide pitching depth; second baseman Bella Baez and starting pitcher Abby Cianfrocca are the Lions’ four freshmen starters, and they are all doing a fine job adjusting to high-level high school softball.

 

Abby Cianfrocca, a natural infielder who bats second behind her sister Jill and is having a terrific year at the plate, has been the team’s very durable pitcher this spring with Kelshaw missing much of the season due to a nagging back ailment.

 

“Abby has done such a great job for us, and has had just a tremendous all-around freshman season,” said D’Ambola. “This year has been such a great experience for all the freshmen, and thanks to the great support from all our teammates we’ve all become a lot closer,” added D’Ambola. “We might hang out together at places like Willowbrook Mall and Chick Fil-A, or we just enjoy spending time together on and off the field wherever we are.

 

“The Mount is a special school and playing softball here is something I’m very thankful to be a part of!

 

“Winning my first Essex County Tournament championship was a tremendous experience, but we all know that there is still a lot more work ahead of us as we aim to win a state championship!”    

 

NOTES-One of D’Ambola’s other top offensive performances this season came back on April 3 when she went 2-for-3 with a run, a striple and 3 RBI in a 7-6 win over Livingston…She also went 2-for-2 with 2 runs in an 11-0 independent victory vs. Indian Hills on April 30…Avery’s dad Chris, who played baseball and soccer at Nutley High School, is a member of the Board of Education in Caldwell, and is a special education physical education teacher in Pompton Plains. Her mom, Amy, is a director of curriculum in Upper Saddle River elementary schools. A younger brother Andrew, 13, who is also very active in sports, including soccer and basketball, is finishing seventh grade at Grover Cleveland Middle School in Caldwell…D’Ambola plays her travel softball with NJ Pride’s U-14 team which is coached by Essex County Chief of Staff Phil Alagia.