By Rich Chrampanis
NEWARK – From opening day to the final game of the season on the campus of Seton Hall University, St. John Vianney has simply been dominant. It was only fitting that the Lancers third state championship in the last four years was a towering effort.
Behind yet another masterful outing from Madison McDougall in the circle and a 15-hit onslaught, the Lancers dismantled Mount St. Dominic 10-0 in six innings to complete a perfect 30-0 season, becoming the first undefeated softball team in New Jersey in 12 years.
“It’s like a dream season,” head coach Kim Lombardi-McDougall said. “Honestly, the girls didn’t want to lose. They just continued to come out and practice hard and they believed in everything that we were telling them to do. And you know what, even if we had some ups and downs, we pulled it together.”
The Lancers wasted no time setting the tone. Sophomore Olivia Lombardi delivered an RBI knock in the first inning, pushing St. John Vianney out to a 2-0 lead and setting the stage for McDougall to close out her high school career with one more emphatic performance in all facets of the game.
The Monmouth University commit entered the state final with 16 home runs on the season. She left with 17. A towering blast to left center, her fifth of the postseason, was the exclamation point on one of the most remarkable individual seasons in recent New Jersey softball history.
Throughout her four-year career, McDougall’s been lauded as one of New Jersey’s all-time great pitchers. Her senior season at the plate might have exceeded her incredible pitching stats. McDougall hit .626 with 17 homers and 72 RBIs. Couple that with a 0.30 ERA with 312 strikeouts and you’d be hard pressed to find another player in the history of New Jersey softball who can come close to approaching those numbers.
“It feels phenomenal,” McDougall said. “Without this team behind me, I don’t know where I would be. They get the job done most of the time and I’m just here throwing a game for them to be happy and excited.”
With numbers that Shohei Ohtani would envy, McDougall has gotten most of the attention on this special team, but the Lancers had plenty of other elite performers.
When Mount St. Dominic opted to intentionally walk McDougall in the fourth, senior Gabby Gonzalez stepped up with the bases loaded and blasted a grand slam to make it an 8-0 game. Gonzalez finished the year with 12 homers, 43 RBIs and a .500 batting average.
Junior Brynn Utter led the Lancers with 52 runs scored to go along with 43 RBI’s. It was Utter who delivered the final hit of the game that plated the tenth run and closed out a perfect season.
St. John Vianney outscored its opponents 50-3 across the entire postseason run and while recency bias can often distort historical perspective, the resume of the 2026 Lancers will be awfully tough to beat when it comes to the greatest all-time New Jersey softball teams.
SJV had 302 runs while only giving up 26 in 30 games; 14 of St. John Vianney’s wins came against teams ranked in the top 20 including wins against No. 2 Mount St. Dominic, No. 3 Donovan Catholic (twice) and No. 4 Steinert.
Madison McDougall – Best Season Ever?
St. John Vianney’s Madison McDougall was named New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year for the second time in her high school career with mind boggling numbers both as a pitcher and a hitter. She finished her high school career as a three-time state champion.
2026 Stats
Pitching: 29-0, 0.30 ERA, 312 Ks, 18 BBs
Batting: .626 BA, 17 HR, 72 RBIs,
23 2Bs, 23 runs scored
Career
Pitching: 1,077 strikeouts, 0.77 ERA
Batting: .519 BA, 30 HR,
150 RBIs, 48 doubles
The article originally appeared in the June 18 – 24, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
