By Rich Fisher, Contributing Editor
It was an unprecedented 24 hours in St. John Vianney, Holmdel, athletic history, as the school celebrated undefeated state champions two straight days.
On June 9, Gabby Gonzalez and Madison McDougall attended the NJSIAA Group I championship volleyball game at South Brunswick High School, where they watched their Lancer classmates win the state title and finish 26-0.
One day later, McDougall threw a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts and she and Gonzalez both homered in their final high school game to give the softball team a 10-0 win over Mount St. Dominic in the Non-Public A state final. The Lancers ended 30-0.
“It was definitely a great experience going undefeated with the volleyball team,” McDougall said. “It was like everything they did, we did copy and paste.”
And volleyball coach Jessica Gadaleta had some advice for the softballers after her team won it.
“Ms. Gad said ‘All right, it’s your turn,’” Gonzalez revealed. “Her team won two sets and thought they had it, then lost two. She said, ‘You can’t anticipate everything going your way. You need to focus and win each inning.’”
Inspired by the volleyballers’ attendance at their state final at Ivy Hill Park in Newark, the Lancers did just that as they took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and kept piling on. McDougall hit her 17th home run to notch her 72nd RBI of the season in the third inning, and Gonzalez hit a grand slam after MSD walked McDougall intentionally to load the bases.
“I was like, ‘All right, clearly they don’t think I can do it,” Gonzalez said. “Madison came off the field and said, ‘Let them know they messed up.’ I took a deep breath and focused. She threw me an inside pitch, either a backdoor curve or screwball, and it just happened. I don’t even know how to explain it. It was just amazing.”
It’s only fitting the two starred in their final game together before McDougall goes to Monmouth and Gonzalez heads for Florida International.
They met as 5-year-olds when McDougall’s mom, SJV head coach Kim Lombardi-McDougall, met Gonzalez’s dad, Vic. The two put together a string of travel teams that allowed their daughters to play together their entire careers.
“Gabby’s a great player all the way around and I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else,” McDougall said.
“We’re just very close,” agreed Gonzalez, who was thrilled to see her friend succeed after undergoing a series of back procedures in the off-season that threatened to spoil her senior year.
“It’s just incredible, watching her strive to be the best and completely destroying all her goals,” the Hazlet resident continued. “Watching her do that first-hand was just amazing.”
In four years as varsity starters, the duo went 91-5 with three state titles, three Shore Conference Tournament championships and three Monmouth County Tournament crowns.
As this year’s lone seniors, they had to provide leadership – along with juniors Brynn Utter and Mia Favato – on a team that had four freshmen and two sophomore starters. They included 10th-graders Lexie Csontos and Olivia Lombardi, and 9th-graders Olivia Haslacher, Molly Plath, Peyton McDougall (Madison’s sister) and Maddie Richter.
“I definitely did say ‘Wow this is a really young team,’” Gonzalez said. “We knew everybody was coming after us this year. We taught the freshmen they just have to let it happen, don’t let the outside noise affect you, don’t be nervous. Just have fun and relax.
“It was amazing to have them step up without all the nerves and the scaredness. It was like they weren’t freshmen.”
McDougall embraced the responsibility of being a role model.
“It was pretty awesome,” the Middletown resident said. “As sophomores and juniors, you’re becoming leaders but you’re not fully a leader because you’re not a senior.”
The two not only led in softball duties, but in faith, which both felt was important.
“We always pray before the game and we’re always putting God before everything else,” assured McDougall.
Gonzalez said numerous Lancers were in Catholic Athletes for Christ, and added that, “We do a lot of community service, we do practice our religion a lot. With St. John Vianney (as) our patron, everybody says it, and it’s just amazing to hear all of us come together and pray together.”
And while they don’t pray for victories, they got enough this year to be mentioned as possibly the greatest softball team in state history.
SJV outscored their opponents 308-26 and shut out 20 foes. In four state games they held a 50-3 advantage. The Lancers hit .435 as a team with 54 RBI and averaged 10.3 runs per game. McDougall hit .626 and Gonzalez batted .500.
In the circle, McDougall was 29-0 with 312 strikeouts (over 1,000 for her career) and was named Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Years for the second straight season.
Best of all, Gonzalez and McDougall went out winners after having their only “off” year last season when they went 18-3 with no titles.
“It was horrible, it was such a bad feeling,” Gonzalez said. “We hadn’t had that may losses total in our other three years. So being able to deal with that was not easy. Overcoming last year to have this kind of season was just great.”
Knowing this was the end of one chapter and the beginning of another also made it special.
“This year was more sentimental than the other (championships), considering the fact that I know I won’t be able to do it again,” McDougall said.
Gonzalez summed up the Lancers’ utter dominance by saying, “Literally, it feels like a blur. I said to my parents ‘Did that actually happen?’ It was insane.”