Where Are They Now: Olivia Galati, Softball

Recruited out of St. John the Baptist High School in Bay Shore, New York, Olivia Consolmagno (née Galati) was a star pitcher for a Hofstra softball team that made the NCAA Tournament three times during her Hofstra career, including the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Super Regional in 2012.

Galati’s dominance on the mound led her to be named CAA Pitcher of the Year and NFCA All-Northeast Region all four years while she played at Hofstra. Her play in 2012, when she went 34-7 with an ERA of 0.95 and 378 strikeouts, earned her NFCA First Team All-America honors, the first Hofstra player to receive the honor. She finished 2013 as an NFCA Second Team All-American after posting a 40-12 record with a 1.42 ERA and a school record 395 strikeouts. She is one of just six Hofstra softball players to have her jersey retired.

Galati was also a standout in the classroom, earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2013, making her the sixth Hofstra softball player to receive Academic All-America honors.

Following her terrific career at Hofstra, Galati was picked second overall by the New York/New Jersey Comets in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) Draft. She won the NPF Championship in 2014 with USSSA Pride.

Today, Galati is married and has worked as a physical education teacher at Bay Shore High School since 2014. She has also been the Bay Shore High School softball coach during that time, coaching the JV side for six years before moving on to coach the varsity team.

What made you decide to attend Hofstra?

I had been in contact with Coach [Bill] Edwards and Coach [Larissa] Anderson at the time. I had visited the school and I really liked it here. I was playing on a travel team at the time and was exposed to a lot of different schools, but for some reason there was something in me that wanted to go to Hofstra. I wanted to be close to my family and compete competitively with a close-to-home University, which is what Hofstra meant to me.

What is your favorite memory from playing at Hofstra?

I think my favorite memory was winning the UCLA Regional in 2012 and us going to Super Regionals, which was being broadcast on ESPN for the first time. That was really special for everyone.

What does it mean to you to be a part of the Hofstra family?

I say this to my colleagues all the time, my time at Hofstra felt like it was such a family atmosphere. I still feel very connected to the Hofstra campus and the University, to my former coaches and teammates. When I was first joining Bay Shore, they had that very same motto of having pride in the building you work in and with the people you work with. And that’s why I think I love my job so much, because there’s so much pride working with who you work with and where you work. I just think that I was lucky having that feeling at Hofstra during my time, and now being in a teaching environment and instilling that same pride into the kids that I work with.

You were drafted straight out of Hofstra to play professional softball. What was that experience like?

I had heard from Coach Edwards that I was potentially being looked at to be drafted. So I ended up watching the draft and was picked second overall to a New York/New Jersey Comets team that was based out of Montclair State University in New Jersey. 

It was definitely a different experience from college softball. It was high energy, high intensity, power, speed, everything. You’re taking that top group of players from all over the country and condensing them into four teams. It was definitely a different experience, but well worth it. I’m happy that I had the experience for the two years that I did play professionally.

What made you want to become a teacher?

When I was in the fourth grade, I was inspired by a teacher of mine. I loved school and everything that was surrounded by it. I just knew from a very young age that I wanted to become a teacher. 

How were you able to take what you learned at Hofstra as a student-athlete and translate that into teaching?

I love teaching and coaching at the same high school. I love seeing my players walk the halls and having some of my players in class. I think that a lot of what I’ve learned as an athlete and going through the Hofstra program, I try to relay my experiences to my students and relate with them so they can gain as much knowledge as possible whenever we interact.

What is one piece of advice you would give to current Hofstra student-athletes?

I would probably say if the sport is something you truly love, no matter how difficult time periods might be – whether you’re struggling physically, mentally, or emotionally in the sport or out of it – when you push past those moments is when it's truly rewarding. You can see your personal rewards, and it’s a memory that will live with you for the rest of your life.