Sports

Local Softball Star Shines At Hofstra

St. John's grad and West Babylon resident Olivia Galati leads Pride in the NCAA tournament.

Success on the softball field is nothing new for Olivia Galati.

The current star pitcher for Hofstra, a West Babylon resident and graduate of St. John The Baptist High School in West Islip, is leading the Pride deep into the NCAA Softball Tournament.

This past weekend, Hofstra made a successful trek to California where they went 3-0 in the tournament’s opening round defeating perennial powers UCLA and San Diego State. Galati was the winning pitcher in all three games, throwing all 21 innings with a total of 32 strikeouts and allowing only three runs.

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But the star pitcher is not content with Hofstra’s success to date.

“We are just really excited about everything we have done, but we haven’t accomplished anything yet,” she said.

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On Friday, Hofstra begins play in the Super Regionals against South Florida in Tampa. Two wins in the three game series will put the Pride into the College World Series.

Galati pinned her team’s success in the opening round on the determination and mental focus of the players. “During the games we were able to bear down in the big moments and would not give up,” she added.

Bill Edwards, head coach of the softball team, said Galati is a big reason the team has such strong mental focus and toughness.

“As much as anyone I have ever coached, she is cognizant of what she needs to do,” he said. “She is totally in the moment. She is not worried about what has happened in the past, but only worried about the pitch she will be throwing.

Galati, however, shrugged off the credit given to her by Edwards.

“What I do is just go out there and focus on what needs to be done,” she said. “My teammates are out there helping me out. I think my mental toughness rubs off on them, but their mental toughness also rubs off on me.”

The foundation for Galati’s success and unflappable nature in big spots started early in her playing days in West Babylon. Edwards and Galati both attribute her skills and ability to succeed in a big spot to Galati’s father

“Her father taught her to compete and the right way to approach the game,” the head coach said. “I give him a lot of credit.”

She also became accustomed to winning during her high school days at St. John’s. A four-year varsity player on softball team, she was a member of three New York State Championship teams and was selected as the state’s Player of the Year in 2009. In four years, her career high school record was 63-12 with a 0.19 earned run average.


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