On April 4, junior Olivia DiSalvo announced her commitment to SUNY Cortland Softball. DiSalvo is the first member of the SPFHS Softball team to announce their commitment for the Class of 2025.
Located in Cortland, New York, The State of University of New York (SUNY) Cortland is a public school part of the SUNY program. Programs offered at the university range from teaching to business administration to kinesiology. For DiSalvo, she believed SUNY Cortland was the perfect fit for her, leading her to commit during her junior year.
“I originally went on to the Cortland Campus during my freshman year and made a connection with the coaching staff and the players,” DiSalvo told The Fanscotian. “I also fell in love with the campus and was excited about how everyone there was proud to be going to Cortland. After continuing to return to campus and watching the team play I figured it was a place that I wanted to be during college.”
Although it is uncommon to see a student athlete announce their college plans during their junior season, DiSalvo felt compelled to after her connection to the university.
“I decided to commit during my junior year because when I would continue to look at schools, I would keep comparing them to Cortland and nothing beat it. I knew that Cortland was where I wanted to be when I went to college and so that is why I made the decision,” DiSalvo said.
Competing in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC), the Red Dragons face teams like Hamilton, St. John Fisher and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and are a dominating force in the SUNYAC. Starting off the season 10-2 (as of April 5), DiSalvo hopes to contribute to their success once it is time for her to dawn the Red Dragon uniform.
“I hope to gain knowledge about the sport, but also learn things about time management and what it takes to be a student-athlete in college. Being able to continue to play the game I love past the high school level is an incredible honor for me and I am grateful for the opportunity.”
DiSalvo has been a member of the varsity softball team since her freshman year but is currently only playing in her second varsity season due to an injury in her sophomore year. Playing first base and pitcher, DiSalvo has been a core member of the SPFHS Softball team posting a 1.98 ERA with 55 strikeouts during her freshman season as a Raider. This phenomenal freshman season carried over to behind the plate, where she batted .438 with 26 RBI in 25 games.
Along with these strong freshman year statistics, DiSalvo was showered with praise from various media sources: UCC Valley Division Softball Championship Team, UCC County All-Division Team and Jersey Sports Zones North Jersey Player of the Week. These achievements are accompanied with DiSalvo being named captain for her junior and senior season.
Due to the fact DiSalvo is only a junior, she will be able to continue to help the Raiders in the Union County Conference for one more season. Despite having two more years to play, DiSalvo can already imagine what she will miss about the SPFHS community.
“I am going to miss all of my SPF softball teammates the most and the different connections that we have,” DiSalvo said. “You build connections with your teammates after seeing them almost every day for 3 months straight. I am also going to miss Coach G and Coach Kat who have both made me a better person and player.”
