Montclair, NJ – Recent graduate
KAYLA GALLO of the Montclair State softball team and rising senior
PETER COSENTINO of the baseball team were chosen to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District Team Thursday.
Gallo, who boasted a 3.84 GPA as a Physical Education major, and Cosentino, an accounting major with a 3.64 GPA, earned their first CoSIDA Academic All-District honor. Both Gallo and Cosentino were named to the District 2 team, which features schools based in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Washington D.C.
A First Team National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-East Region and First Team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference choice, Gallo led the Red Hawks with a .492 batting average and 31 hits while also hitting four home runs with 20 RBI. The senior had 11 games with multiple hits, including going 3-for-3 with a home run and two doubles against Rutgers-Camden. Against New Jersey City, she went 2-for-3 with three runs scored in addition to hitting a homer with four RBI.
One of her biggest hits of the season came in the opener against Kean, as her double down the left-field line scored the game-winning run at the Red Hawks won on her walk-off. She finished off the season by going a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate in the NJAC Quarterfinals against Stockton. Her .492 batting is the third highest in program history for a single season. She trails Jamie Lascik (.562 in 1999) and Jennifer Flinn (.500 in 1994.)
Cosentino was named a Third Team All-America selection by D3baseball.com and named All-Region by D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association. A First Team All-NJAC choice, the Whitehouse Station, NJ native, enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2021, leading MSU in virtually every offensive category. Cosentino posted a .426 batting average with 49 hits, 42 runs scored, 13 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, and 32 RBI. He totaled 93 bases and registered a slugging percentage of .809, an on-base average of .538 with an OPS of 1.347 while drawing 25 walks.
Cosentino also came up in the clutch for MSU, which went 20-10 this season and finished fourth in the league standings, its highest finish since 2014, and made the league tournament for the first time since 2016. He hit .375 with runners in scoring position, with nine of his 32 runs batted in coming with two outs. Fourteen times this year, Cosentino had multiple-hit contests with eight contests of two or more RBI. Cosentino also had an 11-game hitting streak during the season.
In the last two seasons, Gallo is the third softball student-athlete to gain All-District recognition, while Cosentino is the first in program history to be recognized by CoSIDA. With their All-District nod, both are now eligible to be chosen as an Academic All-American, released on July 27.
