UCFSports.com caught up with head coach Greg Lovelady talk about several topics leading up to first pitch of the 2023 season, including his opening weekend rotation, bullpen outlook, positional battles, the tough non-conference schedule, future of the South Florida series and more.
UCF's opening weekend rotation against Siena:
Friday - Redshirt senior RHP Ruddy Gomez
Saturday - Freshman RHP Cam Leiter
Sunday - Sophomore LHP Dominic Castellano
"Ruddy (Gomez) has been our best guy from start to finish. What he did last year to finish the season and really the growth that he made. Obviously getting healthy. He carried that over. His leadership ability and the relationship he's built with everybody on the team. Just his stuff has been tremendous. We felt like with his age and experience that he gave us the best shot to win and deserves to pitch on Friday. Excited for him.
"Cam Leiter obviously has been heralded. He's a great addition and has a really bright future. He's pitched really well. His stuff and his moxie on the mound, his maturity is beyond his years in terms of how he goes about the process.
"Dom Castellano has pitched really well. He was a freshman All-American at Stetson last year. He transferred in and he's been competitive, throws a ton of strikes. He can keep guys off balance. He did a great job for us the last few weeks. He really kept our hitters off balance. We just felt like he was the best guy for the job.
"I'm excited for those three guys. We feel deep. We don't have to put too much pressure on any of them. There's a lot of good arms that are going to help us in the back end."
Gomez was primarily a reliever last season, but much of that was due to his recovery coming off an ACL injury. He was a starter earlier in his career at St. Leo and Hillsborough Community College.
"After getting back on the field (last season), we felt (Gomez) was needed in the back end so we had to keep him in the bullpen... When we started the fall, we gave everybody the opportunity. From day one, he's been a great leader. Now we feel like we have guys in the back end so he can be a starter."
Cam Leiter comes from a baseball family. His uncles, Al and Mark, enjoyed long MLB careers. Cousins Mark Leiter Jr. and Jack Leiter are currently in professional baseball.
D1Baseball.com named Leiter the Preseason Ameican Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.
"It's elite talent. You don't see many freshman throwing with his velocity and his breaking ball is elite. He has the ability to throw change-ups in any count. He's a true three-pitch mix. When he crosses the line, the maturity is just different than most freshmen."
Junior right-handed pitcher Ben Vespi would have been in the weekend rotation, but he's been dealing with a minor soreness so Lovelady made the decision to rest him.
"He's been throwing the last three days and looks 100 percent," Lovelady. "He's just behind because he got a slower start. We held him back. We didn't want to push him too hard and get him hurt. We just felt like we didn't need him opening day. I'd rather make sure he's healthy for the rest of the season. I'd rather miss one outing or one start and then be able to come back and be ready to go. I don't know if he'll be back week two. I'm hoping he is. That's the plan, but there can't be any setbacks."
Kyle Kramer will enter the season as UCF's closer. Zack Austin could be the set-up guy, he has some of the "best stuff" among the staff. Najer Victor has been "unbelievable with elite stuff" and can execute multiple roles, perhaps even start. Chase Centala and Nick Vieira will provide depth.
Ben McCabe (catcher), Nick Romano (first base) and Tom Josten (second base) return with significant experience.
Andrew Brait is expected to be a factor at third base. "He's a plus defender."
Freshman Drew Faurot could hold down shortstop. "Super talented kid that has a lot of the same tools as Alex Freeland."
Cole Russo has looked good in recent weeks and could platoon between catcher and first base.
Lex Boedicker started nearly every game in left field as a freshman last season.
Several players will rotate in the other outfield spots - Corey Robinson, John Rhys Plumlee and Brady Shannon.
"I'll probably get all those guys in the game this weekend, get them a few starts, try to mix it up, give guys some opportunities with matchups and let us see them compete against other teams."
Catcher Andrew Sundean had a "monster" freshman season, but he'll be out for the first few weeks as he recovers from an injury. The hope is that he can return before conference play.
UCF's non-conference weekends include Siena, Clemson, Georgia Southern, Troy, Dartmouth and Maryland. Clemson typically has a strong program and is looking to return to glory under new head coach Erik Bakich. GSU hosted a NCAA Regional last season and Maryland is preseason top 15. Troy and Dartmouth are always solid in their respective leagues.
Longtime pitching coach Nick Otte departed for a position within the Boston Red Sox organization in mid-December. Lovelady turned to Mike Maroth, a UCF alum who pitched in MLB and most recently was coaching in the Atlanta Braves minor league organization.
The timing of the transition - after fall ball and just prior to preseason practices - was "not ideal" so it's been a process for everyone to become acclimated.
"You want him to have his voice, but you can't change too much. Mike has done a great job. He has a great understanding. That was part of the interview process. You have to understand the situation and how you're going to handle it. We're trying to utilize the team that we have. We're not trying to make major changes... Mike was trying to watch video and learn about his guys before the first bullpen. He had six days to try to figure it out. There was long nights of video trying to get a feel."
UCF has new fencing this season. The heights remained the same except in right center field, which was too low for player safety. He didn't want to take away from the atmosphere, so they added "viewing windows" so folks in the outfield can still have their view.
UCF Baseball has been on the cutting edge in regards to branding the last few years. Among their newest jerseys is an "Orlando" uniform which the team wore at the recent fan fest.
"I love that jersey. I love that look. I love trying to be on the cutting edge and the first to do things. We take a lot of pride in that. I love those Orlando jerseys. They look great. We're Orlando's hometown baseball team. There's no baseball anywhere near here with the minor league teams that have left. If you love baseball, you don't have to go far to watch high-quality baseball right here in town. I felt it fit the mantra and the look, what we're trying to accomplish and what it can be mean to the community. We'll rock those opening day and there might be a surprise on Saturday."
While the focus is obviously on this upcoming season and UCF's last year in the American, schedules are arranged years in advance. The Big 12 will play 30 conference games in 2024, which is an increase of two additional weekends from the 24 games played in the AAC.
While the War on I-4's future in football and basketball is in doubt, that's not the case in baseball. Lovelady has already spoken to South Florida head coach Billy Mohl and they've agreed to continue playing on a yearly basis, rotating between Orlando and Tampa. They want to keep the rivalry in a weekend series instead of playing midweek like they often do with other Florida schools.
"We think it's good both our programs and good for the rivalry. We'll build new rivalries eventually, but we're going to make sure we continue to play every year. The plan is to play a weekend series, like Florida-Miami, Georgia-Georgia Tech and Clemson-South Carolina."
Lovelady felt like they had a NCAA Regional caliber team a year ago, but a rash of serious injuries to impact players derailed those dreams. He's confident in this group too.
"I think it's a good mix with age, experience and talent. You feel like you're in a good spot. I also liked last year's team and we lost seven of our top 10 guys (to injury). We've got to stay healthy and continue to grow. They don't give out championship rings on Feb. 17. We have to worry about getting better, winning as many games as we possibly can and put ourselves in the best position at the end of the year."
