UCF's journey back to the NCAA Tournament may not have happened without the clutchness of Dominic Castellano, who was instrumental in his role as the team's top middle relief arm.
In 22 total appearances, Castellano was a perfect 7-0 with a 2.83 ERA and 68 strikeouts over 60.1 innings. His opposing batting average was .164, the best mark on the team. He finished second in ERA (2.83) and strikeouts (68).
An All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection, Castellano was especially big in the win against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament.
This will be Castellano's fourth season in the program. He thinks the experience gained from last year will be a benefit. He's also "tweaking" a bit of his "arsenal" that he thinks will make him even better this season.
He likes the makeup of the staff as a whole, a mix between different types of pitchers, also old and young.
SS Antonio Jimenez always has good at-bats. DeAmez Ross (FSU transfer) provides a bit of "small ball, old school style baseball" that will provide a "spark."
He says guys like Andrew Sundean, Andrew Williamson and Lex Boedicker should have big years.
Castellano likes this team from a defensive standpoint. He said Kendrey Maduro at third base makes "unbelievable plays" looks easy.
Being from Tampa, he loves playing South Florida.
"I'm super pumped for that series, and I've got a couple of buddies on the team. It's definitely going to be a rivalry series, and it doesn't matter whether we're in the same conference or not. It's still going to be chippy. A lot of guys have history with each other, just know each other, have grown up together. So, it's definitely going to be a fun series."
What is the ceiling for this team?
"I think our ceiling is winning a national championship. I think we can do whatever we want to do and really just have to go about it the right way every day. But I think this year especially, just our focus is to take this program to new heights and do some things that haven't been done ever in this program's history. I think just going about it day by day and pitch by pitch and seeing what happens at the end of the year."
