Starters: Hunter Cooley, Nicholas Del Prado, Dylan Oborne, Jacob Josey, Brandon Smith, Evan Waterbor
Long Relief: Marc DeGusipe, Dawson Ball, Tyler Murphy
Middle Relief: Tibur Rivero, Bryan Boully, Sean Goodwin, Tyler Monzon
Backend/Late Innings: Robert Wegielnik, C.J. Williams, Max Martzolf, Sam Drumheller
IL to start the year: Hayden Compton, Sammy Beir, Danny Trehey
Cooley returns for a fifth-year total and third as the Friday night starter. Del Prado finished 2022 on a tear and carried the momentum through the summer where he was named Pitcher of the Year in the Cal Ripken League. Josey will also be in the mix for starts in his fifth season. The redshirt junior fared well as a long-relief option in 2022.
Oborne and Murphy are expected to contribute immediately as highly touted freshmen. The former, a native of Ontario, Canada, was named Preseason C-USA Freshman of the Year by Perfect Game USA.
Ostrander is back after missing all but one game with injury last season. He’ll be a boost for the Owls’ bullpen and midweek options as will Waterbor, Ball, and Boully. Rivero and DeGusipe are also no stranger to long relieving or spot starts.
Wegielnik will once again operate in a major role in the late innings. The Fort Myers product recorded seven saves in his first full season. Williams is a hard-throwing addition who profiles similarly to Wegielnik.
Martzolf, Monzon, and Drumheller provide three solid left handed options. Smith is a transfer from Northwest Florida State by way of the University of Georgia while the 6’6″ Goodwin comes from Bossier Parrish CC in Louisiana.
COACH MAC ON THE PITCHERS
“To start the year, Cooley will of course be our Friday night guy. Jacob Josey and Dylan Oborne will make the Saturday and Sunday start and Evan Waterbor will get the first crack at being the midweek starter. Del Prado and Smith really gave these guys a run, so they’ll go into more of a bullpen role which is extra valuable early in the year because of shorter pitch counts for the starters.
Murphy, Ball, and DeGusipe will likely do the bulk of the long relief work and Wegielnik, Drumheller, Martzolf, and Williams will lead the back end of the bullpen. Then we have a grouping of four guys – Goodwin, Rivero, Monzon, Boully – where their role is fluid. They’ve each had some bright moments in the intrasquads, they each have some good things going for them so we just need to find the best way they can help us.
The wild card in this whole grouping is Ostrander. He’ll be limited early but he’s looked really good in the intrasquads. The velocity is not yet back to where he wants it to be, but it’s good enough. We are still taking it slow though.”
