This week, senior UNF pitcher Dominick Madonna sat down to answer a variety of questions regarding the roster, his progression over the years, and tough opponents both in the Sunshine State and the ASUN conference.

Madonna has been on the North Florida roster since the the 2020 season, and in his fourth year as an Osprey the team is more different now than ever before.

When asked about how the changes made to the 2023 roster, including the addition of nine freshmen players on the team had affected his, Madonna cited that he has taken a leadership role, serving as a mentor to the younger players.

“I think part of it’s more of a leadership role,” Madonna said. “Being that I’ve been here four years now, you’re not being the one that’s taken under other people’s wings, you’re having to reach out and take people under your wing.”

When asked about his success at the pitcher’s mound this year, most notably his career-high 35 knockouts so far on the 2023 season, Madonna credited his maturity and commitment as to what helped this growth.

“I think a lot of its maturity,” Madonna said. “We come in, do our work every single day, just figuring out what works for you in what situations and just capitalizing on the chance that you get.”

When questioned about the team’s success against Florida opponents this season — most notably wins against Stetson, UCF, and Florida State — Madonna made it known to the rest of the Sunshine State that UNF is prominent, and the fortitude of this team is not something to be taken lightly.

“I would just say that we’re here,” Madonna said. “We’re not a team to just snub your nose at, we’re gonna give you everything, we have a ton of grit on this team, all of our guys wanna be here, all of us wanna win, and we’re gonna give it everything we’ve got every night.”

Despite their success when playing in Florida, this unit still tends to struggle in their conference, with a 10th-place ranking in the ASUN conference and a less than stellar 8-10 conference record, the veteran pitcher believes that emphasis is needed on the weekend series, while also believing that a positive change in conference performance is imminent.

“I think a lot of its focus,” Madonna said. “We have a ton of grit on this team. I think we just need to put a whole weekend series together and just take care of business when we’re supposed to. I think coming up shortly you’ll see a big change.”

Lastly, as a senior in his fourth season, Dominick Madonna was asked about his legacy as an Osprey, as well as how he would like to be remembered on this team after his days of UNF baseball are over. 

“I just hope that this team is remembered,” Madonna said., “I think that this team can be remembered for the grit and that we come in every single day, do our work, and hopefully we can be remembered for that.”

Dominick Madonna and the rest of this unit will continue to play throughout what is finals week for many students, with the Ospreys traveling to Orlando to face UCF on Tuesday before heading to Florence, Alabama for a weekend series against UNA.

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