The barometer of success for any program in sports is the number of wins and titles it amasses. In college baseball, there haven’t been many programs better than the Florida Gators since manager Kevin O’Sullivan took the reins in 2008.
The same can be said for Marjory Stoneman Douglas in the high school ranks. In head coach Todd Fitz-Gerald’s tenure, the Eagles have won five state championships and four national titles.
Three former standouts for Fitz-Gerald decided to combine the successes of the powerhouse programs to bring their winning ways from South Florida to Gainesville. Two of them, redshirt sophomore right-hander Jake Clemente and redshirt freshman righty Christian Rodriguez, have promised to play significant roles for the Gators in 2025 and beyond.
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Newly minted starter
Clemente, now in his third year at UF, spent his first two seasons in high school at North Broward Prep before transferring to MSD in 2021. He played his final two years of high school ball under Fitz-Gerald, where he found success.
“From the first moment I stepped on the field, I could just tell that everything’s different there,” Clemente said. “Douglas really helped me — just pushing me forward and making sure that I was doing everything I could to achieve.”
Across his junior and senior seasons, Clemente helped the Eagles win back-to-back state titles as a frontline starter. He championed an 11-2 record at Douglas with a 1.21 ERA and struck out 106 batters in 75 innings.
The 6-foot-3 flamethrower was named the 2022 Conference Pitcher of the Year in his senior season. He had a perfect 10-0 record as the Eagles’ ace with a 1.10 ERA that year, opening the eyes of many recruiters across the country. Clemente ranked as the No. 27 right-handed pitcher and No. 102 prospect in the 2022 class while being the fifth-highest ranked righty in the state of Florida, according to Perfect Game.
“The success is definitely awesome, just going through it in high school,” he said. “The best thing about it is that it’s in the past, but it’s still ingrained in your head to know what it’s like to be a winner and know what it takes to be a winner.”
Clemente missed his entire freshman year with a shoulder injury before becoming a primary bullpen arm for Kevin O’Sullivan in 2024. As a redshirt freshman, Clemente made 19 appearances on the mound with two starts, totaling a 5.34 ERA and 39 punchouts in less than 30 innings.
He had a big hand in the Gators’ magical run to the 2024 College World Series, going 3 1/3 innings against Oklahoma State in the Stillwater Regional before making two scoreless appearances in Omaha.
“I know we didn’t make it to exactly where we wanted,” Clemente said. “But, I would say that it definitely had a better taste in our mouths at the end of the year than what would’ve happened if we didn’t end up making that run.”
After impressing Florida’s coaching staff while assisting the team’s run to the CWS semifinals, O’Sullivan handed Clemente a weekend-starter role to begin this season. He’s gotten the ball seven times so far, five of which have been starts. He has a 1-1 record with just over a 6.00 ERA.
He hasn’t been performing lately, giving up four runs in two of his last three outings. However, Clemente noted how it feels great to still have the confidence of his coaches, sticking with him despite the rut.
“He’s always had the physical tools,” Fitz-Gerald said. “He was hard on himself, too. We just kind of give them the mental lay of the land here, about baseball. You’re gonna fail, you’re gonna have ups, you’re gonna have downs. It’s the guys that kind of stay level-headed all the way through [who] are the guys who usually play the game for a long time.”
Lifetime of coaching
Rodriguez is one year younger than Clemente and spent all four years of high school at MSD under Fitz-Gerald. However, the pair’s relationship dates back much further. Rodriguez started playing for the coach when he was 6 years old.
“If I could simplify it into one word, it would be he’s a winner,” Fitz-Gerald said. “He’s competitive. The big stage is never too big for him. He’s been on the biggest stage, USA Baseball, pitched every big game for us. He’s just a winner.”
Their connection only grew stronger during Rodriguez’s years at MSD. He quickly established himself as the No. 1 guy in Fitz-Gerald’s rotation. C-Rod, as his friends and teammates call him, played on varsity all four seasons, amassing a 29-2 record with a 1.19 ERA and over 300 strikeouts in under 200 innings.
In his senior year, Rodriguez had an unblemished 12-0 record in 70 2/3 frames with a 0.69 ERA, earning him 2023 MaxPreps National Player of the Year honors. The Eagles won a Class 7A State Championship that season as well.
“It is in the past,” he said. “And it’s kind of something that I think I’ve tried to build off of. That was the biggest thing about that we won those state championships and stuff, is that I feel like I’m not a stranger to any pressure.”
He’s no stranger to attention either, as he was the No. 98 overall player in the class of 2023 and the No. 5 right-handed pitcher in the state, per Perfect Game. Rodriguez soon followed in Clemente’s footsteps, enrolling at UF last year.
Promising to be a big piece of Florida’s pitching staff in his freshman year, Rodriguez was forced to miss all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. Hearing you’ll miss your entire first year of college is something nobody wants, he said. Nevertheless, he saw it as nothing more than a roadblock and said it was a blessing in disguise.
Rodriguez made his first collegiate appearance on Feb. 21 against Dayton, closing out a Florida victory with a scoreless inning and two strikeouts. So far this season, he has made eight relief outings with a 7.20 ERA.
While he has struggled during his first year playing college baseball, Rodriguez said he was eager to take his first step on the mound, and it has been great.
Along with the right-handed duo, there have been several other former Eagles who traded in the burgundy and silver to don the orange and blue: sophomore left-handed pitcher Jacob Gomberg, who has made just two appearances this year for the Gators, and two-way player Chris Arroyo, who started at Florida and now plays for the Virginia Cavaliers.
“Growing up with Fitz, he was big on winning, huge on winning,” Rodriguez said. “There are a lot of similarities between Coach Sully and Coach Fitz. So for me, it just made sense, going somewhere where I was going to win and going somewhere where the head coaching was going to be very similar because that’s all I really know.”
The pipeline from Douglas to UF is something that has yielded great results over time, and it promises to do so for years to come.
“I believe in what those guys do,” Fitz-Gerald said. “My guys have gone there and had success. If we have more arms that want to go to the University of Florida, then that’s where they’ll go. We have a good pipeline there, and I hope we can continue that."
Contact Hugh Green at hgreen@alligator.org. Follow him on X @HGreen_15.
Hugh is the Spring 2025 baseball beat reporter for The Alligator. He is a fourth-year journalism sports and media major. In his free time, Hugh enjoys watching all kinds of sports with his friends.
