Tommy Boss joined the UNF Baseball Coaching Staff prior to the 2018 season serving as the assistant coach and acting pitching coach for the Ospreys under head coach Tim Parenton.
The North Florida staff has put up some impressive numbers and seen a myriad of impressive individual accomplishments and honors over Boss' past three seasons in Jacksonville.
2022
North Florida made ASUN postseason play for the fourth consecutive season as the UNF pitching staff saw the emergence of a few new arms that made an immediate impact.
A total of 19 different hurlers earned innings on the mound, with lefty Peter Holden staking his claim as one of the best southpaws in the league. Holden worked himself into the Friday night starter position, earning Second Team All-ASUN honors after spinning a 3.41 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP with 58 strikeouts. Holden was also the first UNF lefty to earn all-conference honors since 2013, adding ASUN All-Academic recognition to that laurel.
Holden's most impressive outing was a nine-inning complete game shutout against the eventual ASUN Champions in Kennesaw State Friday, April 29. The feat was the first complete game for a UNF pitcher since Nick Marchese in 2019, as well as the first nine-inning complete game shutout since 2015. The lefty used just 96 pitches, finishing off the Owls in under two hours to earn conference pitcher of the week honors a few days later.
Righty veteran Max McKinley joined Holden as for Ospreys earning weekly honors as he took home the award March 21 after holding Liberty to just two earned runs over 7.1 innings March 19.
Out of the bullpen, a pair of St. Johns River State University products in Stephen Halstead and Jason Gonzalez produced quality innings. Halstead was the second Osprey in Boss' tenure tabbed to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List. The Pensacola, Fla., native ended the year with five saves.
Gonzalez concluded with a 6-3 record, serving in multiple roles on the staff. The Miami, Fla., native ended the year tied with Halstead for appearances with 21.
2021
The Ospreys recorded a 22-23 overall record and 11-7 mark in the ASUN during Boss’ fourth season with UNF.
A total of 15 different arms saw time in 2021, combining to post 306 strikeouts and just 180 walks, one of the best strikeout-to-walk ratios in the league. All told, UNF pitchers allowed the second-fewest free passes of any team in the conference, just one behind Stetson’s 179.
North Florida had one of the deepest bullpens across the conference, led by closer Brandon Reitz’s conference-best 10 saves. Reitz paced the ASUN in that category, finishing tied for first in UNF DI single season history for saves in a campaign.
Righty transfer Stephen Halstead notched a save, held opponents to a .233 batting average and turned in a 2.28 ERA across 19 outings. Lefty Eddie Miller added 21 appearances to his career total, finishing with 81 as an Osprey, the third most in UNF DI career history.
As for starters, Austin Bogart posted a career year on the rubber, going 4-2 with a 3.58 ERA over 70.1 innings. The lefty hurled nine starts of at least five innings and three of at least 7.2 frames.
2020
Tommy Boss returned for his third year serving as assistant coach, cultivating a staff of seven lefties and 10 right-handed arms. Boss and UNF saw the emergence of a few new faces on the mound, headlined by freshman Tony Roca who made starts in all but one of his appearances. The local talent from Ponte Vedra Beach worked himself into a starting role and finished the abbreviated season with a 3.31 ERA over 16.1 frames. March 1 against Hartford Roca fanned two and induced 12 groundouts as the Ospreys downed the Hawks, 7-2.
Another lefty in redshirt-senior Eddie Miller came back for his fifth season in the Navy and Gray, making six appearances, with his top outings coming against Big Ten foes. Miller tallied 5.0 innings of work, fanning two against Rutgers Feb. 23. March 11 the southpaw spun a 3.2-inning save in a 9-5 defeat of Ohio State. Miller was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List.
Roca wasn't the only freshman to contribute, as rookie righty Dominick Madonna picked up a save in his first career appearance Feb. 15, a 3.0-frame debut that saw him retire all nine batters he faced in a 6-2 victory against visiting VMI.
2019
In 2019 the Ospreys held opponents to a .261 batting average, the best mark by UNF pitchers during the program's Division I history. Pitchers posted a 3.84 ERA, good for second in the ASUN and 38th in the nation. North Florida hurlers did not beat themselves, striking out 417 batters while permitting only 192 walks, good for the 78th best strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.17) in the country. The Ospreys finished first in the league in WHIP (3.44), slotting them 44th overall in Division I.
Three different pitchers (Max McKinley, Nick Marchese and Brad Deppermann) combined to earn four ASUN Pitcher of the Week honors, the most conference-weekly laurels earned by UNF pitchers in one season during its ASUN affiliation. The season was capped off with the first-ever ASUN Pitcher of the Year award received by an Osprey hurler when Brad Deppermann picked up the award after leading the conference in strikeouts (108) while spinning a 2.46 ERA.
Deppermann's breakout year saw a slew of UNF records fall to the wayside. The righty set the UNF Division I career strikeouts record (240), innings pitched mark (246), single season innings pitched record (95), while tying the single season strikeouts (108) and games started (15) tally.
2019 also saw the emergence of senior righty Nick Marchese as he stepped in to solidify the weekend rotation midway through March. The Plantation, Fla., made 12 more starts, struck out 34 more batters, lowered his ERA .91 points and garnered five more wins than he had in 2018, earning him ASUN Second Team All-Conference recognition.
The bullpen was strong behind the front-end strength. UNF pitchers combined for 17 saves, the most during the program's Division I history, most since 2005 (21), and third-most in school history. Redshirt-junior lefty pitcher Eddie Miller had a breakout year out of the bullpen, spinning a 1.31 ERA over 30 appearances (tied for a UNF DI single season record), eight saves, 43 strikeouts and a UNF DI record, .155 opponents' batting average. Trace Norkus was also strong, providing a right-handed arm out of the pen. Norkus spun six saves, fanning 42 in 23 appearances. He struck out a single game career-best six batters during a start against Florida State March 6, helping the Osprey arms collect a UNF DI single game record 17 strikeouts.
Two pitchers on Boss' staff in 2019 went on to be picked up by MLB teams. Deppermann was nabbed by the Chicago Cubs in the seventh round (222nd pick), and Nick Marchese joined the Arizona Diamondbacks as an undrafted free agent signee.
2018
UNF pitchers were big with the strikeout while being stingy with walks in 2018. The Ospreys touted 425 strikeouts, walking only 164 batters (2.59 K/BB ratio). Per nine innings Osprey arms struck out 7.58 batters, led by MLB Draft Pick Frank German's 108.
German led the ASUN with a 1.58 ERA, going 8-3 while becoming the first Osprey pitcher to notch 100 strikeouts since Travis Stanton did in 2004. His year helped him become the highest drafted pitcher in program history after being selected in the 4th round as the 127th overall pick by the New York Yankees. Shortly after being drafted he received DIBaseball.com Second Team, Perfect Game/Rawlings Third Team and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-South Region honors.
Lefty Austin Drury joined German in the 2018 MLB June Draft, becoming the 48th draft pick in program history after going in the 34th round as the 1,034th overall pick to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Drury fanned 58 in 2018, finishing second in UNF DI history in career victories (16).
Playing Career - University of Florida and Independent Ball
Boss was a four-year pitcher for the University of Florida from 2002-05 and was part of two NCAA Regional Tournament teams, including the SEC Champions and National Runner-Up team his senior season. He was named to the Freshman All-American Honorable Mention team and was a three-time Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll member.
Boss made 75 appearances as a Gator including 39 starts, four complete games and 263.1 innings pitched during his career. He boasted a career 3.00 NCAA Postseason ERA with a 4-1 record in eight appearances, five starts, three complete games and 45.0 innings pitched. During his senior campaign, he was 3-0 in the postseason with a 2.22 ERA, two complete games and 28.1 innings pitched.
Following his collegiate career, Boss played one season with the Joliet Jackhammers and collected two wins in 35 innings pitched in relief for the indy ball club.
Coaching Career - High School and Junior College
Boss started his coaching career as the head coach at Dunnellon High School from 2007-11 before returning in 2015. He owned a 122-88 record during his tenure at the school. During his time at Dunnellon his teams made a final four appearance, were regional champions and made regional finals and semifinals appearances. Boss was also a three-time Florida Athletic Coaches Association District Coach of the Year.
Between his stints at Dunnellon, Boss was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at St. Johns River State College (Orange Park, Fla.) from 2012-14. During the 2013 season, the team set a school record with 38 wins and collected its first Mid-Florida Conference Championship since 1977. The following season, the Vikings made it back-to-back conference championships and finished the season ranked second in the state and fifth in the nation.
In his three seasons at St. Johns river, the teams touted a 98-60 record. In 2013 the Vikings had the fifth-best ERA in the nation at 2.62. A year later SJRSC ranked 13th in the nation with a 2.99 ERA while posting 389 strikeouts, ranking 20th in the nation.
Boss is married to Mary Katherine and they have three kids, Addie, Tripp, and Rhett.
