Tennessee Baseball is back: Another exciting season on the horizon
The one good thing that John Currie did in his short time as Athletic Director at The University of Tennessee was hire Tony Vitello. The charismatic head coach has led the revival of the Tennessee baseball program, and I believe he is currently the best coach on campus when you factor in his postseason success. The last 3 years for the Diamond Vols have seen 2 trips to the College World Series, and the one year they failed to make the CWS they won the SEC regular season and Tournament championships. As long as Tony Vitello is at Tennessee, Big Orange Country can count on a solid team to cheer for from February to June, and with several key pieces returning from last year’s squad, the chance for another CWS run is in play.
Most college baseball media outlets have the Vols hovering around the top 10 in their initial rankings, but the Vols have a chance to climb the polls quickly as they start the year in Texas for the Shriners Children’s College baseball showdown. The Vols will face Texas Tech on Friday night and finish the weekend with Oklahoma on Saturday and Baylor on Sunday. Texas Tech is expected to compete for the Big 12 title. Oklahoma returns almost all of their position players from last year’s squad. Baylor is coming off back-to-back losing seasons, but it would still be a better statement than a 10+ run win over a directional school. The Vols will be playing all these games in an MLB ballpark too as the showdown is held at Globe Life Field, home of the defending World Series Champion Texas Rangers. The point is that the Vols will be playing decent teams, and no Home runs can be blamed on a “bandbox” which is something that SEC fanbases love to say about Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Road to Omaha is never easy, but the Vols can start on the right track with a good showing this weekend. Sophomore pitcher Addison Russell is expected to get the Start on Friday night while junior Drew Beam will get the starting nod on Saturday. Sunday’s starter is still up in the air, but the consensus around Knoxville is that senior left-hander Zander Sechrist will be taking the mound. The batting order always seems to shake itself out before SEC play so any hot or cold starts for position players hitting-wise should be taken with a grain of salt. With that being said, Christian Moore, Zane Denton, and transfer Billy Amick are expected to carry the load for the Vols offensively. Furthermore, if Blake Burke can find the home run prowess he showcased as a freshman, he will also be a force to be reckoned with in the middle of the Vols order. The best thing about a Tony Vitello baseball program though, is that there are probably 2-3 players that will end up exploding offensively out of nowhere whose names are still relatively unknown.
Here’s to another exciting season of Vol baseball folks. Buckle up, try not to overreact and be a redneck, and enjoy the ride.