Tony Vitello and the Tennessee Volunteers played the SEC Baseball Tournament with a reckless abandon, and it helped them capture the title over the LSU Tigers.
It wasn’t easy, as the Volunteers had some anxious moments in the ninth inning, but Vitello’s team closed the deal with a 4-3 victory over the Tigers, bringing home the fifth SEC Tournament crown in program history, and their second in the past three seasons.
Billy Amick’s three-run home run in the top of the third inning was the play of the game that put Tennessee ahead for good, as the Volunteers never looked back.
The win was fresh on Vitello’s mind, as Tennessee found out who’d be coming to Knoxville during the NCAA Baseball Tournament reveal show. Southern Miss, Indiana and Northern Kentucky will be trying to knock off the Volunteers, and in the moments after seeing his new batch of opponents, Vitello joined ESPN2 for an interview.
It’s easy to see why Tennessee has been so successful when you listen to their coach, as Vitello explained how the good vibes around the Volunteers started before the season even began.
“Well it’s hard to not just think about yesterday. I’m glad it was a clean game, and it was as competitive of a game as you could imagine,” Vitello told ESPN2. “So that’s been on my mind all day, but when you look back to August, really when it started, going back further than you even asked, the group has had good vibes, up at the field every day.
“That’s a good start, and that means, whether you win or lose, it’s going to be fun to come to work every day. You can probably improve too, because you’ve got guys that are willing to listen, and willing to work together.”
Try Fubo for FREE today and don’t miss any of the action!
Alas, that’s the togetherness and maturity of Tennessee is something Vitello has been praising all season long, and he even touched on it last night, after the Volunteers locked up the SEC Tournament title.
“Maturity,” Vitello said, regarding the difference in his team. “I think there’s a good foundation of a year that seemed like nothing could go wrong in 2022. And last year where it just got off to a poor start and a lot of things went wrong. And I think there’s a lot of valuable lessons.
“Successes are going on and also difficulties. And you’ve got a good little melting pot of gumbo, if I could say that. With all the fans we got here. This served us pretty well.”
All in all, Tony Vitello has been a revelation for the Volunteers, as they now have three 50-win seasons under the coach. Under all the other head coaches in Volunteer baseball history, the program has had just two 50-win seasons. He’ll look to cap it off with a national title over the next month.
On3’s Wade Peery contributed to this article.
The post Tony Vitello, Tennessee Volunteers leaning on ‘good vibes’ ahead of NCAA Baseball Tournament appeared first on On3.