Tony Vitello addresses questions about Texas A&M ahead of the College World Series Finals

Tony Vitello addresses questions about Texas A&M ahead of the College World Series Finals

Tennessee is set to compete in Omaha for a National Championship, aiming for their first-ever baseball title. To achieve this, the Volunteers must face one of the SEC’s top teams, Texas A&M, and Tony Vitello’s former boss.

Jim Schlossnagle, who coached Vitello as an assistant from 2011-13 at TCU, adds another layer of intrigue to this three-game series.

Vitello addressed the media on Friday ahead of the games starting on Saturday night.

TONY VITELLO: We’re fortunate. Of course, we need some luck along the way. As the saying goes, you’ve got to create your own luck, too. So whatever mix of factors it has been, we’ll take it. One constant has been our phenomenal fan base. I’m looking forward to seeing them here.

I know some fans are able to get tickets with our help, while others are paying extremely high prices, but that’s just part of the experience here. We’re fortunate to even have the chance to be here.

Regarding our position, we talked as a group before the season about several goals we wanted to achieve. One thing I had in mind was that I liked this group so much, I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

There might be a limit to how long we can do that, but we’ve reached the point where we’ve maximized our time together.

Q. Kirby, I’m curious, what was it like facing Tennessee in y’all’s lineup back in the fall?

KIRBY CONNELL: It was definitely challenging. There are many players, from 1 to 9, plus everyone who contributed to their success.

It was tough because you can’t pitch anything easy to them, knowing they have the power to hit home runs at will. In the fall, you’re trying to improve because you want to be ready to pitch in the spring.

Q. Kirby and Kavares, it’s kind of a two-part thing. Just the camaraderie of your ballclub from fall ball to this point, maybe you could comment on that. And then just as student-athletes and fans of the game, what do you like about A&M and their style of play as far as competing for the championship?

KAVARES TEARS: As far as it goes with our team camaraderie, I think that started in the summer, which is something that was really big for us, players returning. We all talked to each other whenever we first came back from summer ball, just small break. We decided that we wanted to start hanging out with each other a lot earlier, kind of get that process going. So whenever the season comes around, we’re all moving together in one direction.

KIRBY CONNELL: I think alongside with that, from K.T., is this group wanted to be together. We wanted to hang out off the field, on the field, no matter what it was. We just always wanted to be together.

It’s shown all the way up until now. We’ve got guys going out to eat, doing everything they can to be with each other.

TONY VITELLO: As far as your one question, I think this is a series, SEC series that did not happen during the regular season, obviously. But I don’t mean to speak for anybody else. Both sides are probably pretty happy it’s at a neutral site. Their place has their own unique brand, how they do things. And you’d be remiss if you didn’t say it gets rowdy in that ballpark.

And then, I guess, you’re only as good as your last game, so to speak. That Evansville game that Zander pitched in was absolutely bananas with our fans. Maybe it’s best that it’s on a neutral site.

Q. Kavares, being part of this lineup with five 20 home run hitters, how does that make your job easier? How does that help having that much depth in the lineup for you?

KAVARES TEARS: I wouldn’t say it makes it easier because we’re all competitive. For instance, if Dylan Dreiling hits a home run, it makes me think I want to hit one too.

TONY VITELLO: Why not just aim for a good at-bat?

KAVARES TEARS: I was getting to that. (Laughter) When I get up to the plate, I just focus on having a quality at-bat. (Laughter)

TONY VITELLO: His responses are a bit more reserved than his younger brother’s. I probably shouldn’t say this until he’s done with us, but one reason we pursued K.T. so persistently was because of how likable his younger brother was. He was much younger then, but it’s a great family.

He did well in that interview. I don’t watch much of that stuff, but I watched that one.

Q. K.T., you talked about it being a point of emphasis in the summer to build that camaraderie. Why was that important to this team? Why did you feel y’all needed to do that?

KAVARES TEARS: Because I think in my personal opinion I think team chemistry is something, outside of just natural abilities, I think that plays a huge role in how a team plays on the field.

And I think the closer we got throughout the fall and throughout the season, I think it made it a lot easier for the freshman to kind of make their adjustment a little quicker and get a feel for what goes on and how we approach every day at the field.

Q. When you look at Texas A&M, how they take their at-bats — obviously they draw a lot of walks and get into a lot of deep counts — what makes it difficult from a pitching standpoint, from what you’ve been able to see, for pitchers to put guys away and for them to be able to extend it and cause some trouble for people?

KIRBY CONNELL: You know, they have a lot of competitive at-bats. You mentioned a lot of walks, a lot of long at-bats. But I think our main thing is we’re going to do what we do. We’re going to throw strikes and pound the zone, like Coach A taught us. And we’re going to go out there and let our defense play behind us.

Q. 1951 baseball team, the last time the Vols were in the finals of the College World Series. They had Robert “General” Leland (phonetic) throw the first pitch. If you all had the choice or the ability to choose, who would you have throw the first pitch out?

TONY VITELLO: That’s a tough one. I don’t like committing to stuff. But right off the bat it would be pretty cool to are have Rod Delmonico back in the mix. He’s been a big help to us. But really the players who played for them — including one who is here now, in Chris Burke — have just guided us because each place is unique.

Texas A&M is different than Tennessee. There’s different ways to do it, different ingredients. And a lot of players from those eras have been great to us as far as letting us know what works and what doesn’t. They’ve been supporting us through thick and thin. I’m glad they get to watch our guys compete in the situation they’re in this weekend.

KAVARES TEARS: I’ll just say Chris Burke.

KIRBY CONNELL: Todd Helton.

Q. Kirby, it seems like every time there’s a jam, Tony seems to pick you out and choose you to go and you go in almost every game. How do you mentally prepare yourself to pitch in every single game especially when there’s three straight coming up?

KIRBY CONNELL: Just take a lot of time in recovery. Our nutritionist, Beth, and our strength and conditioning coach, Q, have done a great job for us, helping us recover, making sure our arms are good and we’re hydrated. And I think that’s a big thing. And having the trust from Coach V.

Q. Kavares, how would you describe the mindset of the team these last two days going into the weekend? And what is the mindset as you all play for a national championship?

KAVARES TEARS: I mean, I don’t think our mindset’s changed throughout the whole season. That’s just to take it one game at a time. And something that I know that we talk about a lot was in the fall, Coach V mentioned — I might get it wrong — but there was this player who thought their whole goal for the whole season was to be locked in for every single pitch.

And I think that’s something that for me personally I have tried to do and I’ve definitely talked to some of our other guys out there about that. And I think collectively as a group, I think we do that pretty well.

Q. So guys we’re talking about 1951. We’re talking about Burke. And you guys were my age. They were at Tennessee 30 years ago. What would it mean to finally be able to bring a baseball school a baseball national championship?

KIRBY CONNELL: It would be awesome. This is something that we’ve talked about for my five years is trying to win a national championship. And I think this group — we’ve spent a lot of time together. We talk about that’s our main goal is to try to win a national championship.

We get to a three-round fight this weekend. And try to be the first team to win two games.

KAVARES TEARS: I think it would definitely be special, especially for the guys that have done so much to help us to get us to where we’re at now, the players that came before us.

And also for the fans and family that have sacrificed so much, so much of their time to come watch us and give us their support, I think it definitely would be something special for everybody.

TONY VITELLO: I appreciate, if I could chime in, I appreciate you calling us a baseball school, is what I wanted to say. But over the years it’s been a lot of everything school. It’s been a school that people are very loyal to.

I think regardless of how these guys have done — especially him, because he’s been with us so long — it’s been pretty incredible how positive people are and how loyal they are, for being in the SEC, because most people are only as loyal as the wins go by.

It’s been an everything school. I think if I was to answer the question on the whole, not selfishly, throwing out the first pitch, if you get one pick, it’s Pat Summitt. And I think as I’ve gotten to — me and Frank went to lunch one time with a former who helped out the women’s basketball team. The only topic we’re allowed to talk about is Pat stories.

As you go on, the banners are cool, but that’s not what everybody talks about. It’s how she went about her business and what type of character she instilled in the players. Pretty awesome.

So I think that’s what her championship was, despite all the banners. And a byproduct was a whole hell of a lot of wins because she was a winner.

Q. Kavares, when you look at purely ERA numbers, I think Texas A&M was number one nationally during the season and number one during the time in Omaha. When you look at that stat and study them, is it stuff? Is it the way they’re competing? What have you seen from those guys?

KAVARES TEARS: I would just say they’re competitors. I mean, they’re playing in the national championship. And they’re also playing in the SEC. I don’t think they just got there by luck. I think they’re really good competitors.

Q. What do you think you learned from playing Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament?

TONY VITELLO: I was asked — I’ll lead because I was just asked that question on the radio and how much value does that game have. And unfortunately, not a whole lot because we’re, for whatever reason, able to edge them out on that particular day, but we don’t get any runs for that on the scoreboard.

And I think everyone who has ever competed in that tournament loves it. It’s hard to put into words quickly how awesome that event is and how well they do running it.

But, again, every SEC coach and player knows there’s a different vibe to each day and how you approach that tournament is unique for each team. So to recall on that game, maybe you look at some match-ups that occurred or something like that. I don’t think it carries a lot of weight.

Q. Kavares, in these games where there’s not a shortage of pressure, how much do you look to guys like Kirby and Zander to maybe keep the dugout loose?

KAVARES TEARS: I think at this point, I think it’s just something that is just a given, that’s going to happen. I think all season every game that I can remember, at least, our dugout has been how they always are, just acting a little bit crazy. And I think Kirby plays a good part in that. So does Zander.

Q. Kirby, you being the gray beard of the group (laughter)?

TONY VITELLO: Out of us three, I like that.

Q.Reflecting on your journey to this point, can you comment on the range of emotions you’ve experienced? A few years ago, you lost the Super Regional to Notre Dame, and you’ve been here with a 1-4 record in your last two appearances. Considering all that frustration, did you think you would eventually reach this stage?

KIRBY CONNELL: No, it’s been a lot of ups and downs. Really good seasons. Some rough seasons. Finally pulling one out last year getting to where we were.

But it’s definitely been a lot. The past five years have just been truly amazing. And for the last ride, I guess you could say, trying to get to where we are right now and trying to win.

Q. K.T., I know your family is here. Everybody knows your family is here after yesterday. Kirby, I apologize, I don’t know if your family is here. But with the struggle it is to get here for them with the ticket prices and all that, just what does it mean to be able to play in front of them this week?

KAVARES TEARS: I think it means the world to me because last year we were here, they weren’t able to make it because my little brother was playing baseball. So yeah, I think it definitely means the world to me to know that after every game, win or lose, they’ll be there to support me and have my back.

KIRBY CONNELL: My family was here for the first two games. I actually banned my middle brother from coming to any games because we always lose when he showed up.

But, no, he’s finally making the trip up from Missouri — or Mississippi; I don’t know why I said Missouri — Mississippi. So everybody will be here. They’re actually going to try to come to practice today if they’ll let him in.

Q. What’s your message to your team going into the weekend? How do you keep it the same message that Kirby and K.T. were talking about, about treating it like another game when it’s not another game?

TONY VITELLO: My first response would be, hopefully I wasn’t chiming in too much. I thought we were all going together-style today.

And the other thing we were talking about families. I’m way out of my lane with this, but I think one thing would be cool with an extended trip like this, I’m not in the conversations. There’s benefits and negatives to NIL, but I think it would be cool if there was some sort of system where families, in March Madness there’s three weekends in a row, the you team is advancing, (indiscernible) family, or whoever example, there would be a system where it’s fair and across the board, because there’s a lot of money based off of, I’ll have to buy some tickets for folks.

As far as the weekend goes, it’s kind of cool that we worked out to where we played a mid-week game. A&M has the same situation. You played a mid-week game Wednesday instead of Tuesday. And then we play Saturday instead of Friday.

You’re kind of in the rhythm there that you were all season long. It’s been a while since we’ve been there. But you have a practice yesterday that’s similar to what we would have done on a Wednesday. And we’ll have a practice today that would have been similar if we were on the road, which we are, to prepare for the weekend. Then you’ve got a weekend series, like I said, against an SEC opponent.

Q. Same question I asked Kirby. You talked about the slow build the other day after the game. Just what was your range of emotions? Were you just trying to get over the hump after the being here and also the Super Regional a couple of years ago? What did you go through?

TONY VITELLO: On the whole, as far as being here from the start? Is that what you mean?

Q. Just kind of the obstacles that maybe you didn’t clear and now you have.

TONY VITELLO: No, that makes sense. I think, again, my tangent about Coach Summit, I think, applies certainly to what she had going on. By no means would I ever compare myself to that at all. But what it is for me is, like, after last year and the year prior and then the buildup of the program, kind of the one things we did talk about in that meeting where we had a dry erase board behind us and wrote down things we’d like to accomplish, one of my personal things was use to get excited about coming to work every day.

And in challenging situations like the one we faced against Florida State, you feel really confident about the group you’re with, knowing you can overcome anything. Even if you don’t succeed or the game doesn’t go your way, you can look around at your teammates and still feel positive.

Everyone had each other’s backs. They showed up and played for the team before themselves, as I mentioned earlier.

Before that first game, we found ourselves with more time than expected in one of the smaller locker rooms. It was cramped. I took a moment to glance around the room and thought, “Here we are, facing arguably the best pitcher in Arnold.” While I don’t like that he’s pitching against us, I really like the group I see before me. I’m ready to battle and have fun with this team in a loose dugout any day of the week. That’s where our success this year has come from, in my opinion.

Q. How has Hunter progressed? And do you expect him to be back in the lineup or TBD?

TONY VITELLO: Today will have a lot to do with it. Maybe a quick blurb for you afterwards on how he looks.

I think he could go out there. It’s just a matter of match-ups and we feel good about our depth, too. There’s other guys who can play the outfield and play in different spots.

We don’t want to push it, but at the same time he’s our guy. We want him in the lineup in some capacity. But I think there’s a lot of time between now and first pitch tomorrow. So hopefully that will benefit him.

Q. Going off your point earlier, talking about Pat Summitt and rebuilding a program, there’s a picture from maybe one of your first summers here, that picnic table, the lemonade stand to where you are now. The team obviously calling this journey surreal, has this journey, though, sunk in from where you came in to where you guys are now?

TONY VITELLO: A little bit because of last night. So the timing of that question is interesting. Normally I would say no, it kind of goes by fast and you’re caught up in the moment so much, and here it’s such a unique combination of downtime and obligations. But last night, I checked my phone before I go to bed. And on the iPhone, they send you five or six pictures, which are kind of scary, some of the ones you get.

But I got one of me and my dad on the field. It’s natural grass. There’s nothing but a bunch of trees in left field. You can’t even tell there’s any porches.

And so I sent it to our video coordinator, Coach McCann, and we had a back and forth about all the things in year one that were there that are not there now.

So, again, the timing is pretty interesting. Took a moment to do that.

It’s been fun. And, like our stadium, I wouldn’t want it any other way. We’ve had this kind of steady progress. There hasn’t been one big upshoot in anything in particular, but it’s been this steady progress — maybe maturing a little bit to where you don’t do lemonade stands.

We have more fans to where you don’t have to do lemonade stands. It’s fun to make progress. And as they say, the journey is kind of what it’s about. It’s been a fun journey, in particular, this year.

Q. You said you liked your lineup and your group against anybody. What have you seen from A&M’s pitching staff and the way they’ve been playing, especially this men’s College World Series? And how do you like that match-up?

TONY VITELLO: In that particular instance, looking around the locker room, you’re looking at all kinds of guys. I’m reflecting back there — just talking about our group being good about competing against anybody. But obviously you get into match-ups with our lineup.

It’s like, man, Florida State and then Florida’s younger guys are getting more experience, which A&M shut them down. And you’ve got the most dangerous guy, him and Charlie, you know, I don’t include our players in any of that, and Cags. So they’re capable of shutting down anybody.

Then, again, you get to this point, every lineup, I feel like ours and theirs, can get you at any one spot. There’s a lot of uniqueness to each lineup, too, where there’s a variety of ways they can get you. I feel we’re included in that group.

But we’ll have to go up against Prager. It will be the second time. And he’s given a lot of people fits, either a lot of strikes out of him, but also gets guys to chase out of the zone a little bit.

At this point in our league or the ACC, too, you’ve got about as much experience as you are going to have. He’s already thrown on the mound out there.