Crew chief releases statement on Tennessee baseball star Drew Gilbert's ejection

Tennessee baseball not only lost the opening of the super-regional to Notre Dame. They also lost one of their star players to an ejection and suspension in game two of the series while facing elimination on Saturday. Center fielder Drew Gilbert was tossed from the game in the fifth inning when he disagreed with a strike call in extravagant fashion, apparently cursing out the official.

Following the game, that instance, and the controversy surrounding Gilbert’s ejection, the umpires’ crew chief from the game, Billy Van Raaphorst, released a statement he wrote on the Notes app.

It read:

“Tennessee #1 Drew Gilbert argued several pitches during the top of the second inning, steaming from centerfield. To begin the next inning I talked to the player between innings, warning him to direct his comments only to his team, not our crew or the other team. He said O.K. and that he just gets excited.

“During the fifth inning following strike one, Tennessee batter Gilbert yelled an expletive, followed by another expletive as he walked out of the box and was subsequently ejected.”

Well, sounds like Gilbert blew a fuse in the bottom of the fifth. Developing a sailor’s mouth with an ump will almost always end up in an ejection. Not a wise move. Because now, Gilbert’s going to have to miss the Saturday game as well. If Tennessee loses that one, Gilbert will have ended his season by mouthing off to the umpire during game one.

The Volunteers will battle the Fighting Irish on Saturday with a loss ending their season and a win meaning a rubber match on Sunday.

Tony Vitello talks about importance of veteran leadership

Reporters asked the coach what he though of his team in the leadership department ahead of the super-regional games against Notre Dame this weekend. Vitello answered that having veterans leaders “certainly helps” in a postseason setting. However, he noted that experience “is not a requirement.” Most of the time it is experienced, older teams that win the CWS. Occasionally, though, younger and extraordinarily talented teams can win too.

Vitello noted that experience is a strength for Tennessee’s opponent, Notre Dame. The Irish cashed in on the transfer portal to grab a number of experienced pieces. Several of which helped get them to the super-regional round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Tennessee coach also explained that a lot of teams have stacked up on older players like Notre Dame did. Having the portal as an option means experienced guys at lower-level schools can now transfer up for their final years. Also, many of the upperclassmen from the past few years were rewarded additional years due to the pandemic.

So there were just a ton of older players available this year and over the last few. It’s actually rare for a great team like Tennessee to have so many younger pieces in the lineup.