Tony Vitello opens up on growth of Zander Sechrist

Left-handed pitcher Zander Sechrist is one of the key players for Tennessee as the 2024 college baseball season gets going. Now a senior, he also clearly has the trust of his head coach, Tony Vitello.

Ahead of the season, Vitello opened up on the growth of Sechrist and how he has developed over the years.

“I think we could date that back to when we started recruiting him because it was at a fairly young age,” Tony Vitello said. “And because of the proximity of being from Georgia, not very far away, and him just being a, a big personality and coming from a good family there’s been a ton of interaction. So, he’s always kind of been the same guy. Goofy lefty, big heart, good family, easy to interact with, but he’s matured in a lot of different areas that have made him more comfortable.”

Zander Sechrist has been with Tennessee since the 2021 season. During that time, he’s made 49 appearances, compiling a 2.22 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 85 innings pitched. Ultimately, he’s someone who Tony Vitello has come to trust as he’s continued to improve during his time with the Volunteers.

“I think in the clubhouse more of a leader as each year has gone by. Then, you know, just in different facets of the game has become a little bit sharper and you see that incremental improvement every year,” Vitello said.

“You all could probably research the stats and watch video too. It’s easy to see. There was never one big jump he put on 20 pounds or 10 miles an hour on a fastball, but he’s consistently gotten better. And a lot of that’s attributed to his work ethic.”

In his 49 appearances, Zander Sechrist has made 24 starts. That included on Sunday night against Baylor in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown. He took a no-decision in that start but Tennessee ultimately won the game to move to 2-1 on the season.

Tony Vitello on Zander Sechrist’s performance against Baylor

Following the win against Baylor, Tony Vitello broke down what he saw from Zander Sechrist in his start.

“You know, a couple times with two strikes, trying to be too fine or trying to strike a guy out. You know, Baylor is like us. They were taking really good swings, too. It’s the last day, you don’t want to leave anything on the table and he left a couple pitches, that were not only over the middle of the plate, but a couple of them were bleeding back into righties and these guys aren’t going to miss,” Vitello said.

“I mean they took really good swings off of Nate Snead and that’s probably as good as Snead’s pitched. He can throw the thing up to 100, but that’s as good as he’s pitched and they put good swings on him. He was just really, really good and we made a couple of plays behind him as well.”