Everything Tony Vitello said on a game one win over St. Bonaventure

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello met with the media on Friday night following a game one victory over St. Bonaventure from Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The following is a written transcript from the postgame press conference.  

Up Next: UT continues its series with the Bonnies on Saturday evening for Game 2 from Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6 o’clock ET.  

If he’s every been part a combined-no-hitter…

“Yeah, I think some former teammates and guys that I coached at a young age — we’re friends now, more than anything — they’d get a kick out of it, so I’ll bring it up. You remind me of one we had, and the team blamed it on the lights. But anyway, yeah, I’ve been a part of one. 

“I didn’t realize what was going on. The guys got all excited there at the end. So, need to hire Don Zimmer, or somebody, to be the bench coach, because I guess Gavin (Kilen) was almost had the cycle (in Houston). I didn’t know that one either. But yeah, it’s a reflection of five guys, if I got that right, the burger. It might be an NIL deal with the burger company there. Five guys got out there and threw strikes and did what Coach A (Frank Anderson) is looking for them to do.”

If he thinks that’s the best Tennessee LHP Liam Doyle has looked this season…

“Yeah, arguably. I’ll tell you what, that’s a big stage last week. I think he probably, if he did look the best this week, he owes last weekend — and in part too, Oklahoma State, the competition — but just that whole scene last week, I think, helped you. And obviously he’s pitched in the league before, but he is still a young kid, third-year school, finding his way and he’s throwing harder than he’s ever thrown before. He’s throwing more off-speed (pitches) than he’s ever thrown before. I think he’s going to be able to throw deeper into games than he ever has before, because he’s in good shape. So I think every learning — every time he gets to go out there and learn like he did last weekend — I think it’ll only help him, and odds are, it helped push him forward to this weekend, where he arguably threw the best.”

On how difficult it is to pull a pitcher when they’re throwing as well as Doyle was…

“Yeah, it’s not fun. But, you know, he kind of pulled a Zander (Sechrist), and I don’t know how he saw what we were doing. We were kind of moving around there, getting ready to take him out. The lead-off hitter was coming up — sometimes you come up with stuff in your mind, like this is why we got to do it. But also he’s getting near 100 pitches, and we’re also getting to the point of the season, you saw them take some really good swings, and they’re throwing a potential first rounder at us tomorrow. So to slight them would be foolish.

“But let’s be honest, these are non-conference games, and whether you’re in our conference, their’s, the ACC or whatever, that’s where you kind of make your money. So we’re about to get to the part of the season where it’s a little more cutthroat and there’s not as much pitch count, or this is your role, or it’d be nice if we played this guy, too. It’s going to be whatever you got to do. So all that kind of goes into a decision like that, I think.”

On Tennessee utility player Dalton Bargo going 2-for-3 with a home run, how Bargo’s ability to play multiple positions in the field provides him more opportunities…

“Yeah, it’s a good lesson for young kids out there. Don’t kind of box yourself into just one spot, because what if the best player on the team also plays your spot? You still want to get in the lineup. So it’s very valuable for his own sake, but also for ours, because he’s a really good player, and he can do a multitude of things on defense, and always is a threat. I wonder, you know, I’m not too big into some of these stats, but home run per plate appearance. He’s got to be close to the lead for us. So he’s always a threat when he’s in the box.

“But the biggest thing he does for the coaches is he’s willing to go. Sometimes you coach guys and they don’t like that. They think you’re screwing them over, or you’re cheating them, or, you know, they got an excuse why they can’t play their best. And he’s never done that, ever, ever, ever, which is very refreshing. 

“And you know, the thing I like the most about what you’re asking about, the way he looked tonight, is that his at-bats were under control. To hit the ball a long way, you don’t have to swing like a caveman, and sometimes he just gets a little out of control because he’s an emotional kid, which can work to your benefit, like Liam, if you control it the right way. He’s got a really good swing, but you can’t use your swing if you’re out of control.”

On if he was aware the team was about to throw a combined no-hitter…

“No, I didn’t. Like I said, these kids go back and forth, and I hope someone, the umpires or the other coaches, would tell us if our guys have gone too far. I think you got to give them a little leeway to [celebrate], so I was kind of hoping with the way they were yelling after that last out, it wasn’t [them] talking smack to the guy who hit it or anything crazy like that. 

“But come to find out, that’s what we had going on. I think we were making so many changes there – that’s a bit of a distraction. And then two, at the end of the day, without trying to sound all coachy, in all honesty, everyone is trying to finish with one more run on the scoreboard than the other team.”

On what stood out about Brayden May’s debut…

“Glad we got to be in that inning with the score stuff (run-rule), but a guy who, from day one, was kind of in survival mode of, ‘I need to prove that I can fit in.’ [He] figured out real quick that Coach A’s (pitching coach Frank Anderson) guys throw strikes. ‘I better throw strikes.’ Q’s (strength coach Quentin Eberhardt) guys work hard and don’t complain. [He] eventually got to that. He was never an issue, but all those guys have a learning curve. [He] got to that spot. 

“When he came in, it’s easy to tell that the guys are cheering for him and excited to see him out there, and our guys are ready to play good defense behind him. And he kind of calmed the nerves and [to] see him throw well was refreshing, too. These guys all deserve to get rewarded. You do have some guys that need to redshirt or are banged up a little bit and aren’t necessarily available right now. But yeah, winning is great, but sometimes equally as fun is seeing these guys get rewarded with getting out there and getting [in] some of the action.”

On if Dalton Bargo could be one of those guys that waits his turn then breaks out…

“I think so. That whole recruitment process with him was interesting, and I think there was just a natural magnet there. Even though it wasn’t ideal, long story short, I think both sides just wanted it to work out, because you felt like it was a match. So, I truly feel this is the place he belongs. There’s no doubt he’s gotten better at a lot of different positions defensively. I think he’s really developed as a hitter. He’s improved his body. So, all those things should have him playing at his best anyway. 

But there is that natural sequence you’re talking about, of like a Reese Chapman or a KT (Kavares Tears) or Jared Dickey of ‘Hey, sometimes you have to learn from the bench unfortunately, and watch and observe. And then when you get out there, you have to learn from kind of messing some stuff up or failing or not doing your best. And then sometimes you have to be a little hungry because you want to be the guy.’ There’s a small bit of selfishness that can actually be a good thing, and you have to want to be the guy, and you have to believe that you can be the guy, and that’s what you saw out of him last year in game three of the Super Regional and on other occasions as well. I think right now, he’s just slowly getting more and more consistent at being that guy.”

On Liam Doyle’s fastball and if the high-rate usage is sustainable on SEC play…

“You give me the second flashback of this thing. You know, C-Mo [Christian Moore], I hug him and kiss him right here, – if at least on the cheek – if he was standing right here. [I’m going to] get myself in trouble with all kinds of stuff right now. I wanted to punch him in the face, is what I’m saying, because he faced Liam last year as a leadoff hitter and comes back and goes ‘huh, good luck.’ And that’s not what the other guys on your team need to hear if you’re as talented as C-MO. But that’s what he can do to some hitters, sometimes frustrating them. And you’ve seen other guys do it like [Chase] Burns did it with his slider more times than not. It can be a breaking pitch. [Chase] Dollander – Liam has kind of got that thing, too. And if you look back at the numbers now that I’m talking my way through it, Dollander in ‘22 was very similar. And I think if you’re locating your fastball and controlling that adrenaline, and you’re subtracting speeds a little bit, maybe they see 92-98 mph, kind of like they did tonight, then it’s not as basic as it could sound if you wrote it on paper, if that makes sense.

Speaking of basic, our fans were anything but that tonight. I enjoyed the hell out of my buddy, old teammate who was a part of that no-hitter that we were talking about, made me lose like 15 minutes of sleep. He said ‘I heard you got mad at the fans’ because I said something about [Hunter] Ensley. I wasn’t mad at the fans. I was just pointing out the fact that the guy runs his face full blast into the wall. I’m doing my job as a coach, because Hunter Ensley, you can’t coach that kid anymore. So, I figured I’d coach up the fans like, that’s a good time to [standing ovation]. What they did tonight, just little fun stuff like that makes it unique in our stadium. When the guy [James Capellupo] has got the high leg lift, the old school leg lift – which, I kind of like the guy. A, he’s Italian. B, he ain’t scared and you can see why he’s had success and was the Opening Day guy for them. So, I kind of like him, but it’s good that our fans found a way to mess with it a little bit too and have some fun with it. So, bring on more of that. And if you have got to do it in one place tomorrow, I prefer you do it over at the basketball arena. But what a day to do both. Like I said, we’re going to see a potential first rounder out of them tomorrow and our guy is pretty good that we’re throwing, too. And it sure seems to be fun in this ballpark right now. But the main event, in my opinion, tomorrow is over there, if I’m a fan”

On what makes Liam Doyle’s fastball so special…

“Yeah, there’s a little bit of deception there and then it’s jumping at the end. So, just because you see the radar gun – let’s say two guys throw 91 and 90 mile an hour might be different than another guys because of how it’s taken off or how it’s riding. There’s analytics to that to describe that stuff to now, but there’s some things you just can’t put on paper [or] analytics. And when he throws that thing, he throws it with conviction. And if you can throw a pitch with conviction, it doesn’t have to be well located. It doesn’t have to be the best pitch in the country. You’re going to have success. And he certainly throws everything with conviction, including that fastball, which just happens to be his best pitch. So, I think if you got a secret ingredient, which there isn’t one, I would call it the conviction he’s got to that thing.”