Everything Tony Vitello said on a midweek victory over West Georgia

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello met with members of the media on Tuesday following a midweek win over West Georgia. The following is a written transcript from the Tony Vitello postgame press conference.

Up Next: Tennessee welcomes Florida to Lindsey Nelson Stadium this weekend to begin the first of 10 Southeastern Conference series in 2025. Friday’s first pitch will be at 6:30 pm ET and will be streamed on the SEC Network+.    

On his current and former players’ response to Alberto Osuna’s letter to the NCAA Monday…

“To be boldly honest, I was traveling all day, so I was only kind of getting snippets, but the theme was kind of the same as guys looking out for other guys that wear orange, regardless of how long it’s been or what your status is or anything like that. So, I think the fact that everyone is willing to look out for each other regardless of circumstances, some guys are here longer, some guys shorter, it ends better or worse for some people, but I think it truly has kind of become a family deal up here. And you have to earn that, and the person you mentioned (Osuna), in particular, did it in a very, very short amount of time at every place he’s ever been to. And fortunately, this is one of them.”

On what he liked about Thomas Crabtree’s outing…

“Calmed the storm like no other. It’s nice when a guy… you sit up there, you come up with a grand plan of where you put some guys and move some guys around, and use a guy in this situation or that situation, but it’s nice when they make it very difficult to be taken out of the game, whether it’s offensively or on the mound. Not only that, a game that just kind of seemed like it didn’t have a – it was a little choppy – to stick with that theme of the water or the storm. He just calmed things, and I think he pretty much did that last week, too, when we gave him the start. We just wanted to reward [Brayden] Krenzel. He got hot in maybe four pitches (Sunday), or I don’t know if he was hot. I just know he got about four or five pitches, came in with the bases loaded on Sunday and did a great job. So, I thought it was great we were able to reward him. But obviously, Crabtree showed you that he wants that ball in his hand regardless of what day it is. [There’s a] good chance next Tuesday it’s in his hand.”

On what he likes about Chris Newstrom’s play…

“Just confidence. The simplicity, in a good way – you want to keep it simple on game day – that he plays with. And that doesn’t mean he is not communicating to the other hitters about the pitcher or trying to figure out where to be on defense, but just the simpleness, the competitiveness and the confidence are, again, kind of attributes that you could say about, I don’t want to misnumber those freshmen, but they’re a rare breed. 

“That’s probably dumb [to say]. One of them will roll a stop sign or something here on the way back to the dorms or something, and I’ll eat crow. But it’s a rare breed as far as mentality goes, and he’s in that group, and you can feel it when he is in the game.”

On Thomas Crabtree’s grip change on his changeup…

“It just looked different from the side. I mean, obviously he threw it for strikes, so that’s a key. But he looked like he wanted to throw it more because of the effectiveness. And one guy is a really good hitter. He hammered the ball there at the end, but the bat looked like it was going to come flying at us because it was just such an awkward swing. I don’t know if it’s a pitch that’s not on the report or not. It doesn’t matter – if you can throw a pitch for strikes and it’s got good movement to it, it’s going to be effective. And the other thing is too, knowing what I know, I’m most concerned about his breaking roll when I’m up to bat. So, if you’re going to mix in kind of the extra pitch there, that’s a threat. It makes everything, the whole arsenal, better.”

On Andrew Fischer’s play at first base recently…

“He’s older than those kids, but he kind of plays with kind of that natural confidence, too. As a coach, you’re getting sped up because you want everything to be perfect. But he doesn’t seem to get sped up. He’s got a real fun balance of the intensity, of kind of a little bit of Drew Gilbert vibes, and yet the Luc Lipcius play the game, like a little leaguer vibe too. And he loves going out in left field, but I don’t know if we can put him out there anymore. Him and those people and the porches, that’s a match made in heaven for maybe hanging out at Roosters [restaurant] or wherever those people hang out at. But not on the ball field. We need to make plays. So, maybe we just keep him at first at all times because I think he’s really getting familiar with it and he wants so badly to be, what I think he is, a really good third baseman in pro ball. It’s just we got this weird thing going on where, and I didn’t say it to him. I guess I shouldn’t air out our – I saw out the corner of my eye, Ariel [Antigua] wasn’t happy he went out there. Because he knows he can change a game defensively. And there was one little quirky reason why, but you got him and Manny [Marin] on the left side or just him and Manny duking it out for playing shortstop. Guys from Florida. I don’t know who is better. So, it’s interesting having to move guys around. But it’s nice when Fish [Fischer] solidifies himself at a second position, like first base. Hey, this isn’t where you just stick a hitter. I know what I’m doing over here now.”

On winning a close game in a different style…

“Yeah, they come in all different shapes and sizes and I don’t know many people, especially that’s a fan— well that’s not true. Fans can find different stuff to complain about. I’m thinking more like NFL or other pro sports. But you’ll take them whatever way you can get them. Because what you want to do is learn with each set of repetitions you get, you could call a game one repetition or all the reps within them. When it’s over, you’re not going to be the best you can be at the end of the season if you’re not improving and learning. 

So yeah, if you lose, it’s a little harsher lesson and a little more motivational deal there, but there’s no reason why you can’t find a way to win ugly or low scoring, high scoring, pitching was the better deal, hitting was— you can find a way, but when it’s all over you better accurately assess what you need to get better at or where you can get better. And today there was a few things, but we just played a good opponent. I mean, look at their record and the schedule they play and where they’re from and how hard those coaches work in recruiting. So it was a good opponent. We didn’t play our best game. And, yeah, it goes without saying, we’ll take our best game down the road.”

On if it feels strange to open SEC play at home and not on the road…

“Yeah, it’s abnormal. The one time it did occur, it definitely made a difference I think. It was a positive. You don’t know what the end of this story is for this whole season, but it does flow nicely that we went on that road trip to Houston. It’s a little bit of a busy week last week with five games and the fact we’re not hustling and bustling to hit the road, but we’ll fall soon into that, you know, bouncing back and forth of staying here then going there, staying here. And the kids like going and seeing these places. 

I mean, when you go to a big league park, that’s one thing, but when you go to these other campuses and see these other schools, and a lot of the guys were recruited by all the same schools in our league. It’s fun. But this place has become dangerous or I should say valuable for us rather than worrying about what other people think. It’s at the very least valuable for us in a lot of ways. So it’s good to practice here tomorrow and then get into our routine here in Knoxville.”

On what he likes about this team as they transition into a new part of the season…

“I think that guys are starting to figure out what’s expected of them and just improving at it. Guys like Newstrom we’ve talked about, he’s been asked to move all over the place and he kind of gets excited about it, but also learns. We already kind of hit on Fisch. Guys starting to figure out that if you’re looking to break like some sort of freshman record or all time record or to be out there every single inning, every single at-bat, it’s probably not a good team to be on. 

But if you like being on a team that’s good vibes and having success and there’s enough food on the table for you to eat too, especially if you’re one of the guys that’s maybe a little higher up on the depth chart, then you’re in the right place. And they seem to kind of have that attitude because I mean, you guys haven’t asked about it, but you could ask about why isn’t this guy play today? He’s pretty good. Or that guy or this guy. And we’ll get there by the end of the season. We’ll have fresher bodies and more experienced players and hopefully still have those same good vibes.”

On how to find players in recruiting that will be okay with competing with other talented players…

“I think, watching and seeing how they interact with their teammates. And then all these best players go to these different showcases. So it’s not as easy to interact with a guy you just met, or maybe you were competing against the week before, and then all the best players go to these events where there’s a hodgepodge of coaches that are new, and they give you feedback.

“I’m pretty good at getting myself in hot water, but parents, too. And, you know, I’m not a parent, so I don’t know. I think my parents did a great job. People that meet me probably think differently. So it’s not like whether you do a bad job or you’re bad people or not. It’s just what kind of traits or principles are instilled in the kid, and do they match up with what we’re looking for? What we’re looking for might not be the same as anybody else.

“So there’s a lot of work that goes into it, and the more time you have, the better. But sometimes it’s this rapid fire deal where, like, It’s Billy Amick, and it’s the race is on, and you hope it works. Or (Chase) Dollander, we were late to the party, and you kind of hope it works. And then you kind of look like a genius when it does. But other times, too, I think the guys in the locker room have steered kids. You know, Evan Russell was a guy that if you weren’t doing it the way that we kind of were looking for, he’d get up in your face and tell you about it. And other guys have kind of reared kids. Luke Lipcius, I mentioned him earlier, would rear kids, you know, by just kind of being nice to them and telling them what we’re looking for.

“And at the end of the day, now that we’ve been here long enough, it’s nice, you get this little cycle of where, as we talked earlier, if there’s an issue where a guy has a flat tire or needs some help, I guess, on social media or whatever, then they’re there for you. It’s nice.”

If Tennessee will continue to wait and see before making a decision on who starts Sunday…

“Yeah, we’ll wait and see for sure.”

On what he knows about Florida…

“I know a couple of those young arms were throwing against us last year, and we were like, ‘what the hell?’ And then there’s a couple position players too that you could, I mean, I haven’t watched them play much, but you probably say the same thing, ‘what the hell is this guy doing back here?’

“But Sully (Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan) is good at a lot of things, and one thing is just educating kids on the draft and maybe their personal circumstance, why it might be advantageous. I don’t know. Maybe I need to ask him. He’s got something going on there where, and it’s a great state too to recruit where there’s a lot of talent, but there’s guys who easily could be in pro ball that are a part of their program, and they’ve always had that flashy talent and yet, Sully, I mean, all you got to do is see his demeanor, and you know what he’s looking for and how he wants his team to play. So that’s made for a combination that I don’t know where they’re at in the last two decades, but they got to be in the top four, minimum. So it’s a pretty good combination of talent and approach to the game.”