Everything Tony Vitello said on a series-clinching win over St. Bonaventure

Tennessee secured a series-win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday afternoon with a victory in game two of the set. Head coach Tony Vitello met with members of the media in postgame to detail the win and here’s the written transcript of the press conference.

Up Next: The Vols conclude the three-game series with St. Bonaventure on Sunday afternoon at 1 o’clock eastern time from Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

On Tennessee freshman infielder Manny Marin going 3-for-4 at the plate with a grand slam after injuring his nose last Sunday in Houston…

“To be honest with you, picking up where he left off. He kind of took a shot in the nose against Arizona, and we didn’t realize it until after the game, and so that’s why he didn’t get midweek action. So, I think it’s a good example for others to see. I’ve been this guy, too. Most players in a lot of sports feel like it’s necessary to be out there consistently and be in a rhythm. That’s probably the best way to be the best version of yourself. But if you can do it, you can do it. So get back on the horse, as they say, and show what you can do. And that’s exactly what he did. 

“He’s got some toughness to him. Like I said, we didn’t know that originally, and then he’s got some ability on the back end. He just went out there and did what he’s capable of doing what he did on a very big stage last Friday against Oklahoma State.”

On what he saw from Tennessee junior RHP Marcus Phillips to not allow any walks in his start…

“A lot of composure, really good presence. At times last year, we were overly critical of him in that category, and I think it was because we envisioned what he could become. And I think he’s in the process of becoming that. And he’s one of those guys that almost kind of, you’re excited, but you’re also like, ‘Man, I wish college was five, six (years) — that’s a sore topic. But wish you got to coach this guy for a long time. 

“But he did well throwing strikes and a bunch of Ks. In all seriousness, or actually, a better joke would be, you know, he had the Queso thing going. I tell you what. There’s a lot of good things about Knoxville on our campus, the people who work the games, or a concert, a Morgan Wallen concert, the security. They’re incredible, and it affects our recruiting, because they take good care of people. It affects my family. They take good care of them. But we’ve got a new security guy at the stadium, and he thinks queso is the name of a pitcher because of obvious reasons. So I think that guy needs to improve. But the rest of anyone who works the basketball games and everybody else deserves a round of applause and some free Vol gear.”

On how Marin is able to generate so much pop in his swing for having a light frame…

“Manny, he needs to get more physical. I mean, he’s a guy who could, his draft year will be exactly what he dealt with last year. It’s going to be a lot of talk and he could make a really good amount of money there, but he can make a lot more money playing the big leagues for a long time. But to play a big league season, your body’s got to withstand that and hold up. And, you know, Cal Ripken, if you ever been next to the guy, is a huge person, and that had a lot to do with that streak, on top of other things. So he’s going to need to get more physical to be the best version of himself in college that he wants to be. But in the long run, he’s made it very evident that he could be a big time player in Major League Baseball. That’s saying a lot for a freshman. But in order to do so, he’s going to need to get more physical. 

“Having said that, I think he’s capable of doing tremendous things at the plate because of the whip that he’s got in that bat. And, you know, a lot of guys have shown too precision can beat power. You might see that in some UFC fights tonight. But also, baseball is a unique sport. I mean, it’s not football. So there’s some guys who can really do some damage to the baseball because of the efficiency in their swing. Or with him, I’d call it whip.”

On what’s been different about Dalton Bargo this weekend…

“A different attitude, for sure. That’s easy to say, but what happens is you start playing the game and it doesn’t go your way, or maybe we don’t put you in the lineup, and you get frustrated and you get derailed. As an athlete… you have all these decisions piling up, and if you make one wrong decision, [that] might lead to another set [of wrong decisions] and another one and next thing you know, just a couple human nature type things, getting frustrated with a call that you didn’t think went your way and then something else, it can really wreck your day.

“He’s had a different attitude. I’ve used the example of him and then any other player I think in baseball, the more determined you are, the better you are. But every day’s unique and each repetition or opportunity’s unique, and I just think he’s taken it upon himself to take a stand. Emotional players are probably the most fun to coach because if they do it right, it turns into passion. But if they don’t, it kind of turns into like, ‘Hey, this guy doesn’t need to bring down the party.’ And I’ve been that guy, again, everybody’s been that guy to some extent. But he’s, whether he has done it on purpose or not, he’s made a decision to have a better attitude, and it’s affecting his play.”

On what he’s liked from his team this week…

“I think the first inning didn’t go our way, and I think fans are going to need to realize there’s going to be times that, kudos to our offense for raising expectations, but there’s going to be innings where you get a zero on the board. Those innings need to be at least valuable because we’ve seen what the pitcher can do or you start accumulating the pitches. That didn’t really happen much until the second and third inning, but he had a short night for whatever reason. But the bottom line is our guys started to tack on the pitch count, found a way to do damage and really, it was with two strikes.

“When you get to a guy that’s got that type of stuff and he’s throwing strikes, you’re going to have to battle with two strikes. You’re not going to get to stand up there and just wail away at a 2-0 pitch that’s thrown right down the middle. But no, I think our guys have shown toughness in a different way than other teams, and I hope that trend continues because the season is going to get tougher. You have to, again, one of those choices, you can get tougher along with it or you can go the other way.”

On how valuable is it to have someone like Dean Curley who’s approach never changes…

“That’s not gonna happen. That guy’s not going to waver. I wish I could assure you other things like he’s going to do this or that. He stole a base tonight – I’m just as fast as he is, we can race – but he’s a tremendous baserunner. He’s not always going to steal a base, not always gonna hit a home run tonight, not always going to make great defensive plays, but he’s not going to waver. And to quote a guy in the past, I’m going to get out of my lane here about pro baseball, we talked about Manny [Marin], Dean is going to be able to withstand a pro season because of that kind of stoic, non-wavering mentality, and obviously he’s got the physicality to go with it, too.”

On the confidence to hit Levi Clark in the lineup behind Andrew Fischer…

“Yeah, and a little bit of his Fish [Fischer] doing a good job, you know, for the most part knowing the strike zone and then other people see him take a mammoth swing. It’s intimidating. I mean, I’ve been in the other dugout but it also – sometimes you catch yourself just being a bystander and watching the game. Sometimes, some of those swings are just intimidating. But Levi has got the poise of an upperclassman and the physicality of an upperclassman as well. It’s reminiscent of Dean [Curley] and our lineup was so [that] it was stacked the right way. Dean I think was behind KT [Kavares Tears] most of the year, but you could have slid him up a spot or two as well. And so kind of that, that precious combo of a freshman of being so physical and yet, so composed.”

On if he knows what the pitching plan for tomorrow will be…

“No. We told everybody to be all hands on deck. Because of tonight being shorter, [Nate] Snead got cut short and T-Frank [Tanner Franklin] gave me the ole ‘are you serious’ look when we told him his night was done last night. But he did a great job coming in and getting that guy out. So, it’s nice that those two guys are available. It’s not going to be every Sunday on a weekend that you have both those guys, a fresh [Ryan] Combs, a fresh D-Loy [Dylan Loy]. There’s other guys as well. And Tegan [Kuhns] showed he could start. I don’t know that that’s what we’ll do, but we feel good about the fact that there’s a plethora of options and we’ll just kind of mix and match as we see fit.”

On if he was happy about the big crowd following the basketball game…

“Yeah. It was great and to be honest with you, tonight was probably a bigger crowd. I think we got a layup from the basketball team. Thanks for the courtesy chuckle. But last night is the night that stuck out to me. That was the first time there was a different buzz in the air. And that’s not that we’ve gotten cheated with crowds. I mean, the weather hasn’t been great and obviously we’re building. [Inadvertent phone falls towards Tony Vitello] I didn’t do anything to you. I haven’t told you guys – what tonight. I was doing well tonight. I have not told you what stories to write. I did not talk about kissing players. I didn’t say basketball was more important than baseball. I’ve been doing well [laughs and goes back on topic]. I had a phone thrown at me for those listening to the podcast. But to me, last night there was a different buzz in the air. You could feel it and that’s coming on a massive scale pretty soon. But there’s nothing wrong with coming out tomorrow in big numbers and having some energy to you, too. But last night was a Friday. It was our first Friday night baseball game of the year. And appropriately what followed was a different buzz and noise in the air. It was fun and I’m excited about more of that to come.”