Everything Tony Vitello said on the series-opener with Vanderbilt on Friday

Tennessee skipper Tony Vitello met with members of the media on Friday following the 3-2 series-opening win over Vanderbilt from Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The following is video and a written transcript from the postgame press conference from Tony Vitello.

Up Next: Tennessee and Vanderbilt continue the weekend series with Vanderbilt with a Saturday evening start time of 5 o’clock, televised on ESPN2.

On Hunter Ensley’s catch at the wall and the heads up play by Dean Curley to double up the runner on the base path….

“It’s not like you can’t be good if you’re from Tennessee, but Dean is kind of always had a little extra savvy to him. I mean, it’s SoCal. You play so much – play so many times. And also, the competition is really high. It’s a hot bed for baseball. Unfortunately for our league, a lot of those kids are coming this way, but when I grew up, all those teams were the powerhouses in the country you had to worry about.

But yeah, Hunter’s catch itself was a game saver. That’s the only way really to describe it. It was earlier in the game against North Carolina [’24 CWS] when he did what he did, but that game was real tight, too. So, you look back on it, it was a game influencer. But I think that one was kind of more of a game saver, more than anything. Was fitting that he caught the last out.”

On how valuable it is to have Hunter Ensley’s leadership during trying stretch…

“I think you kind of hit the nail on the head at this point. He’s more valuable. Don’t forget about the slide at home plate. And obviously we’re facing a pitcher where you want to have some kind of confidence going in. And we chase a pitch early, and then we ground it out, I think. So, you want to get something. And even though Hunter was out trying to stretch it into, playing hard like he does, trying to stretch single in a double, it still matters. So, on the play, all that’s on the field, all that play stuff, is great performance stuff, but the influence and kind of the calm and the leadership. I think he’s started to direct traffic a little bit more this time of year, which is needed. And it’s also going to be a deal where no one is not going to respect anything that comes out his mouth. And he’s not a big yapper. So, if he says something, it has value.”

On if Hunter Ensley has had to grow into this leadership role or if it comes naturally…

“I think he’s had to grow into it a little bit. I think, dating back to his high school days, including on the football field, he was a leader by how he competed. And I think the phrase ‘leads by example’ is kind of overused. It’s pretty vague. I think just the way he competed, everybody saw how you need to fight to try and win or try to accomplish whatever goal is in front of you. And that’s always really been here. As a matter of fact, he kind of had to rein it in. Rein it in and that’s how he was. But I mean, sometimes different circumstances call for you to adapt a little bit, and so I think he’s had to come out of the shell a little bit and direct traffic. And then it takes two to tango. I think our guys, because there have been some ups and downs in the year, need to realize this is a pretty good resource right here. Not just to look to, but listen to. And so, I think there’s that two-way street. You saw some unselfish play on the field, but there’s stuff behind the scenes too, that I think our guys have been unselfish.”

On Liam Doyle locking down the No. 1 spot in rotation as Vols didn’t have that last season…

“I really think it’s a big credit to last year’s team to have success the way they did. And I think [AJ] Causey can pitch in the big leagues. I know the Kansas City Royals love him. [Chris] Stamos is one of my favorite of all time. Hopefully he don’t hear this. You look at all the best teams in our league each year for the last 20 years. That’s the deal – is you got a guy that strikes fear into the other team and we had two guys go at it tonight. The way that it should be in our leagues, pretty special. But for us, it gives our players confidence. It gives our coaching staff a chance to kind of map out how we think or want the weekend to go, and then it influences every game all the way to Tuesday, because you got a guy that can give you 100 pitches and set the tone for the weekend. But more than anything, I said it to the ESPN guys because they ask questions about our team, whenever that guy (Doyle) gets plopped down in the middle of a pro locker room, whether it’s the big leagues or they make him go through some steps, he is immediately going to make that locker room a more fun place and a better place because of his warrior mentality on the field and then on the field. I said Hunter (Ensley) is not a yapper. Liam is a yapper. For sure.”

On the significance of Manny Marin’s at-bat in the seventh…

“It was the key to us having a little bit of a margin where you can do some things with the bullpen and take a breath – no lead is safe in this league. That’s another reason why the 10 run rule is stupid. As a matter of fact, I think there was an example of that this year. But anyhow, you could see the calm with two strikes, whereas he was much more eager on the pitch before. And he’s done that before. I don’t know that that comes from maturity, it just comes from competitiveness. 

“He’s been special on game ones. You can call them Fridays, but sometimes we play on Thursday. He is ready to rock and roll, and because we have a deep team, he doesn’t always play on Tuesday. Maybe it’s because he’s chomping at the bit by the time game one rolls around, maybe he likes the bright lights, I don’t know. That at-bat was great, but it’s also, there’s been indications of that in the past, too.”

On Chris Newstrom’s 12-pitch at-bat and why he pinch-hit for Jay Abernathy in the 4th inning…

“I’ve said it to the team, and I think I’ve alluded to it with you guys. I’m not trying to take pressure off me, I’m just being honest. With this team, there is not a slight this guy… there’s not a right or wrong decision. We put in Ariel (Antigua) for defense, but who’s to say we wouldn’t have won the game by two runs tonight if he starts at shortstop. We have a good group of position players. So the risk, unless a guy goes 4-4 with four grand slams, there’s no right or wrong decision. It’s just [that] guys need to be unselfish and prepared for their opportunity, and when it comes, Jay (Abernathy) needs to dab up Newy (Chris Newstrom), and Newy needs to go in there and do his thing, even though it was literally last minute. 

“We tap him on the shoulder. Fortunately, the umpire gave him time to kind of get set up. And then that at-bat, when you’re facing a kid like we were facing (JD Thompson), that at-bat carries a lot of weight. We didn’t get anything out of it on the stat sheet, but it was huge. It was incredibly impressive. It was something for the team to build off of, but something for Newy too. He keeps getting more and more SEC action, and he’s already confident. I don’t know if that could go any higher, but it’s good for him and definitely good for our team.”

On Doyle being willing to pitch whenever he’s needed despite being a projected top-five pick, when similar prospects in the past maybe wouldn’t have put the team first…

“He don’t care. He wants to compete. He does not care, and he’s a good teammate. I know he spent time at other schools. I kind of said it when we were in Oxford. I kind of get, you know, getting on the guys and stuff like that. But there’s no way anyone that came across him, in high school or anywhere else, doesn’t like the guy. And to your point, it’s great that he was willing to take the ball in that situation. It would have been heartbreaking to have a poor weekend last weekend against Auburn, and him not influence one of the games, because he really kind of didn’t. I know he threw the one half inning.

“But the bigger story that could really help younger kids, if they follow our program, is tonight was an easy cop out to say I didn’t go through my routine. I didn’t go through my usual deal. So tonight, to me, is the big story of it’s not a guy that’s looking to make an excuse or look for a reason to not perform his best, which I’m not knocking it, because maybe I would have too. A lot of kids would use that as a cop out, of I didn’t get to go through all these routines, and kids are well coached now. Those routines help you. But at the end of the day, when the umpire or the play ball kid says, ‘play ball,’ you hook it up. I don’t know that we have a better example in our clubhouse that can hook it up than Liam.”

On how much the crowd impacts the game in a low-scoring game…

“It’s a one-run game, and we’re playing at home, and there’s been some weird games where just because of the rain, or basketball, or weird start times, maybe you could argue we didn’t have a lightning bolt of energy to put us over the edge. Or maybe our players didn’t provide the energy for them to do that. But in a game like this, you can’t write it down. I think the Seahawks say something (12th Man). Another program (Texas A&M) is trying to say this number, add a number to the guys you have out there, but it helped us win a game. Period. And who’s to say a guy makes a base running mistake because it’s so loud and the crowds going crazy. I mean, I know Hunter made a great catch, and Dean gets credit for spotting that deal, but it was an influence, for sure.”

On what he wants the team to take away from the final home series of the regular season…

“Tonight’s over with. Sunday can wait, and heck, with the rain and start times and stuff like that, Sunday may never come. You don’t know. So kind of really just about tomorrow, but I think about tonight, when we visited Liam (Doyle on the mound), there was a ball conversation with the umpire. I was showing them the ball. Liam had blood all over that thing from his blister. And it’s not like he had a big — (like) somebody shivved him and he had a knife wound or anything, but it’s just kind of representative of how the guy will compete. And I think our team needs to take note of that. Blood, sweat, tears, whatever it is, go out there and do that, and let the scoreboard take care of itself. 

On Doyle dealing with the blister the last couple weeks…

“It’s something he’s battled with. Him and Woody (trainer Jeff Wood) have hooked up, and I think really managed the thing well. I think it truly was an issue for the first time, and it’s been something to manage. But I think it truly was an issue with the losing of the command and the hit by pitch, and then, full credit, big, strong guy (Vanderbilt catcher Colin Barczi) hits the ball as far as he did. But I don’t know that he saw the best version of Liam there because of it.

“It’s hard to take Liam out of the game, no matter what the pitch count is or what the situation is. So yeah, he’ll have a full week to do everything he needs to do. I know I mentioned that earlier, is you can’t use it as an excuse, but with the blister and everything else, that’ll help. I guess not a full week. Thursday start (next week at Arkansas), but you get the gist. Hopefully.”