Tony Vitello, fellow coaches, preview Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown

In eight days time, the Tennessee baseball season will officially be underway with the playing of the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas at Globe Life Field.

Tennessee coach Tony Vitello, along with the fellow head coaches in the field of play, spoke to reporters on a zoom call Thursday to express their excitement for the tournament and to answer questions.

Joining Vitello on the call were coaches Will Bolt (Nebraska), Skip Johnson (Oklahoma), Tim Tadlock (Texas Tech), Mitch Thompson (Baylor) and Mark Wasikowski (Oregon). Below is a written transcript from Vitello on the call as the Vols will begin the season against Texas Tech next Friday (February 16) at 8 pm ET.

Tony Vitello opening statement…

“Yeah, glad to be back involved. Our last time was down in Houston, so kind of excited to experience the northern version of the tournament, and more than anything, see that facility in person for the first time. Incredibly thankful for how well organized everything has been to this point. From knowing some of the coaches on here that have played in the tournament, have heard nothing but great things about it. So, fortunate to be a part of the group and obviously looking forward to things.”

On how this tournament can prepare the Vols for postseason and SEC play…

“This is SEC play, not by definition of the conference, but the thing that our conference takes pride in or the Big 12 or the Pac 12, of course the Big 10 as well – any major conference takes pride in the fact that competition is heavy. Fan bases are active and then the facilities are also on par with the best facilities in the country. So, you can throw in you guys [in] media coverage into that as well. Those four categories – any other category you can bring up are all represented pretty dang well in this event.

There’s even probably a little additional hype to this event going into the season. So, really it kind of gives you a little inside look of what conference play is going to be like with the steep competition and all those other things.

If you’re fortunate enough to make a regional, you’ll probably reflect back on this weekend. And it’s got a little bit of that flavor as well with the travel, with the media and then having multiple teams in one area. You know, no one’s necessarily competing for a championship this particular weekend, but you are competing to be the best each day that you’re playing. So, these freshmen, these first year guys for us and other clubs are going to get a real good inside look of what it’s going to be like once they enter conference play. And of course, if they’re able to, to make postseason play, how exciting that can be.”

On potential starters for the weekend rotation and how that group is coming together…

“With the weather and the way that our rules kind of squeeze how much time you get to be around these pitchers, I think the biggest thing is you just want to build up the guy’s pitch count. Also, the amount of times they can get up and down – working their way to five innings or whatever it may be, everyone’s mark they’re trying to hit this time of year. So, from where I’m sitting, um, I’m pleased that we’ve just been able to progress in that manner. And then what you’re getting out of that on the offensive side when you’re doing that is you’re getting a bunch of at-bat for your guys.

So, it’s just been nice, despite that one crazy storm much of the country had. We’ve been able to kind of stay on pace.

As it relates to actually how they’re performing, like I said, I’m happy. I don’t know if Frank [Anderson] is ever happy. Everybody on this call can attest to that. So, it’s his job to kind of work with them and obviously he’ll have his input on where we want to line guys up. Fortunately, we got maybe another time or two that those guys get on the mound to try and decide who belongs on which day. I don’t think we’ll really find our final answer until maybe halfway through the year on what the best order is for us. But I do think everyone has at least made themselves available where they can throw a decent amount of innings for guys that are in that starter conversation.”

On the shortstop position eight days out from Opening day…

“It relieves a little bit of stress because once the season starts, that’s when you truly know what you have. But one thing we do know [that] we have is a Christian Moore has been a team leader. He’s been one of our best offensive players, so he’s going to be in the lineup every day. He’s athletic enough to play that position. Right now, he and Bradke Lohry have kind of spent the most time in our scrimmages at that position. And that’s in part to some guys nursing minor injuries. Whether it’s Ariel [Antigua] or Dean Curley. Alex Perry [has] played there as well.

All three of those guys have had nothing severe come up, but things where it’s better to rest him for a day or two. So, probably those two guys lead the charge going into Dallas. And then, like a lot of teams, or all the teams really going down to this event, we’re trying to figure out what we really got before conference play. So, each one of those guys will remain in the mix, I feel, leading up to SEC play.”