Everything Tony Vitello, players, said following a series-clinching win over Vandy

Tennessee baseball clinched the all-important rivalry series with Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon, winning 17-1 in seven innings. The Vols exploded for nine runs in the first inning and added three more in the second to take control of the showcase. Sunday’s game three presents the second opportunity for the Vols to sweep in Southeastern Conference play.

What did skipper Tony Vitello and players have to say on the victory? A written transcript is provided below.

Tony Vitello written transcript

On what led to the offensive outburst….

“The way you first framed it, I just wanted to get excited and say the vibe. That’s something you want to come to work to everyday, and obviously you can’t recreate or have happen what happened last night too often. Just the crowd, the theatrics, everything that went with it, but you can make the choice to come to the park the way the guys did today. So, that initiated it, but more specific to your question about situational hitting… guys just had better team at-bats. That’s a little cliché or general, but you saw guys with two strikes just putting the ball in play or fouling off a tough pitch, guys not swinging too big early in the count or in an advantage count like maybe have in the past, hit-by-pitch, say from talking about Blake Burke’s but, standing their ground or staying in a good hitting position during the course of the pitch. Again, all those fall under the umbrella of they were just better team ABs, and it’s not like we don’t have a bunch of team guys, but sometimes you can get lost in trying to please others or do things or meet expectations in the box rather than, just win the next pitch for your team.”

On what led to the team playing better small ball…

“I think it’s been a gradual process in every category you can talk about with our team, and it’s hard to say that because everybody is excited about the last two games. And then if you reflect on the two games before that, you’d be way down. But still, we see some areas where we are starting to figure out who’s what, get a more consistent kind of approach from each guy and performance even, so we’re making progress. And at the end of the day, that’s what you got to do no matter how old your team is or how your team is made up, but we’re making progress.”

On Christian Moore’s ejection….

“So the explanation was, after they talked about it for a while, that they needed to take action for whatever had gone down. I saw most of it. I was going out there to make sure CMo (Christian Moore) wasn’t going to do anything he wasn’t supposed to do. And actually, I talked to him and told him we were going to bring in somebody else, which he wasn’t happy about, but then after that, there was a decision to eject him which means he will not be available tomorrow. But what led up to it was their guy running the bases hard regardless of the score and our guy getting over to cover first base in Doe (Chase Dollander), and I don’t know what Doe said about it, but there was contact. But it was, I don’t want to say incidental, but it was two guys playing baseball, man. So, I’ll acknowledge the fact that CMo has got a lot of passion, and I’d rather have guys with passion than without. I also will acknowledge the fact that he has got his teammates back. I think that was the intent of what he was doing, but I also think the situation––with all due respect to the team we played and the scoreboard––it wasn’t necessary. 

“But, it might be a good thing. A guy gets an opportunity tomorrow. I don’t know who it is, but there’s a lot of guys over there itching to get out there and play, and at the very least somebody, and it’ll probably be somebody young, again sticking with that theme, will get that opportunity.”

On Chase Dollander getting out of second inning, getting through seven innings…

“I don’t have a good answer. I guess, significance was massive. How he did it? I hope he had a good answer for you guys because those were three pretty good hitters he had to face and then there was more danger awaiting if he doesn’t. It was just a really quirky inning. But I think he kind of overcame it’s a good day to hit at the park it feels like for a variety of reasons but he just overcame a lot. I said something really corny but I really like it now, ‘when the tough gets going, Do gets going.’ That’s been his theme this year. Last year, whatever built up the hype going into this year and he had good stuff and all that. Just because he’s got (Jacob) DeGrom’s hair doesn’t mean he’s DeGrom. I don’t know why we had to go with that but the bottom line is this year if he has one thing going for him he’s showed guts a lot this year.”

On what this weekend can mean for the team…

“Just in general, starting the second half of SEC play was a little bit refreshing. To have a win that not just this team can hang their hat on but I got all these messages. That will be one that people remember forever and it was awesome. As a player in our dugout you’re kind of yearning for more of that and, again, you can’t duplicate it exactly but you want the crowd to be in it, you want to do something good for your teammates, you want to show some energy and excitement when things go well. When they don’t go well and you’re down it’s like ‘are we going to do anything tonight? Is it coming? Or can we come back from this?’ You have to keep plugging along. There’s a lot of themes there to take and pick up from which I hope our guys will do cause I have said that I think that we’re getting better or making progress but that doesn’t happen on its own or because I say it in an interview. You have to acknowledge what works and what doesn’t and discard the doesn’t and push forward with what works.”

On why this team has pushed forward this weekend….

“This crowd here is special. I wish I had— well I do have it on my phone— a text message from a Major League scout asked me about one of our players and I answered. And it’s hard for me in the dugout whether on the road or at home to really know what it’s like so I asked him and he’s been a lot of places and he said top three in about every category you can imagine including the fans just participation. Like just paying attention, applauding, knowing the game and providing our guys with energy. I don’t want to take anything away from our players but it’s been huge. On top of it I think the guys have made a decision, regardless of how tomorrow goes or any other game the rest of the season, they’ve kind of made a decision. Let’s come together as a team and be what we are and call it let it all hang out if you want but again come together as a team and see what we can do.”

On his demeanor in the dugout being different this weekend..

“I just think I’ve picked up on some things on how we need to be and maybe I’m at fault for not knowing some things early in the year, but there’s a lot of new faces. I think we made a lineup the other day and I put down a number for how many years the guys either started or started in division one baseball was another category, and then started here at Tennessee, and you know what the numbers are. I use the Rubik’s cube thing — I think that was popular and then it went way out and maybe came back, so you might know what I’m talking about, but trying to get those panels lined up and I think one thing we need is more of a loose energy and the guys have provided that. I’m just trying to make sure myself and the other coaches are doing what we can do to support those guys.”

On how significant of a weekend this is for the program…

“I always say SEC, SEC and maybe if you’re not in this conference you hate me, but it’s such a different deal. It really is in so many categories. So, when you take a loss, it can’t be that big of a deal. Now you can’t accept it and you can’t get too frustrated or you’re just going to get beat down like crazy. But to have success in this league or to win one game in this league is a huge, huge deal. Going into each series, you want to win the series and we haven’t been able to do that as often as we like. So that’s my best way of kind of encompassing everything.”

On Maui Ahuna’s performance from the lead-off spot…

“I know he didn’t do it to start the game, but he’s done really well at getting on base to initiate the first inning or other innings, but he kind of made his mind up coming to the park before he even saw the batting order. It was a little late where we knew who they were going to start, so we posted the lineup late. But he kind of made a decision to smooth things out and I call it play baseball, but tranquilo. He was jumping all over the place yesterday. Blake Burke, (Kavares Tears), Maui, they have three of as sweet of a left-handed swings as you can imagine when they use that swing they use here in the cage. But when they get all excited or whatever else you want to throw at that negative side, it kind of ruins the swing and today he stuck with it. Fortunately, results came with it as well.”

On Tennessee’s six-game winning streak over Vanderbilt…

“To be honest with you, it is a historic program and they’ve done a lot over a long period of time. But in this league, Coach (Dave) Van Horn said it really well to me about recruiting when we had a conversation. You’re going to get some guys and other teams are going to get guys. I can’t imagine football or other recruiting in this league but it’s obviously very competitive for us. You’re going to take some lumps and you’re going to give some lumps. You better be willing to do both or be gone. So, everybody in this league and there’s going to be two new teams eventually and they’ll find out that they’re probably going to be able to deliver some blows and make it even more messy than it already is, but it’s going to go some other team’s way as well.”

Chase Dollander written transcript

On the long break between his first and second innings…

“Very annoying, very annoying. But I mean it was good to see the guys coming together and hitting and doing the thing that they have been during the fall. You can’t complain too much about it because it gives you a lead. You are more comfortable up there when you are pitching but at the same time it is like, ‘Come on, guys, I have to get back out there, get in my groove, get in my routine.’”

On getting out of the second inning…

“It was very crucial in my opinion. Obviously, I had the bases loaded then I was able to work two strikeouts and to be honest I don’t even remember what happened after that. Coming out of that inning probably helped me a lot just because my pitch count that inning was getting up there. I was just able to keep building off the innings of the ones before that.”

On his start as a whole being big…

“I feel like it was important for sure. My mentality hasn’t changed at all. It is just attack the strike zone as much as I possibly can and execute pitches as best as I possibly can. If I do that, the rest is out of my control. Having this outing, it has been a long time coming is what i am trying to say. I keep stacking good outing after good outing after good outing and finally this happens. I just have to take it and keep going with it.”

On mound visits…

“It was just that I am in control of this game so don’t let the umpire or the other team dictate what I have going on. I trust my guys behind me and I trust myself to make pitches and execute the way I need to execute. Good things happen when you do that.”

On the move from Friday to Saturday….

“I have always said it is not really up to us. It is up to the coaches and stuff like that. Whatever the coaches think is best for this team, I am with it. Even if that means I go to the bullpen. I don’t care as long as we start inning and keep continuing what we are doing and how we are improving each and every day.”

On if prep changes with the move…

“No, not at all. The only thing that changes is the day and the time. That is what I always say.”

On if he sees any benefit from seeing the team before he starts on Saturdays…

“Maybe. When I was on Fridays, I would always go back and look at video of previous games they played this year to see how they are approaching pitchers kind of like myself. Kind of similar to what I have. I kind of knew how to pitch to them and I had a game plan going into it.”

On Christian Moore getting ejected…

“I have no idea to be honest with you. I was locked in and focused on what I need to do. I was trying to just calm everybody down and make sure that if we get out of this inning, we are winning this game. Obviously, he got ejected, which I don’t even know what happened. I thought he went back to second base. Started throwing some warm-up pitches and I look back and he is walking to the dugout. I really have no idea what happened or what went on. At the end of the day, you have to do what you need to do for the team.”

On making a statement this weekend…

“I feel like in sorts we did. Obviously, there is a lot of stuff we still need to work on. We just need to keep getting better, keep getting better and keep getting closer as a team. I feel like once we do that and once everything starts clicking, we will be on all cylinders.”

On what his next step is….

“I feel like just kind of getting closer as a team. i think that was one of the biggest things possible. As a pitcher, you have to be able to trust the guys behind you. The guys behind you have to be able to trust you to make pitches and stuff like that. Once you have that mutual relationship and mutual friendship, anything can go a long way. They will start hitting for you. They will start doing everything for you. I feel like that going into this weekend was a big thing for us this past week.”

On Chase Burns…

“I thought he was electric. I thought he really, really showed what he can do last night and I couldn’t be more proud of him. I always tell him, ‘Hey, you are one of our guys. Go out and there and pitch like it.’ I think he finally showed that last night. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

On the pride to save the bullpen…

“I feel like it is a really good thing for us. Like you said, we have our whole bullpen left. We can do different things with it. We can let (Drew) Beam go for as long as we need to. If things start going downhill, we can put one of our guys in, put (Seth Halvorsen) in or anybody really. I feel like that is huge for any Saturday person is to get into the game and let the pen kind of take a break.”

Maui Ahuna written transcript

On the offensive explosion on Saturday…

“It feels good. We had a talk with everybody and we are all in this together. We go out and play ball together and that’s what we did today. The scoreboard says it all.”

On first inning rally with two outs….

“We batted the ball well and put the ball in play. Good things happen when you put the ball in play. Fortunately, enough, everyone and good at-bats and it led to me having a good at-bat as well. I was just trying to give the bat to the next guy.”

On his injury situation…

“It’s like a for-life thing now, so I just have to work on it and make sure I’m staying healthy every day. I just have to come back out and ball.”

On flipping the lineup over twice…

“It was good. It felt good. We had a good lead on them. I was telling myself not to get the second out, because I had already got out in the same inning. I was just tying to pass on the bat to the next guy.”

On last night’s win contributing to the energy for today…

“We were pumped – especially finishing the game like that. We were pumped to come back and face these guys. Especially since it’s a big rivalry game.”  

On what went into the ninth inning last night and the offensive explosion today…

“Just being ourselves. We just need to go out here and do what we do – limit our mistakes as we did today. We didn’t make any mistakes. That’s what’s been hurting us lately. So, we had a talk about that. We just came back out and made sure we stayed on top of our defense.”

On how that’s happening now and not before…

“Just making sure everyone stays focused and communicates on the field. Just making sure we are locked in every pitch.”

On bringing back the Daddy hat and fur coat….

“No idea. I don’t know. I just walked in the dugout and saw it today. I was like ‘alright, we are back to this.’ It’s working.

On the environment the past two days….

“Yeah, this is definitely what I signed up for. If everyone stays in this stadium and has our back cheering us on, that’s going to be a big-time thing for us. We can use that energy against other teams.”

On Chase Dollander getting stronger as the day went on…

“He wasn’t struggling. I was just telling him to play with his heart. Play with his heart and we got your back. We will be behind him every pitch. I told him to go out there and be.”

On Christian Moore sticking up for Chase Dollander in the seventh inning…

“Yeah, he’s the quarterback for our team – Dollander is. I have his back and I’ll have C-Mo’s back. Any player in this country would do the same.”

On what a weekend like this one can do for the team moving forward….

“It will define us as a team. We will show everyone that we still have this and that we are Tennessee baseball.”

Kavares Tears written transcript

On being successful down in the count…

“Just kind of just having confidence in all the work that I’ve put in, not giving up early, still fighting, competing until, you know I actually, finally get a win.”

On how he stays ready every day…

“It’s just a mindset, everyday I prepare as if I’m gonna be in the lineup. I actually don’t really look at the lineup til the last minute so I don’t, you know, kinda just not work as hard, I guess going through warmups and BP and everything and just having the mindset that I’m going in until I actually look at the lineup.”

On if there was a different energy in the ballpark after Friday night…

“Yeah I think last night was a big statement for us, it gave us a lot of confidence, but we also knew that, you know, it was a different game. Yesterday was yesterday and leave it in the past and just get ready to win today.”

On two-out success…

“Like I said earlier, just competing. Not, not giving in to the pitchers or the pitches they were throwing, just making sure that we were staying within ourself.”

On feeding off of Vitello’s energy…

“I definitely, so last year, being in the dugout I was you know just trying to give as much energy as I could, but now being on the field like that, the dugout energy definitely transfers onto the field and helps people in the lineup and the pitcher and the people playing defense. Gives them a lot of energy too.”

On what’s changed this weekend…

“Just confidence. You know the more reps we get the better we get as a team. The more we’ve played together, we’ve started to kind of know who we are as a team.”

On who they are as a team…

“We’re just a confident team. Very confident. I know there’s a lot of stuff said about us, it hasn’t always been the positive light but we just make sure what we’ve got going on in the locker room is just confidence and making sure that we’re there for each other.”

On having success after the quick turnaround…

“Just going to sleep quick. Just try to get that off, just kind of get ready to prepare for the next day, not let the past linger.”

On if he was able to go to sleep…

“Yeah, weirdly I was actually pretty tired whenever I got home.”

On Tennessee’s confidence with Chase Dollander on the mound…

“We have all the confidence. You know, every single pitch he throws we’re gonna have his back regardless. We just are there for him, whatever, whatever he needs we’re there. We’re gonna fight for him to the very last pitch.”

On what he’s seen differently from Chase Burns the last few weeks…

“He’s just a hard worker. I mean, there’s not many days where it’s, where everybody else is gone and he’s still here making sure his arm is feeling right, his body’s feeling right, he’s doing what he gotta do to be ready to throw.”

On if Tennessee has “answered the bell”…

“Yeah. I still think we have a lot to prove as a team. Just taking it day by day.”

On the feeling in the dugout after the first few runs were scored…

“Oh it was, I mean it was almost peak, I guess you could say. I don’t want to speak too far ahead, but I kinda, in my own head, thought we had the game won just based, looking at our dugout compared to theirs, they were kinda just down but they are still a really good team so you never knew whenever they could come back so we just wanted to make sure we were just keep on what we were doing.