Tennessee baseball landed its fourth commitment out of the transfer portal Sunday afternoon when Wofford transfer Ryan Galanie committed to Tony Vitello and his staff.
A grad transfer, Galanie committed to Tennessee over a top group which included Louisville and Texas. The SoCon Player of the Year also had interest from Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and others.
Galanie was immediately one of Vitello and his staff’s top targets in the portal and that paid dividends as Tennessee landed the versatile star.
“I felt like it was a family atmosphere,” Galanie told RTI Sunday. “I felt wanted and needed. That was huge.”
Tennessee knew it wanted Galanie because of his hitting prowess. The Mason, Ohio native hit .383 with 17 home runs, 15 doubles and 66 RBIs in his senior season at Wofford. Galanie’s 14% strikeout rate matched his walk rate and his growth as a hitter over the last four years is clear.
“I’m a dangerous bat,” Galanie said of his strength. “I hit mistakes often and I hit them well when they’re made. I can be kind of a scary, scary hitter to face. Dangerous. I feel like I can drive the ball out to all parts of the field. As I’ve gotten older my understanding for the game has grown a lot. Especially from being up north and going south for college you learn a lot. Kind of just my maturity and the way I handle the game itself as well as my offensive versatility and my defensive versatility.”
Galanie dominated SoCon pitching but has more than proved his prowess against top college competition. He took Wake Forest ace Rhett Lowder (a First Team All-American) deep this season and is turning in his second consecutive productive summer at the Cape Cod Collegiate League— the nation’s top college summer league.
Tennessee intentionally walked Galanie twice in the Vols’ midweek win over Wofford this season.
Galanie’s didn’t visit any of his top contenders but Tennessee’s recruitment of him was consistent. Nearly every single Tennessee coach talked to Galanie at some point as did housing and academic people on the university side of things.
“I think I talked to about all of them (coaches),” Galanie said. “That really stood out. I know when they were in Omaha I actually had a 30 minute zoom call with every offensive coach that was there including coach Q(uentin Eberhardt)— the strength coach. … That really stood out to me.”
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The elite bat hit it off with a number of Tennessee coaches including Vitello, associate head coach Josh Elander and student assistant Ricky Martinez who is off to New Mexico State to serve as an assistant coach.
“Coach E(lander) and Coach V(itello) are two great people there,” Galanie said. “They actually came up to Cape Cod after I committed and me and (Tennessee transfer commit) Cannon Peebles are playing together up here. They came to watch both of us and it was awesome.”
Tennessee’s full court press of Galanie didn’t stop with coaches. Former Vol outfielder Griffin Merritt played against Galanie frequently growing up in southern Ohio and the two had a pair of phone conversations before Galanie committed.
What position Galanie will play in Knoxville is unclear. Tennessee recruited him because of his bat and his defensive versatility is a plus because of the freedom and creativity it gives Vitello and his staff.
Galanie played third base his junior season at Wofford and first base in his senior season. Proving he can still play third base at a high level is something Galanie is trying to prove in the Cape Cod League. The super senior also has the ability to play either corner outfield spot.
“That has kind of allowed them to give me a little bit of versatility,” Galanie said of what position he could play. “They’ve mentioned both corner infield positions as possibilities. I’m looking forward to that. I know Blake Burke is still there and respect him and everything he’s done so far in his career. Can’t really say anything is mine yet. Still have to earn everything.”
While landing Galanie is a huge win for Vitello and his staff, Tennessee still has one more hurdle to survive. An MLB team will select Galanie in this month’s MLB Draft and if the signing bonus is strong enough, he could forego his final collegiate season of eligibility.
Galanie not making it to Tennessee is a real possibility and he admitted playing in the MLB is his “dream”. However, he wants to make sure he doesn’t get “taken advantage of” in the draft process.
Stay up to date with all Tennessee baseball transfer news by keeping track of the RTI transfer portal tracker.
