Tennessee baseball players Hunter Ensley and Zander Sechrist met with the local media on Wednesday afternoon before the Vols open their 2024 season at the Shriner’s Children Hospital Classic on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
The left-handed pitcher Sechrist and centerfielder Ensley discussed a myriad of topics ahead of the Vols’ three games against Big 12 competition this weekend. The duo discussed their growth over the offseason, things they like about this team and what they expect in the season opening weekend.
Here’s everything that Ensley and Sechrist said on Wednesday afternoon.
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Hunter Ensley
On what he’s looking forward to learning most about the team this weekend
“Just getting out in front of a big crowd. Obviously playing three different teams, so going day-by-day, just the opportunity to adjust each game to every lineup, every pitcher and at the end of the day, just seeing how we compete together as a team.”
On how these type of weekends prepare them for SEC play
“First, it’s three power-five schools that are all gonna be similar to SEC school, especially rotation and lineup. And then playing in a big environment in Texas and obviously the fans are gonna be there. It’s gonna be rowdy. So gonna be pretty similar to away series on the road.”
On what they learned from last year’s opening weekend in Arizona where they went 1-2
“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s gonna be pretty similar. Probably need to, on the front end, be more like take it in on the front end and then when it’s game time, show up and be ready to play. You know, not be star-struck when you get under the lights and look around in a big stadium. Kind of take it all in on Thursday night practice and then be ready to go for the weekend.”
On how the team has come together over the final couple of weeks of practice
“Yeah, I mean, the Pizza Series, we put two good lineups together. Just the competition has been pretty heavy, so we’ve been thrown in the fire against each other, but we’re just excited to play another team in a different jersey.”
On where redshirt-sophomore outfielder Kavares Tears has grown over the offseason
“Obviously his body is changed like crazy. He’s shredded now, but, I’d say mentally he’s just matured a lot more. He kinda knows how to go about his way at the plate and worked his way through at-bats. And then in the outfield, he’s as good of one as we got on the team, so he will be fine out there.”
On what senior LHP Zander Sechrist gives them on the mound
“Calmness. Especially if you’re on defense, you know what he’s gonna bring to the table. He’s gonna get on the mound and pump strikes and keep the defense to work.”
On how sophomore outfielders Dylan Dreiling and Reese Chapman different different going into their second season
“Same thing with Kavares a little bit, just the maturity level from both of them, from year one to year two, has grown. Obviously they’ve been in the league now for a year. Seen the pitching, kind of know how to work their way through a weekend and throughout at-bats, so they’ll both be fine this year.”
On his confidence level knowing he’ll be an everyday starter as opposed to last season
“Yeah, it’s kind of the same thing. It brings a calmness, kind of being able to go out and play with no pressure, more stress free and the confidence is there because it’s my second go-around kind of being an everyday guy hopefully. So really just keeping my focus to going out and competing and just finding a way to win no matter what.”
On which pitchers who stood out in intrasquad scrimmages
“Yeah, obviously the returning guys like Zander, (Drew) Beam, AJ Russell, guys like that. But guys in the portal like, we got (Nate) Snead, AJ Causey, both extremely difficult right-on-right at-bats. Then you got Marcus Phillips and guys like that, that are gonna throw it hard and fill up the zone.”
On the growth of A.J. Russell on the mound
“Well last year I didn’t room with him, he’s my roommate now, but what I’ve seen is, he takes everything pretty seriously off the field. His body has changed. He’s put on probably 15, 20 pounds since last year, so he’s a lot stronger. Another year with Coach Frank (Anderson) in the bullpen. So, his velo’s gonna be there and he’s a big strike thrower, so we’re not worried about that.”
On so many players working at so many different positions
“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. Even in the outfield you got guys bounced around position to position. I don’t know if you were here yesterday, but I got an inning at second base in a three-inning scrimmage. Not that that’s gonna happen this year, but, yeah, especially infield play. You got guys going all over the field, guys that can play second, short, third base. Just a lot of guys that can play any position, whether or not someone goes down or not. You got another guy that can jump right in.”
Zander Sechrist
On how he’s a different pitcher going into his senior season
“I would say I’m more of a mature pitcher for sure. As a young freshman you kind of kinda learn with the college level and obviously with being here for, I guess this is my fourth year, but, you know, just maturing overall and knowing where to locate certain pitches and such.”
On what they can learn from last year’s opening weekend in Arizona
“You know, it’s college baseball. It’s never the, the same quote unquote, same team every year. You get a different team every year, so, you know, we’re just gonna take it one game at a time and the cliche is one pitch at a time and we’ll see where we are by the end of this weekend, but it’ll be a good test for sure.”
On if he feels like this year’s team has a different vibe going into opening weekend
“Yeah, I mean, you could say so, but it comes back to the thing of, it’s college baseball. New team every year and you know, these three quality opponents. We faced one of ’em, Oklahoma, I think two years ago, and Baylor as well two years ago. So, you know, they’ll be, I think we beat ’em both, so I think they’ll be ready to go and it’ll be a tough weekend.”
On what he’s learned about this team so far in the preseason
“We’re built closer together than most teams in the past here, so I think we’re just gonna ride that wave, as a little cliche there, but, you know, we’re just gonna ride as far as possible and see where we are by the end of the weekend. And obviously midseason, if we need any adjustments to finish out the year, we’ll fix ’em by then.”
On why he feels like this year’s team is closer than some of the past
“Obviously the roster’s about like half turnover, so half new guys, half old guys, but we’ve kind of gelled with the transfers with (Nate) Snead, (AJ) Causey, (Cannon Peebles) and (Chris Stamos) right off the top of my head. They’ve kind of just gelled pretty well and the young guys, a lot of freshmen, and they’ve kind of just jelled as well.”
On Frank Anderson’s ability to develop a pitching staff
“Yeah, it feels good to say that as a midweek guy. I mean, two years ago I was behind, you know, Drew Beam, Chase Burns, Chase Lander, and Blade Tidwell, and I was lucky enough just to be, you know, on the Tuesday slot, but Frank’s been a big help. He’s involved my cutter a lot and now I’m a true four-pitch mix guy. So Frank’s just there, his cliche is be your own coach and you’ll know what to do.”
On how he sees his role developing within the staff
“Who knows what my role will be, but as for the last three years, I’ve taken any role and kind of just ran with it.”
On if the cutter been the biggest change for him in terms of the pitches he throws
“Yeah, I would say adding the cutter has made me now have a true four-pitch mix and know when to throw it into certain counts. Knowing to throw it to a lefty or a righty, and making it work off my either fastball, changeup or curveball. It just, like I said, just true four-pitch mix.”
On working with NC State transfer catcher Cannon Peebles
“You can tell that he’s been there before in big games and big spots and even though he’s only a sophomore, I think he’s pretty mature for his grade level. Obviously coming from NC State, which is a different program, ACC, but it’s still one of the Power Five schools and, you know, with him behind the plate you feel a little sense of comfortness. I stumbled on that word, but yeah, overall he’s pretty comfortable to throw to.”
On what he’s most proud about when it comes to his development
“That’s a hard question. I guess just maturing overall in the game and knowing that I can pass this down to like my kids one day if that comes to it. If I don’t go very far in pro ball or if I’m sitting in a cubicle, probably like maybe at State Farm or something, but, you know, just growing the game as much as I can to other people.”
On how he’s seen Kavares Tears grow as a player and if he feels like Tears is poised for a big year
“I believe so. Obviously I’m not the coach so I can’t make that call, but him as a freshman you could tell like there was room to grow and now him being I think a redshirt sophomore, he swings the bat pretty, pretty well. And sometimes he gets me, sometimes I get him when we do our inner squads, but overall, I think he’s pretty — I would call him the x-factor on our team if I had to pick a role for him.”
On the confidence of the pitching staff
“We’re pretty confident. We’re a pretty confident group. Pretty swaggy group in my opinion. But like I said, baseball’s game to game. You don’t know what you’re gonna get and you may feel good one day and then, you know, you give up five. You may feel bad and you throw five (shutout innings), so you know, baseball’s just weird. But overall, pretty swaggy confident group.”
On which pitcher has the most swag
“I would say me. Just because that’s just me. Yeah.”
On if the pitching staff would agree he has the most swag
“The group would agree. Overall.”
On what’s impressed him about freshmen LHP Matthew Dallas and Dylan Loy
“They’re left-handed. So, I mean they have great presence up there. Matthew Dallas has pitched in many big games for how young he is and Dylan Loy a kid from Pigeon Forge, obviously as a older guy, you know, you look at young freshmen coming in and the numbers that he put up in high school were pretty impressive. So, you know, I feel confident with them too. In any role that they’re given this year too.”
On his message to freshmen pitchers
“I, to myself, this is what I said to myself and I can relay it to the guys. I just told ’em to ride out their freshman year ’cause you don’t want to, you know, step on anyone’s toes or you know, get in the way of anybody. But like I said, just ride out freshman year and whatever role you get, just do the best you can with it.”
