Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello met with the media following the Vols’ 15-3 run-rule win over Ole Miss to open the series in Knoxville. Vitello discussed a wide-range of topics including AJ Causey’s start, bouncing back after a tough weekend in Alabama, Reese Chapman’s improvement, and more.
See everything Vitello said Friday night below.
On what he liked about the performance:
“First thing was the fact that we got to play. It was shaky weather throughout. I think in Chattanooga it was awful, but here it broke up a little bit. If we were still playing, they might have to stop the game now. So we were blessed just to play. And then anxious and blessed to get back out there in SEC play as well. The last time out was frustrating, and they bounced back well from that. And within that was… anytime you got the group doing something, there are some individuals, and Reese Chapman took advantage of his opportunity, but Robin [Villeneuve]’s last at-bat was frustrating, and he responded well. CMo (Christian Moore) in between home runs was doing his thing where he is throwing his helmet, and he’s all angry and all that stuff, and he bounced back well. Then Billy [Amick] made one of the best plays of the entire year after the one prior to it was probably frustrating. Normally, he would’ve played it right, but because it was wet, it kind of skipped up on him. There are a couple of other examples, too, where you just saw some guys answer the bell the right way. And Causey seems to do that every time he pitches. I mean if you pitch long enough in the game, you’re going to get a punch in the gut every now and then, and he sets a good example for the rest of the staff on how to handle that stuff.”
On how Reese Chapman has improved:
“I think just a little bit more presence. You know, that sophomore year compared to freshman year. He’s definitely become more physical, and then he’s been able to tally up some reps. He went out and played this summer and, like some guys, he played, and he accumulated a lot of time in the summer. That’s kind of a rare deal now, where guys go out there and really compete for an entire summer. But he was determined to do that and to get better, and he’s never – I mean, he’s always in here working – he’s never complained about not getting a certain amount of repetitions, but I think that’s really all that kid needs. It’s hard for players to get a small sample size, and then they start to feel that pressure of ‘I gotta play well so I get more.’ And I wish they realized that through a coach’s eye, we’re looking at it a different way. You don’t have to get a hit every time you’re up to bat. But anyway, for him, he’s a good player. He just needs to play.”
On if he said anything to Chapman about his defensive mistake against Illinois:
“No. There was a time we chatted the next day just about the matchup that was on the mound, and of course, Ensley is going to get his chances, too. And I think Ensley came in for him later in the game, but on defense, it’s just like where Blake Burke had a little moment there where he thought he was fast or like Karl Lewis, and he gets thrown out at second base. Whatever was going on there. They’re young kids and are trying hard because they want to win and want to do well, so there are certain things that pop up. And Reese, if he ever makes a mistake defensively or offensively, it’s not going to be because he’s not prepared. It’s not going to be because he’s being selfish, and so on and so forth. Just kind of a blip on the radar screen with that deal.”
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On if there were any changes in approach with the bad weather:
“Not really. I think our guys know our landscape that lightning, you don’t like when that interferes but it can. And rain can come hard enough, I guess, that we would have to pause or stop the game like we talked about now. But for the most part our guys know that when they come to work they have to bring their lunch pale and put in a full day’s work.”
On how he’d assess AJ Causey’s start:
“Relatively typical. Good preparation going into the week but you see, you talk to Frank (Anderson) and Richard (Jackson) and watch good preparation and go out there and competed and again I think the one thing he does is has good presence or keeps things together when it doesn’t go your way. A guy makes a mistake behind you or you don’t get a call you want or a guy puts a charge in one. You’ve got to stay true to who you are and he definitely does that. And obviously he’s out there pitching in not the best circumstances either.”
On what the most underrated part of this team is:
“That’s a good question. How long you been thinking of that? For me, for the coaches, I think it’s they’re tougher than maybe we thought they were. Again, kind of that resiliency. I was trying to paint the picture of some guys bouncing back or following up a negative with a positive or the right approach. That is a sign of toughness and there’s been varying degrees of that that showed up during the spring that quite frankly were a question mark and it’s good that it’s there. We’ll see how consistent it can be or better yet if it’s something that grows as the season goes along because CMo and Burke have been apart of two very different teams but two teams that had their own definition of success and this is a brand new team that is different so we need to write our own version. But you have lessons learned along the way and you obviously want to add the level of toughness that has worked for our program the last few years.”
On Kavares Tears’ improvement from last season:
“His nutrition and body has become something that’s very very serious to him like his defense became his second year. Using the whole field has become a big thing. So just becoming a pro. I would put it all under that label. Just becoming a pro and he prepares like it and acts like it and plays like it so it’s nice to kind of have that rock or something that solid you can count on in the outfield every day because you know he’s going to run the bases the right way, play defense and communicate the right way and then he’s certainly capable at the plate as well.”
On Tears saying he didn’t think his home run was gone, Vitello’s viewpoint from dugout:
“My viewpoint was it hit the top of the fence. I don’t know what happened after that but we got to talk at home plate about ground rules and our batter’s eye will change next season but for now, you talk about the shape of it, but the bottom line is the ball can hit it and kind of bounce back so however it rattled around out there, I don’t know. But I do know this— we have a few guys that Coach Q has worked with that when they hit it, KT is a guy that just has to touch it. He just has to get it on the barrel. It’ll go.”
