Tennessee left-handed pitcher Zander Sechrist penned a long farewell message to Vol baseball on his Instagram account Saturday afternoon.
Sechrist finished a four-year Tennessee career in the most incredible fashion, posting six straight brilliant starts to end his career. The left-handed pitcher allowed just five earned runs in 34.2 innings pitched (1.30 ERA) while posting a 1.01 WHIP in the final six starts of his college career.
His final start came in game three of the College World Series finals against Texas A&M when he allowed just one earned run on six hits and one walk while striking out seven batters in 5.1 innings pitched. Sechrist was the winning pitcher in the game that Tennessee secured its first ever National Championship.
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In his farewell post, Sechrist thanked Vol nation:
“Words can’t describe how much I want to thank each and everyone one of you for your loving and caring support over the 4 years that I have worn the Power T.”
Sechrist went on to thank his teammates:
“To all the former teammates I can’t thank you guys enough for taking both a young freshman and old senior under their wing to help me get to this point. Thank you to all the infielders and outfielders for all your effort and the amazing plays that you made behind me while I was pitching. All the catchers that have caught me thank you for putting up with me and trying to get on the same page. To all the pitchers what a group we had each year and there was always something to keep us loose before games and during practices.”
Sechrist also specifically spoke about his teammate and fellow left-handed pitcher Kirby Connell who have become great friends in recent years:
“To Kirby, Man we did it. Crazy how much we’ve talked about this moment for a long time. We delivered what we wanted to do and there’s no better person I rather go out on top with. I appreciate you taking me in and I can’t thank you enough. You’re always one phone call away. You’ll always be the brother that I’ve always wanted.”
Sechrist also thanked Tony Vitello and the entire Tennessee coaching and support staff:
“To Coach V(itello), Coach A(anderson), Coach E(lander), Q(uentin Eberhardt), Rich(ard Jackson), Bonny (Luke Bonfield), Parker (Serrano), Megan (Young), Woody (Jeff Wood) Thank You for taking a chance on a young kid who wanted to play baseball and even through the ups and downs we prevailed through them all. You guys have built what is now a powerhouse baseball program. Everyone plays a part and that is what is so special about this culture and team.”
And lastly Sechrist thanked the media:
“To the media personnel that was always willing to laugh at my jokes during interviews. All the extra videos that never went on Twitter. Thank you for putting up with a guy who truly just wanted to be a fun personality guy to give people a laugh.”
While Sechrist is out of eligibility his baseball career is not over yet. A MLB team could potentially select him in this weekend’s MLB Draft. If not, he’ll almost certainly sign an undrafted free agent deal.
One Response
Thank you Sechrist for giving your all for Tennessee baseball and its fans. You will forever be missed.