Vitello moving on to 2025 quicker than jubilant Vols fans.
Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello is living in two different years.
From Vitello’s perspective, the focus is on the 2025 roster and developing a team that can serve as a competent successor to the 2024 national champions. Yet whenever he goes somewhere, such as AT&T Field for Wednesday night’s Fall World Series intrasquad game that was canceled due to rain, the congratulations from this past season’s run to the College World Series title never cease.
“It’s gotten to the point where it’s hard, and it’s been difficult,” Vitello said Wednesday afternoon. “It sounds like I’m a spoiled brat — spoiled and very blessed. All the winning ingredients are at the University of Tennessee, and one of the things we’ve always tried to do as a staff is to push forward, because we did kind of start at the bottom.
It was a tension-filled first year, and then COVID ripped things from us.
“There has been this building-up phase, and we want to stay true to our roots, but it has been difficult to do because it has been a little distracting. We’re getting closer and closer to opening day with this team that needs leadership to step up, and coaches have to figure out who needs to go where. We don’t need the distractions.”
The start of Wednesday’s game was delayed roughly 30 minutes by rain and then called in the bottom of the second inning. Levi Clark homered in the first inning, and Ole Miss transfer pitcher Liam Doyle racked up five strikeouts in two innings, which included fanning the side in the second.
Chattanooga Lookouts director of public relations Dan Kopf said 3,752 tickets were sold for the contest, which likely won’t be the last for the Volunteers in this city.
“We would like to keep coming back here all the way through the new stadium and help break that in a little bit,” Vitello said.
Vitello’s staff for the 2025 season includes former Vols relief pitcher Kirby Connell, who made 125 career appearances and compiled a 10-2 record. Connell will have the title of a quality control coach, with his hiring having been in the works for a while.
“Going into my last year, I knew the draft wasn’t really going to work out in my favor,”
Connell said, “so I went up to Coach Vitello and said, ‘Hey, if there is an opportunity next year, I would love to coach and be a part of this program.’ I told him that this is where I wanted to start, and he offered me the job once the season ended.
“I don’t know what the role will be when the spring comes, but I’ve worked a little bit with the pitchers in the bullpen.”
When asked if will be strange going from teammate to coach, Connell said, “These guys are going to respect me a little more.”
The Vols played a pair of in-state exhibition games late last month against Western Kentucky in Nashville and against Troy in Jackson. They will conduct, weather permitting, a full Fall World Series game Friday night at Smokies Park in Kodak.
Vitello admits he still hasn’t been able to savor Tennessee’s first national championship in baseball, which was accomplished by the first Southeastern Conference program ever to win 60 games in a single season. That time could finally be coming soon, though that time could be very brief.
“When we get on the other side of this Fall World Series, I think there is finally going to be a chance to relish and reflect on things,” Vitello said. “Then we’ll have to ramp it back up when the kids get back to school in January.”
Vitello was asked Wednesday which Tennessee uniform he prefers most.
“The creams are pretty special, and I like whatever ones we win in,” Vitello said. “We are getting a bunch of new uniforms this year, and we are getting a cream one with a different vibe to it, so it will be interesting to see how that one is received.”
