Tony Vitello, Tennessee baseball reacts to making the College World Series finals
Billy Amick (11) celebrates a double during a College World Series game against Florida State at Charles Schwab Field. Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
Tennessee baseball defeated Florida State, 7-2, on Wednesday to advance to the College World Series finals.
Zander Sechrist threw a gem to lead the Vols to their first finals appearance since 1951, and just the second in program history.
Here’s what head coach Tony Vitello and the Vols had to say about making the College World Series finals.
Cal Stark
“It feels great, you know, it’s something that, something cool to, to hear, but, you know, job’s not done. You know, we’ve played three really good games so far, so we need to keep that rolling.
“I get to say I get to play for the hometown Vols or whatnot. I love wearing the orange, so being able to wear it for at least two more games is going to be awesome.”
Nate Snead
“I think it’s a dream come true and I feel like we put a lot of hard work into it and I think we’ve come a long way, so we deserve it.”
Christian Moore
“It’s a surreal moment. Definitely trying to still soak it all in and figure out who we’re going to play and everything. But I definitely want to just take it in with the team and enjoy it with the guys.”
“It’s awesome to be able to experience this and the team that we’re doing it with — it’s awesome and it’s a lot of, a lot of guys with determination to win and for us to be able to do this and be the point where we’re at. I’m speechless.”
“It’s kind of hard. There’s a lot of hustle and bustle, like I said, after the game. And then also you want to manage it as well as you can.
“What’s interesting, the position we put ourselves in, Kirby, Snead, Combs and there’s others, but those have been — our main three guys are fresh as a daisy — if you’re watching tombstone.
And Zander is just throwing the heck out of it and got a really low pitch count.
“Just kind of want to always make sure I’m doing my part in putting these guys in a good position to succeed. But Zander wouldn’t let you take the ball out of his hand today. We decided to utilize those guys.
That’s where my head’s at, I guess. It’s not a great answer. But it is cool to see a cultivation of just like Burke’s development and Kirby being a mainstay of this program and Zander, his contribution.
“We always say before something happens, something happens. There’s been a lot of build-up into the successes we’ve had this year and the failures, too, to be honest with you.
And it’s been fun to be a part of. As far as my emotions, I’m kind of at the point where I’m just following these guys. There are certain tasks I have to do, and there’s direction I give them, and they’ll listen. But kind of following them right now. Makes it nice”
