Tennessee baseball opened up its weekend series with an 8-2 win over Kentucky on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville.
Following the game, Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello discussed strong performances for Dean Curley and Cannon Peebles and much more. Here’s everything Vitello said.
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On if he enjoyed the clean nature of the game
“It was good. I mean, there were parts of it that went a little rocky at times, but that’s the nature of the game. And yeah, I think what made it clean was the way that Tanner Franklin came and threw the ball after Liam. I mean, you could have ran Liam back out there for sure. I mean, the guy’s been great for us. We don’t wanna run him into the ground, but you want to win the game too. And the offense showed that they’re capable over there. They’re capable in a bunch of different ways. But I think that was a big thing there where a guy doesn’t get credit for a save or whatever, but he probably threw the ball as well as he has all year. And I know Houston (vs. Oklahoma State) was really good, but that was a key component there.
And then Ariel did his thing at shortstop to help him out. Those two guys must be better friends than I even realized. And (a) cool part of the night is Ariel coming to the plate and the crowd going nuts for him after he made the first play. And then they were equally excited about the second two plays. And it’s kind of, you know I’m from St. Louis, cheer for the Cubs because of my dad. But St. Louis is a very good baseball town. They know the game. They cheer for the game and I don’t know what went on in downtown tonight (at the Smokies), but we had a huge crowd, rowdy crowd. I bet they had another huge crowd. It’s a good sign for this city that it’s a true baseball community and to fill both those stadiums in one night and probably, like I said, have good crowds and good baseball. Says a lot about the direction of Knoxville and baseball.”
On what’s worked well for Tanner Franklin his last few outing
“I think he’s got great stuff. You get into a rhythm where you kind of know your role and then pitch counts start getting built up and it’s no longer like, hey, let’s split the game between him and Liam. And he gets thrown into different stuff and then gets thrown into our league, which is different. I mean it is just baseball, but it is SEC play and sometimes guys got to, you know, kinda sniff it out a little bit, what’s going on here? And so I think he’s getting more comfortable with the fact that we could use him in a variety of roles, knowing what the league looks like. Road games, home games. And he’s a talented kid, but he also made some adjustments too with his pitch grips and it showed tonight.”
On if Dean Curley has changed his approach or if his recent success is just water finding its level
“He looked like a determined guy tonight, to me. But no, and it’s the same. I’m sure someone will ask about Cannon or say something about Cannon or you’ll will write about it. Dean, Cannon— Gavin was incredible last weekend. His last at-bat tonight didn’t work out the way we wanted. It’s baseball and there’s gonna be ups-and-downs and if you just prepare the right way every day— which speaking of prepare, Cannon over does it. But if you prepare and then you go out there and compete, all that stuff will end up in the right spot. That’s for you guys to write about and mom and dad to get a little too excited and a little too upset. That’s the nature of the game, which is great because they love their kids or our fans love wins, but baseball’s a game where you got to just keep forging ahead and that stuff will kind of sort itself out the way it should.”
On what it says about Cannon Peebles to keep forging ahead after a rough start
“I think that he’s matured a lot, and I think he’s kind of starting to find his ideal personality. I think life was simpler freshman year. It always is for freshmen, I mean, you keep it simple, you’re just trying to get on the field. He wasn’t required to catch as much as he is [now], and he’s taken on a huge responsibility for us defensively and done a really good job and is yet trying to juggle, ‘How do we use this weapon of a switch-hitter that has power from both sides of the plate and can battle with two strikes like he did in the national championship series last year?’
“So I think he’s finding his way and you know, T-Frank (Tanner Franklin) and him, those guys are juniors that’ll play pro ball and stuff like that, but they are still young. And so, you want to have high standards, but you also want to leave room for guys to kind of navigate their way through the waters and find the best version of themselves.”
On if it’s tough to coach Cannon to not think too much
“I think, now he was writing in the journal the other day and Frank (Anderson) said, ‘Order me a cheeseburger while you’re at it,’ which I don’t think was very friendly. But, yeah, all these kids need reminders to just keep it simple. A few guys are really good at doing that and maybe don’t need it as often. But I think all that stuff’s fine, it’s the emotional deal. It’s so important to them. I wasn’t very skilled, but I was like that, and it’ll squeeze you and won’t allow you to be the best version of yourself.
“So Manny (Marin) and Ariel (Antigua), Chris Newstrom, we got some guys that are uniquely in love with playing this game, which is a huge positive. But when you’re like Ariel out there and you’re just glad you got put in the game and you’re on the field and you just play ball, that’s the best version of yourself. Again, when those emotions get burning a little too bright or overwhelm you, it’s not a good thing. So, I think it’s more on the emotional side than it is any of his – they all got quirks. They’re baseball players.”
On what adjustments he saw Liam Doyle make as the game progressed, as it looked like he had to pitch more than throw
“That’s it. I think learning to pitch. Their leadoff hitter is really aggressive, and he did a good job of doing what he had to do with two strikes. But then you get to a guy that is really experienced – I did not expect him to be back this year in (Devin) Burkes – just runs into the ball. He’s strong enough to get it out of the park, and from that point on, Liam just kind of gathered himself and went to work. And as he got deeper into the game, he did, like you mentioned, have to pitch a little more. I think we see a little more of that each week of just some versatility, if that’s the right word, out of Liam.
“He’s growing up and blossoming in front of everybody. Unfortunately, when he is at his very best, he’ll be with whatever big league team, but it’s good that he’s evolving the way that he is because we need him. And it’s fun to watch, that’s for sure. But also, it’s to his benefit.”
On Liam Doyle’s growth in terms of controlling his emotions throughout his outings
“Yeah, that was huge. I mean, I would have liked him (to) control — nowadays you can’t do anything without someone snapping a picture. But his last out, you know, he had to celebrate. There ain’t anybody playing college baseball right now that’s not guilty of over celebrating, but could go for some of the not doing that to finish the game, but that inning you’re talking about was incredible. Because, again, the guy (Devin Burkes) came up that has as much experience as anybody on their team. I think he’s a really good competitor. Hits a two-run homer in the first and Liam finished getting out of that jam by throwing some incredible pitches to him. But he did some other things in that inning too, just to navigate, which was one of the more difficult innings overall that he’s had really the entire year.
“So I think that combo of being intense, like he is, because that’s not going anywhere, but being kind of focused on what he’s trying to do, like he did in Oxford, I think that kind of served him in that moment right there. So it was a huge part of the game. It was the biggest part of the game defensively.”
On how important Tennessee right fielder Reese Chapman’s two-run single with two outs was in the first inning to give the Vols the lead
“So that was the biggest part of the game defensively. And then Reese, you know, again, everyone takes snapshots or Twitter posts, so Cannon (Peebles) hit a homer from both sides. Dean (Curley) smashes one to the biggest part of the park when the winds knocked a few others down.
“But it was just a bleeding single that Reese Chapman hit. A guy who’s learned to compete way better with two strikes. The most valuable moment offensively in the game was him doing that, especially, you go down 2-0. Such a weird start to the game. You got bases loaded and you had that reset in there. I mean, I think everyone here knows I’m not in it to make friends with umpires, but Hank’s (Himmanen) a really good dude, so that was unfortunate to see. He’s been around forever, and he takes his job serious, but doesn’t take himself too serious. So to see that was unfortunate, but you know, if we come out of that with nothing, it’s a little frustrating. And we got the one run, which was good, but what was way better was Reese getting that single with two strikes, just putting the ball in play.”
On the biggest area of growth he’s seen from Chapman this season
“Presence. Just very comfortable in his own skin, very relaxed throughout the — there’s no ancieness, even just in the dugout in between innings or anything like that. So anything that would go under the umbrella of presence, I think, has been really good.
“And he works with intent. Maybe not as many reps as some guys, but the intent in his reps has been as good as anyone for three straight years on our campus. And so the skill is there, and the work has been put in, but you got to let it work for you. And I think he’s done that in the past, but he’s doing it way more often. It really just in general, the presence is where it needs to be this year, which has been great.”
