HOOVER, Ala. — Tony Vitello was blunt when asked about his confidence level in Dean Curley amidst the sophomore’s defensive woes this season.
“I’m plenty good with it, ride or die for anything, on or off the field for that guy,” Vitello said following Tennessee’s 15-10 win over Alabama at the SEC Tournament. “Obviously, I owe a lot. I owe a lot. You can talk about wallet, you can talk about all kinds of other stuff.”
Curley is one of two returning position players starters from Tennessee’s 2024 national championship team. He started at shortstop for the Vols as a true freshman and was solid defensively while also coming through as a reliable hitter in the postseason.
But Curley has struggled defensively this season, committing a team-high 15 errors this season. He started the season as Tennessee’s starting shortstop and was mostly solid in non conference play, besides one ugly three error game.
When Gavin Kilen went down with a hamstring injury, Curley moved to third base with Ariel Antigua playing shortstop. Curley’s issues, mostly throwing, persisted at third base and the Vols moved Curley to second base when Kilen returned.
Curley had largely been good at second base but has had a few bad moments. Last weekend’s series at Arkansas was his worst defensively at second base, unable to make a few plays deemed hits and committing one costly error in the game three loss.
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In Curley’s defense, he has also made a handful of really nice plays since moving to second base. Vitello pointed that out in defense of his infielder postgame.
“I think where he’s really shown well there is range side to side,” Vitello said.
The issue again came to a head in Tennessee’s SEC Tournament win over Alabama. With the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth inning, Curley began his throwing motion before first baseman Andrew Fischer was set on the bag and yanked the throw well off of line.
Curley’s throwing error allowed two runs to score. When Richie Bonomolo Jr. drove in two runs with a double to left field, Alabama had turned a 5-1 deficit into a 6-5 lead in the fifth inning.
“That was a play that was kind of a tricky one as far as the hop you get,” Vitello said. “And I think because of the way he fielded it, he thought he needed to get rid of it right away and we had Fish deep. It was an odd play. Should it happen? No, but again, these dudes will make mistakes.”
Curley went on to have a pair of hits later in the game as Tennessee won a shootout against Alabama to advance to the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals against Texas.
Vitello defending Curley to the media is no surprise, especially for a player that’s done as much as Curley has for the Tennessee program. Time will tell whether Vitello keeps Curley as the starter at second base or moves him to the designated hitter spot.
Tennessee baseball is back in action Thursday afternoon when they’ll face Texas in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals at the Hoover Met. First pitch is at approximately 4 p.m. ET.
