{"id":47467,"date":"2024-04-13T03:56:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-13T08:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=47467"},"modified":"2024-04-13T03:56:18","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T08:56:18","slug":"everything-tony-vitello-said-on-a-game-one-win-over-lsu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/everything-tony-vitello-said-on-a-game-one-win-over-lsu\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything Tony Vitello said on a game one win over LSU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello met with members of the local media Friday night following his team\u2019s 6-3 win over LSU<\/a> to answer questions on the contest. <\/p>\n

Below is a written transcript of the Tony Vitello postgame press conference<\/a>. <\/p>\n

On the difference with AJ Causey tonight\u2026.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI hate to oversimplify it but he\u2019s the same guy. Same stuff with a little better execution. This is the SEC and they are going to get you sometimes. Hopefully you can get them more times than not. I think maybe a little more belief led to a little more execution or a little more simplification \u2013 also let to a little more execution. He was great for us. I don\u2019t know that we had one specific script, but we were willing to kind of just go inning by inning. Both guys that started the game for us made it very difficult to take the ball away from them \u2013 which is a good thing.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

On when he knew that Billy Amick would play\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was two weeks, give or take. That was what was suggested. No disrespect to Tuesday\u2019s opponent or anything but we are kind of in the midst of league play. It was really all about where we were at with the Auburn series, and it just didn\u2019t make sense. I think he could\u2019ve. I know he was reeling people he wants to be out there and he\u2019s kind of got that attitude. He is a tough kid, let\u2019s put it that way. It just didn\u2019t seem to make sense on the road there, so we felt good about him playing but didn\u2019t want to come forward and speak for him. I think he\u2019s got a long career ahead of him, and obviously we have some season left, but the sooner we get that guy back the better. He should why.\u201d<\/p>\n

On decision to start Chris Stamos\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was great. We wanted to finish Tuesday\u2019s game and he was actually hot but the situation just didn\u2019t come up. Wednesday, we started from scratch with some conversations. We wanted to wait until Thursday was over with. A couple of guys threw off the mound and continued to have conversations to see where everyone was at. Had an idea that was what we were going to do and finalized it this morning. Just felt like he\u2019s got experience but also, [AJ] Causey has been a great teammate for us and has led the way. He was in need of a great teammate to kind of relieve a little stress for him. There\u2019s not a better teammate here. There\u2019s some irony to him pitching in this game. Long story short, he was the last guy we added to this roster. When it was finalized \u2013 I just kept saying from my conversations with him on the phone \u2013 I\u2019m just so happy he\u2019s a part of it. I don\u2019t know how he\u2019s been with you guys [reporters] and if he\u2019s been as creative as those other idiot lefties we have. He\u2019s just an awesome dude. I don\u2019t know what he\u2019s going to do and hopefully someone gives him a pro opportunity, but it\u2019s not going to matter. He\u2019s going to be successful in life. I know he\u2019s still got ties to Cal, but we\u2019ll be wanting him to come back here a lot because he\u2019s a great dude. I think he was a great teammate tonight more than anything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On having conversations with a guy on starting or coming out of bullpen and how that affects their confidence<\/em><\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s case by case. And with him, we knew it when we sat down. His family is always upbeat and positive, and he carries the torch in that category, so with him specifically, he\u2019s just going to line up and walk this way or line up and run this way. He\u2019s going to do whatever you ask. But I think there is a little bit of an assurance there of\u2026 when you start a weekend, you\u2019re kind of looking at how many pitches you need to finish a three-game series. And you want this guy to be available for this, and I think one thing he needed to be reminded of is \u2018Regardless of when you do it, if we\u2019re going to be good, we need you to throw 70-75 pitches for us in a weekend.\u2019 And I think he got close to 100 because he was really good tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the simplification of throwing elite pitch after elite pitch for a pitcher<\/em><\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to understand what\u2019s in front of you, and it\u2019s usually just that pitch. And I think you saw it tonight \u2013 it was crazy. A little bit sloppier than I think both sides wanted at times, and not the cleanest finish. But again, it\u2019s our league, they\u2019re college players, they\u2019re 19 or 20, some of them. There\u2019s going to be crazy stuff that pops up, so you have to center yourself and focus on \u2018What is my actual task?\u2019 And then whether you are [AJ] Causey or Kirby [Connell] or [Chris] Stamos, and whoever else it could be, if that\u2019s the task and you\u2019re the guy out there, that means everybody that is wearing this (a Tennessee) uniform, you\u2019re representing them. So you\u2019re probably worthy of being the guy to attack that task. So maybe a little bit of self assurance and also a simplification of knowing what you have to go do.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the importance of AJ Causey getting a confidence boost by having success in a tight spot\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it brings him back to center because he\u2019s worked so hard and he\u2019s got really good stuff. Our guys have told us that, who have had to hit off him. It\u2019s not an easy look as a hitter but he got kind of away from being at center or kind of being in neutral. Whatever you want to call it because some things spiral on him in the wrong direction and I think you need a little bit of\u2014 it\u2019s one thing for me. I can\u2019t just call him in the office and say, \u2018hey self assurance\u2019 and pat him on the back. You have to get some feedback from the game so I think it was big for our team for him to do what he did. I think it\u2019ll bring him back to center and realize that it is a great league. It\u2019s a really talented roster over there and whenever he throws again he\u2019s going to be against another talented roster but he is talented too and you hook it up and find out who is better and if it wasn\u2019t you then lace up the bootstraps a little tighter I guess and if you do get them realize it\u2019s because you can do it and he\u2019s fully capable of being able to do anything we ask of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

On how important Billy Amick\u2019s home run was for his confidence in his first game back\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurt my heart because I was calling him Coach Billy. He was sitting right next (to me). So it was depressing for me in a way as he returned to player status. He was fun to have in the dugout. He really approached it the right way and kept guys lose in the dugout and was a good communicator and it was almost eerie or weird how seamless of a fit he is for coming in as a transfer. But for him I think we gave him a couple live pitches. Derek Schaefer did a good job of throwing to him. He faced him twice and when he got done he said, \u2018it looks like it always has\u2019 meaning just because he took a couple weeks off it\u2019s not a different game or anything different. While the home run was an awesome welcome back and he enjoyed it, it was kind of a typical night for him. He made a nice defensive play for us, I think. Could have made another but he was playing ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Causey and Kirby Connell each getting out of bases loaded jams\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was almost like we were going to let Stam(os) take the baton and for the record he\u2019s not related to John Stamos. I think he is equally as good looking, but he\u2019s going to take the baton from Causey and start the game and then it kind of led in to those two guys handing it off and they\u2019re good players. Otherwise they wouldn\u2019t be out there but I hate to pump someone\u2019s tires but that\u2019s a pretty good trio of guys and you guys work hard at watching our scrimmages and being around our kids. If you\u2019re going to trust a guy, Causey is a pretty good one. Then if you\u2019re going to trust a guy to hand it off, we have\u2014 if our new women\u2019s basketball coach is trusting Kirby (Connell) to catch her than certainly we can trust him to be out in that situation.<\/p>\n

That was pretty cool and it only, I won\u2019t say gets better from here\u2014 maybe in the baseball category\u2014 but with Todd (Helton) throwing out the first pitch tomorrow that will be equally as exciting I should say.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Everything Tony Vitello said on a game one win over LSU<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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