New chapter begins
Vitello’s Vols begin season Friday with No. 2 ranking
Tennessee’s 2022 baseball season was the most memorable in program history, as Tony Vitello’s Volunteers won a school-record 57 games, ascended to the top of the national rankings for the first time and swept through both the Southeastern Conference’s regular season and tournament.
It’s also had quite the residual effect, as the Vols have their highest preseason ranking ever — No. 2 — entering Friday night’s opener against Arizona in the MLB Desert Invitational in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale. The game will be televised at 8 Eastern by the MLB Network.
“This team has a different story to write than other teams across the country and in particular on this campus,” Vitello said in a recent news conference. “We’re different from last year and the year before. I think we have a little more open competition from a position player standpoint.
“I know we said that last year, but some guys went out there and just took ownership of those spots. When we go to Arizona, you’re probably going to see three different lineups in the outfield.”
Five different voting entities have the Vols No. 2 behind LSU, which actually marks their first preseason top-10 standing since Baseball America pegged them No. 9 in 2006.
Normally a team having to replace eight starters in the lineup would be in for a massive rebuilding chore, but Tennessee is offsetting that by returning its stellar rotation of junior Chase Dollander and sophomores Chase Burns and Drew Beam. That trio combined for a 26-3 record last year, tallying 273 strikeouts while allowing 59 walks.
Dollander went 10-0 with a 2.39 earned run average and allowed opponents to hit just .175, and the three comprised half of Collegiate Baseball’s six starting spots on its preseason All-America team.
“The guys who are back are trying to lead the new guys in the best way possible,” Dollander said. “The new guys are going to be pretty good for us. I don’t think there’s any drop-off, to be honest with you.”
Tennessee’s unquestioned leader from an experience standpoint is fifth-year senior pitcher Camden Sewell, who graduated last May but is using the NCAA’s extra year stemming from the coronavirus outbreak in 2020. The 6-foot-4, 175-pound former Cleveland High standout has compiled a 15-3 record and a 2.53 ERA in 70 career appearances that includes 10 starts, with the most notable of those transpiring in last season’s defeat of Florida in the SEC tournament championship.
Sewell has been in the program since Vitello’s second year, with the two having enjoyed a 162-50 ride that would contain four NCAA tournament trips had the 2020 season not been canceled when the Vols were 15-2 and ranked No. 20.
“I wish the Camden Sewell of now could watch a videotape of Camden Sewell in the dorm and out on the field as a freshman,” Vitello said. “It’s almost a different human being. He’s always been a great player and a great teammate, but it’s almost where you feel like including him in some of the coaching staff meetings — some of them, but not all.”
With the likes of Jordan Beck and Drew Gilbert having begun last year playing in Knoxville and ending in the Single-A professional ranks, Vitello’s overhaul included arrivals from the transfer portal such as Maui Ahuna (Kansas), Griffin Merritt (Cincinnati) and Zane Denton (Alabama) to accompany the returning likes of Blake Burke, Jared Dickey and Christian Moore.
Ahuna is the most celebrated of the newcomers, with last year’s Big 12 first-team shortstop having averaged .357 at the plate and having compiled 73 RBIs and 21 steals with the Jayhawks during his two seasons.
Tennessee’s 57-9 team from a year ago contained a 25-5 romp through SEC play and wins over Vanderbilt, LSU, Kentucky and Florida by a combined 35-10 in the league tournament. The Vols were the overwhelming No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time but failed to make a repeat trip to the College World Series.
The Vols led Notre Dame 3-1 after six innings in the third and deciding game of the Super Regional at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, but the Irish scored three runs in the seventh and three in the eighth to halt Tennessee’s riveting run.
“We obviously have a chip on our shoulder,” Dollander said. “We think about it, because it obviously left a bad taste in our mouth when that happened, but it’s something we can’t focus too much on. We have a new season ahead of us.”
Tennessee’s game Saturday night against Grand Canyon will also be televised by MLB Network, and 12 of its 30 SEC games in upcoming weeks will be on either ESPN2, ESPNU or the SEC Network. The Vols will conduct their home opener next Tuesday afternoon against Alabama A&M.