Tennessee RHP Drew Beam explains what makes Tony Vitello a great coach
Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello has quite the resumé after the last couple of years. Thanks to the Vols' 5-0 win against Southern Mississippi on Monday night, which punched Tennessee's ticket for Omaha, Vitello now has two College World Series appearances on his resumé to go along with an SEC Tournament championship. Suffice it […]
Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello has quite the resumé after the last couple of years.
Thanks to the Vols' 5-0 win against Southern Mississippi on Monday night, which punched Tennessee's ticket for Omaha, Vitello now has two College World Series appearances on his resumé to go along with an SEC Tournament championship.
Suffice it to say, Vitello is one of the elite coaches in college baseball right now.
Vols right-handed pitcher Drew Beam, who got the win on Monday night/Tuesday morning after throwing six shutout innings against Southern Miss, was asked after Tennessee's Super Regional win what makes Vitello such a great coach.
"He is more than a coach for us," said Beam. "He is a friend to us. He is an adult figure to us. He is always there for us, always having fun with us. You can talk to him about anything. He creates a good atmosphere to be in. That is what guys love to come to Tennessee and play in."
"So just having him around the field and having him cutting it up with us, it makes it fun to play," added Beam. "There is a reason we all play baseball. We had fun playing it when we were little. We just love to play it. Playing for a coach who loves it just as much as you do makes it that much more enjoyable.”
Vols third baseman Zane Denton, an Alabama transfer who's had a stellar postseason, echoed Beam's sentiments early Tuesday morning.
“He has been awesome," said Denton. "He is one of the reasons I came here. I wanted to play for him after playing against him last year and talking to a bunch of the guys about how he teaches us life lessons along with the baseball. But he also gives us a lot of freedom to take ownership of our team and do what we want to.”
Vitello has truly built something special on Rocky Top. And it's not something that just looks pretty on the surface — the results are special, too.
Tennessee's quest to be the last team standing in Omaha will get underway on Saturday night with a 7:00 PM ET showdown against LSU.
Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
