Tony Vitello speaks about return to Vols, calls Sunday ‘a tremendous character win’
By Keith Farner
Published:
Tony Vitello returned from his suspension on Sunday as Tennessee baseball knocked off Florida thanks to 3-run ninth inning and a 2-run 11th inning to seal a 6-4 victory and sweep the weekend series.
True freshman designated hitter Christian Moore connected on a two-out single in the ninth inning before blasting a two-run homer in the 11th to put the Volunteers ahead for good.
“A tremendous character win by our guys and kind of bailed me out because I would have looked like a clown coming back and ruining things the way the team has been playing,” Vitello said after the game.
Vitello added that his recent absence showed that Tennessee is baseball is more than him, and more than any one player.
“We’ve got something,” he said.
The Vols seemingly reach a new historic milestone each week. The latest is, with the win, Tennessee became the first team in SEC history to start conference play 17-1. The only other team to start 16-1 was the 1951 Vols.
Tony Vitello: We want to be on an incline of improvement. No doubt we still have things to work on, but each week, we have had unique circumstances, and this group continues to respond.
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) April 24, 2022
Tony Vitello was back to coach the #Vols on Sunday.
“A tremendous character win by our guys and kind of bailed me out because I would have looked like a clown coming back and ruining things the way the team has been playing.”🤣 pic.twitter.com/xAVp5tgeFf
— Madison Blevins Hock (@Madison4Blevins) April 24, 2022
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
