Resilient Vols kept on working this season, despite hardships along the way

Sometimes, we as sports fans demand too much of our favorite teams. When that team gives you such a model of consistency year-over-year with tons of postseason success, it’s hard not to just assume the best every time out.

Tony Vitello had a good quote last weekend during the Knoxville Regional about expecting consistency and not dominance. It’s hard to win at this level every single season in this league – the Southeastern Conference – no matter what guys like Danny Kanell try to make people believe.

“Think where we fell short was in some series against the best teams in the country,” Tony Vitello said on Sunday. “I hope they take pride in what they did this year and kind of what they put together. You should have fun, and you should make the workplace a good place. You’re going to be a teammate a lot longer than you’re going to be a player. But also, you should do some things out on the field.”

This team was frustrating to watch at times. This team was aggravating with the constant mistakes they had a hard time fixing. This team also had loads of talent and was a blast to watch for most of the season. At the end of the day, despite the faults, Tennessee was once again back in super regional play to begin the month of June. Talk about a model of consistency.   

“If we were to fall short of a category or something like that, or you [reporter] mentioned, basically Sunday games [are] what you referred to, we didn’t score enough runs,” the coach said. “We were a little short of having a third starter and having a named closer and a couple other things. We had good arms. Not crying about that. We got some guys that made some money for themselves this year.”

These Vols, who lost five-straight series to end the regular season, bounced back with a great showing in Hoover for the conference tournament. They hosted an NCAA Regional and showed resiliency by taking a Game 7 on its own turf.

The team improved, evolved and ended up two wins away from the Greatest Show on Dirt. Things simply weren’t as bad as they felt at times as this team was stuffed with talent. It is also a team that is going to look different next season.

No more Andrew Fischer, Gavin Kilen and Dean Curley in the infield. No more Hunter Ensley in the outfield. We will see about Reese Chapman and Dalton Bargo. Cannon Peebels moves on from behind the plate.

“How grateful I am for the five years I put in here, and all the hard work that was put in for five straight years with I guess now hundreds of different teammates, obviously,” Hunter Ensley said postgame. “But just super grateful for for the coaches and the support staff and all my teammates and obviously the fans and the whole state of Tennessee, how much support they’ve given us.”

Liam Doyle is about to be a top-five pick in the Major League Baseball Draft. Marcus Phillips will be drafted. So will bullpen arms AJ Russell, Nate Snead, Tanner Franklin and Brandon Arvidson.

That’s college athletics. There’s always plenty of turnover. Vitello and staff must replace loads of talent set to leave this program, but that said talent made the 2025 season a fun one deep into the postseason yet again.

“How much I love and how much I’m going to miss these guys, and you miss playing with them,” AJ Russell said of what his thoughts were after the game. “And miss competing with them and miss just hanging out within the locker room or doing things on daily basis. For me, it was a lot of fun to come through every day and just compete with these guys.”

With the loss, the Vols (46-19) season comes to an end. It’s the first time Tennessee hasn’t advanced on to the College World Series in three seasons. Once again, Tennessee fans were spoiled to watch some talented baseball players this season.