What Tennessee coach Josh Elander said following the conclusion of fall baseball

It’s been a wild and wacky six weeks for the Tennessee baseball program over the course of the fall practice window that ended on Sunday with Game 3 of the Fall World Series.  

New Tennessee baseball coach Josh Elander spoke to the media shortly after the game to breakdown where his team is heading into the next phase of the offseason. Below is video and a written transcript of the Josh Elander press conference from Sunday evening.

On how he would assess how the fall went for them…

“It was interesting. It was a lot of fun, but it was good to see the guys. Especially. I thought (Taylor) Tracey, but (Bo) Rheudy was amazing today. Appy (Cameron Appenzeller) has been great all fall. I just think it’s a different look. When we set out last summer, we really wanted to kind of mix and match in the bullpen, have some different looks and just really excited. It’ll be a different look for sure, maybe not as much power as we’ve had in the past, but I think we’ll be kind of mix and match a little bit more than we have.”

On what’s he’s learned about the players over the past few weeks…

“I just told them I was excited about how professional they handled everything. There was a ton of distractions. Obviously, in this league, there’s so many things that go on, right. Outside the field, or with the fan experience and whatnot. And they just handled it like pros. They got their business done. We still got better each week, and just told them now just how they’ve handled this, which puts us in a good spot moving forward. Because really, if you look at SEC, learn this from V usually there’s a game that say, one team runs away with the other team runs away with the other, and then there’s a one run game after the fact, and so for our team to be able to be split down the middle and still have that real SEC vibe over this last three days gives us a lot of confidence moving forward into the spring.”

On how many guys are still in contention to be weekend starters…

“Yeah, I think we have some depth, man. I mean, again, I think we can have them throw in different roles. Obviously really excited, Evan Blanco standing over there, but there’s a lot of guys that can do it. But as we get Tegan (Kuhns) and these other guys back, I think we’ll have right and left and some guys that can pitch in different roles and different not only different roles, but just different looks. We have guys that throw big horizontal fastballs, guys more with vertical break. And again, we’ll be able to do some different things and kind of line it up a little differently than we have in the past.”

On who stuck out to him on Sunday in the lineup…

“Well, I really like this lineup. Again, it’s really hard to pick one guy, but Levi’s had a great fall, kind of making that jump from the freshman to sophomore year, and then obviously adding Henry Ford, we’re super excited about. But Reese (Chapman) has been just kind of that consistent guy where, again, just doing things that we have taught him over the years, and he’s almost another coach on the field, but I think we’ll have a lot of depth offensively. I love athleticism with Newstrom and Abernathy, what they bring to the table. And again, it’s just exciting, because there’s a lot of competition that these guys will be in a good kind of pole position moving forward. But I’m excited to see how they compete, because it’s going to be, it’s going to be fun to put those nine together, but there’s going to be some different options.”

On what Ariel Antigua has been able to do this fall to take the next step at the plate…

“He’s been great. We were laughing like the first 10 days. I don’t think he got out one time. I mean, just really driving the ball. He’s standing up a little bit more in his stance. At times last year, he would kind of charge the ball or lose posture over the plate. So again, just not trying to do too much. But really, it’s a mentality piece. He’s always hit. Hit a ton on the high school circuit. He’s a wizard between the lines on defense. That’s always going to be a separator for him. So, I think it’s more — instead of, ‘hey, hoping to be able to do this,’ to kind of knowing that he can, It’ll be interesting to see how he handles this kind of this period, and then into the spring as well.”

On what he likes about Reese Chapman in centerfield…

“I like Reese. A lot of things about Reese. I think he could play all three at a high level. We moved him around a little bit. If I’m not mistaken, knock on wood, he had a perfect fielding percentage last year. Was able to play catch a lot (and) had a ton of assists. I think he’s one — as now as the head coach having to write the lineup — he can play all three. You really just throw him out there and don’t lose any sleep. I do think, and it’s been like this for a long time here, we’re going to move those guys around a little bit. Just having the versatility obviously helps us day-to-day, but also helps our players for the professional baseball side at the next level.”

On if anybody proved they can play a certain position this fall..

“That’s an everyday thing. You got to prove it right? We’ve always taken versatility, making sure guys are able to do different things. It’s not like, ‘hey, you just show up and you kind of see where you’re going that day.’ There’s always some sort of conversation piece and a plan to make sure that on the development side, we’re not just throwing darts at the wall and hoping you take this many ground balls. On the versatility side, Henry (Ford) is one that has played all — played third, played first, played right field. So again, there’s a lot of guys in this lineup that can kind of move around that we feel the same about. And it’s definitely exciting.”

On coaching alongside Chuck Jeroloman…

“It’s pretty cool. I mean, he’s family to me. Always has been. We’ve been in touch at least once a week for the last, I mean, shoot, 10-15, years now. So, I learned so much from him, just in the cage setting in here (and) stuff I stole from him over the years. So, it’s kind of funny. We really just haven’t skipped a beat. When we were having the conversations about him coming up here to coach, we really didn’t even need to get into baseball stuff that much as wild as that may sound, because we talk about baseball all the time. We have for years, so the verbiage and the lingo that we use, I think that’s consistent across what we’ll do with our offense. And again, he’s just got a tremendous feel — where he’s not going to come in and try to put his stamp on everything right away. It was cool. He just kind of sat down in centerfield this week and almost approached it like a scout. Just kind of eval and then we’ll go over those notes. I think just he’s going to make our program better in so many ways, but just the comfort level of looking out there and knowing somebody I’ve got history with, I can trust. He’s really, really good at his job. It’s a very comforting feeling.”

On him saying multiple times the team handled the Tony Vitello situation very professionally, if that gives him the confidence the team’s leadership will be what it needs to be during the season…

“100%. I think you go hats off to Henry Ford, and (Evan) Blanco has been an amazing — done a great job with that. I mean, I think our transfers have really integrated into the program as well, but Reese Chapman, Levi Clark, just doing things the right way. And, you know, the whole thing is control what you can control. We really stay away from the cliches, but there’s sometimes you have to really just kind of hunker down and be with the guys in the building, and what is your next task, and how do we execute? I know our players will joke about it at times, but we really had a chance to be tested and live that out over the next few weeks. And I’m just proud of how they finished the fall at a high level, and now we got a couple weeks where we can work on some more individualized things before we get into the holidays.”

On how Vols redshirt sophomore catcher Stone Lawless is a different player this fall…

“He’s always been capable. I think he’s got a chance to be one of the better catchers in the SEC. He’s throwing better than he has. I mean, he had surgery in high school where the arm took a little bit longer to bounce back. He comes from a tremendous family like makeup, one of the best kids I’ve ever been around. But leadership, he’s caught in super regionals, he’s caught in SEC games. I think again, just what he brings off the field is, in a crazy way, more valuable than what he does on the field. But I think this year, is the way he receives and the way he throws a baseball and just takes care of the pitching staff. That’s a comforting thing for everybody, not only the pitchers, but Frank (Anderson) and the rest of us as well. And there’s some good competition back there. But again, definitely excited about Stone and those guys.”

On what the last few weeks have been like for him…

“Well, chaos is one. It’s just been — if I had to put one word stamp, it’s just grateful. I love this place. I’m thankful to be here. We have real rooted relationships with the players in the building and their families. So again, just another day up here is something that we don’t take for granted, but also a continued sense of urgency. Like, this is still the SEC. Like, once those lights come back on, when we get this stadium done and the electricity locked back in, it’s the SEC, so it’s time to compete. So making sure we have that, but also checking the boxes along the way to make sure we’re ready for the challenges ahead.”

On how to show that Tennessee baseball hasn’t taken a step back after Tony Vitello left…

“What Tony did, I mean, it’s amazing. I think that’s non debatable. I’m not standing here if I never had any crossover with Tony V, so always grateful for him. But this program will always be about the players and the players within it, and them being able to play their way (whether) they play aggressive, and have some freedom to kind of go about their day and all that. So again, I think as long as we take care of the guys in the building, make sure they have some sort of consistency moving forward, it’ll always be about the players around here.”