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Tony Gwynn Classic Mega-Notebook
ANALYSIS Aaron Fitt - February 26, 2017
SAN DIEGO Tennessee knew it would find out a lot about its young team right out of the gate this spring. The Volunteers opened their season with an 11-day road trip that began with a series win at Memphis, then continued with a week in Southern California. Tennessee beat Loyola Marymount 8-4 on Wednesday, then played three games in two days at the Tony Gwynn Classic in San Diego. And they aced that test, scoring 30 runs in three victories against Seton Hall, San Diego State and UC Irvine.
Like I said to the guys when we got out there to left field (after beating UC Irvine 10-9 on Saturday), its been a great two weeks, 11 days, Tennessee coach Dave Serrano said. We said that when we took this venture that this was an opportunity for this team to come together and grow up, weve got a lot of new faces, some young faces, good players. And it worked out perfectly. We get some wins, we got a lot of guys some work, get some freshmen some experience, and had a lot of success behind it. Well go home, we dont play until next weekend at home, and I think were gonna go home a pretty confident bunch, which has probably been lacking in this program a long, long time.
Its too early to guarantee that the Vols will break through and get back to regionals for the first time since 2005 the SEC schedule is a meat-grinder, and Tennessee has struggled in the league for more than a decade. But after watching the Vols a couple of times this weekend, Im ready to buy in. This is a really good, versatile lineup filled with exciting young talent and some quality veterans, and the pitching staff is deeper than it has been in a long time. Tennessee is going to be a real contender in the SEC count on it.
Through its 6-1 start, the Vols are hitting .341 as a team and averaging more than eight runs per game. And its not like theyre beating up on overmatched competition theyve faced a lot of quality pitching during these first two weeks, and they have made a lot of good arms look bad. Ive been impressed with the way Tennessee has grinded out at-bats and deployed a mature middle-away approach up and down the lineup. That is by design.
We made a commitment, and I credit my assistant coaches we got cut up last Saturday at Memphis, a lefthander named (Drew) Crosby really tied us up a little bit, Serrano said. We made a commitment after that in batting practice, we werent gonna just take batting practice to just look good and hit balls as hard as we can, there was going to be a method to our madness and a purpose to it. You can coach and bring things to the table, theyve got to buy into it. And they bought into it, and I think thats whats allowing us to hit balls the other way and become tough outs for pitchers.
Tennessees outstanding group of freshmen has infused this lineup with some real high-end talent and a little young swagger. When the Vols fell behind 5-1 after two innings Saturday against Irvine, there wasnt even an iota of panic emanating from the boys in orange. Sitting right above their dugout shooting some photos, I could tell the mood amongst the Volunteers was still loose and confident. And sure enough, they strung together a five-run rally in the third to take the lead, and every time Irvine counter-punched in this wild seesaw affair, Tennessee took the blow and fought right back.
I believe they have (shown some swagger). I feel it in the dugout, Serrano said. We go down 4-0 early, but there was no panic at all. I think we have confidence in what we can do offensively.
Three freshmen did much of the heavy lifting Saturday, as Justin Ammons went 4-for-4 with three runs, two RBIs, three doubles and a triple; Pete Derkay went 4-for-4 with a run and an RBI; and Andre Lipcius went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. All three of them have played all seven games, and all three are hitting .391 or better, while veterans Jeff Moberg (.464), Jordan Rodgers (.406), Reggie Southall (.200) and juco transfer Dom Thornton (.421) have also swung hot bats.
Ammons was almost absurdly dynamic on Sunday. The freshman left fielder is a live-bodied athlete with good speed, a short lefthanded stroke and a natural feel for his barrel. His approach was so impressive against UCI all three of his doubles went to the opposite field, and he also showed the ability to turn on the ball with authority when he ripped a triple off the right-center wall. He also had an opposite-field double down the left-field line Friday against Seton Hall, though he said he was disappointed in his performance Friday night against San Diego State, when he went 1-for-4.
Im just trying to let the ball travel, just doing what I know how to do. Had a rough night last night; another day, got back up and played the way I know how to, Ammons said. (I try to) just go the other way because most righties on lefties wont try to throw inside, so theyre going to put it on the outside of the plate, just got to hit it the other way.
Serrano compares Ammons to former Pittsburgh Pirate Al Oliver because of his sweet lefthanded swing and athleticism. I came up with my own comparison for Derkay, the burly 5-foot-11, 210-pound corner infielder/catcher: former Arizona State star Brett Wallace, whose bat made him a first-round pick and carried him to the big leagues. Derkay isnt as thick as Wallace, but he has a similar body type and similarly deceptive athleticism. Mostly, though, Derkay shares Wallaces very disciplined approach at the plate, his advanced barrel awareness and his lefthanded power potential. Derkay hit the ball hard to all parts of the field in the two Tennessee games I saw, tripling into the right-center gap and doubling down the left-field line against Seton Hall, then singling four times Saturday two to right field, one to center and one through the left side. He is one tough out.
And Lipcius, another physical corner bat, showed a middle-away approach like Ammons. He had four hits in the two games I saw, and all of them were middle-away, including a double off the right-field wall Saturday. He also drew three walks in those two games. These freshmen are unusually disciplined for their age.
They came in as a very confident group, Serrano said of his freshmen. They came in to summer school in July, and you could tell the bond between those guys. Thats the reason why we got a lot of those guys to campus. Because they bonded together when we started this class three years ago, and they said, Were going to school together. And we want to make Tennessee good again.
Two other promising freshmen came out of the bullpen after starter Will Neely was chased in the third inning. Neely allowed just one hit over six innings last week, and its easy to see why the undersized righty would be tough when hes on his game, because he can really spin the breaking ball and has some life on his 86-89 fastball from a three-quarters slot. But he struggled with his command against the Anteaters, so Tennessee went to strapping freshman righty Zach Linginfelter and then to fellow freshman righty Garrett Stallings to take it the rest of the way. Linginfelter started Wednesday at LMU and didnt have his best stuff or command, but he still showed a lot of talent, working at 89-92 with good arm-side run and flashing a quality slider at 80-82, though it was inconsistent.
Stallings worked the final four innings to earn his first collegiate win, allowing two runs (one earned). Hes a polished bulldog whose calling cards are his ability to spot up with his 86-88 fastball from a three-quarters slot and mix in an excellent 77 mph changeup and a nice sweeping slider at 80-82. The Volunteers are excited about the future of both of their freshmen, and its easy to see why.
Stallings is my boy, Ammons said. In the summer I called him Picasso because he likes to paint, paint the black. Him and Lingo did a great job today.
Give Irvine credit for turning in a lot of tough at-bats and racking up 12 hits and nine runs, but give Stallings credit for stanching the bleeding, too.
Obviously as the guy who handles pitching, Id have liked that to have been a little bit better, Serrano said. But you got to see a little glimpse of Garrett Stallings there at the end, hes going to be a very good college pitcher. He already is, and hes a true freshman. Zach Linginfelter, who threw Wednesday, we really questioned bringing him back but we were light, and Lingos gonna have a great career too.
So just a lot of good things. Lot of little things we did this week and last weekend, just real proud of our guys.
I only included the Tennessee information.....and as a disclaimer, the D1 Baseball subscription is well worth the cost and is highly recommended. They also have an app for your phone, its $7.99 and gives updated scores by Top 25 and Conference, also highly recommended.
.
ANALYSIS Aaron Fitt - February 26, 2017
SAN DIEGO Tennessee knew it would find out a lot about its young team right out of the gate this spring. The Volunteers opened their season with an 11-day road trip that began with a series win at Memphis, then continued with a week in Southern California. Tennessee beat Loyola Marymount 8-4 on Wednesday, then played three games in two days at the Tony Gwynn Classic in San Diego. And they aced that test, scoring 30 runs in three victories against Seton Hall, San Diego State and UC Irvine.
Like I said to the guys when we got out there to left field (after beating UC Irvine 10-9 on Saturday), its been a great two weeks, 11 days, Tennessee coach Dave Serrano said. We said that when we took this venture that this was an opportunity for this team to come together and grow up, weve got a lot of new faces, some young faces, good players. And it worked out perfectly. We get some wins, we got a lot of guys some work, get some freshmen some experience, and had a lot of success behind it. Well go home, we dont play until next weekend at home, and I think were gonna go home a pretty confident bunch, which has probably been lacking in this program a long, long time.
Its too early to guarantee that the Vols will break through and get back to regionals for the first time since 2005 the SEC schedule is a meat-grinder, and Tennessee has struggled in the league for more than a decade. But after watching the Vols a couple of times this weekend, Im ready to buy in. This is a really good, versatile lineup filled with exciting young talent and some quality veterans, and the pitching staff is deeper than it has been in a long time. Tennessee is going to be a real contender in the SEC count on it.
Through its 6-1 start, the Vols are hitting .341 as a team and averaging more than eight runs per game. And its not like theyre beating up on overmatched competition theyve faced a lot of quality pitching during these first two weeks, and they have made a lot of good arms look bad. Ive been impressed with the way Tennessee has grinded out at-bats and deployed a mature middle-away approach up and down the lineup. That is by design.
We made a commitment, and I credit my assistant coaches we got cut up last Saturday at Memphis, a lefthander named (Drew) Crosby really tied us up a little bit, Serrano said. We made a commitment after that in batting practice, we werent gonna just take batting practice to just look good and hit balls as hard as we can, there was going to be a method to our madness and a purpose to it. You can coach and bring things to the table, theyve got to buy into it. And they bought into it, and I think thats whats allowing us to hit balls the other way and become tough outs for pitchers.
Tennessees outstanding group of freshmen has infused this lineup with some real high-end talent and a little young swagger. When the Vols fell behind 5-1 after two innings Saturday against Irvine, there wasnt even an iota of panic emanating from the boys in orange. Sitting right above their dugout shooting some photos, I could tell the mood amongst the Volunteers was still loose and confident. And sure enough, they strung together a five-run rally in the third to take the lead, and every time Irvine counter-punched in this wild seesaw affair, Tennessee took the blow and fought right back.
I believe they have (shown some swagger). I feel it in the dugout, Serrano said. We go down 4-0 early, but there was no panic at all. I think we have confidence in what we can do offensively.
Three freshmen did much of the heavy lifting Saturday, as Justin Ammons went 4-for-4 with three runs, two RBIs, three doubles and a triple; Pete Derkay went 4-for-4 with a run and an RBI; and Andre Lipcius went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. All three of them have played all seven games, and all three are hitting .391 or better, while veterans Jeff Moberg (.464), Jordan Rodgers (.406), Reggie Southall (.200) and juco transfer Dom Thornton (.421) have also swung hot bats.
Ammons was almost absurdly dynamic on Sunday. The freshman left fielder is a live-bodied athlete with good speed, a short lefthanded stroke and a natural feel for his barrel. His approach was so impressive against UCI all three of his doubles went to the opposite field, and he also showed the ability to turn on the ball with authority when he ripped a triple off the right-center wall. He also had an opposite-field double down the left-field line Friday against Seton Hall, though he said he was disappointed in his performance Friday night against San Diego State, when he went 1-for-4.
Im just trying to let the ball travel, just doing what I know how to do. Had a rough night last night; another day, got back up and played the way I know how to, Ammons said. (I try to) just go the other way because most righties on lefties wont try to throw inside, so theyre going to put it on the outside of the plate, just got to hit it the other way.
Serrano compares Ammons to former Pittsburgh Pirate Al Oliver because of his sweet lefthanded swing and athleticism. I came up with my own comparison for Derkay, the burly 5-foot-11, 210-pound corner infielder/catcher: former Arizona State star Brett Wallace, whose bat made him a first-round pick and carried him to the big leagues. Derkay isnt as thick as Wallace, but he has a similar body type and similarly deceptive athleticism. Mostly, though, Derkay shares Wallaces very disciplined approach at the plate, his advanced barrel awareness and his lefthanded power potential. Derkay hit the ball hard to all parts of the field in the two Tennessee games I saw, tripling into the right-center gap and doubling down the left-field line against Seton Hall, then singling four times Saturday two to right field, one to center and one through the left side. He is one tough out.
And Lipcius, another physical corner bat, showed a middle-away approach like Ammons. He had four hits in the two games I saw, and all of them were middle-away, including a double off the right-field wall Saturday. He also drew three walks in those two games. These freshmen are unusually disciplined for their age.
They came in as a very confident group, Serrano said of his freshmen. They came in to summer school in July, and you could tell the bond between those guys. Thats the reason why we got a lot of those guys to campus. Because they bonded together when we started this class three years ago, and they said, Were going to school together. And we want to make Tennessee good again.
Two other promising freshmen came out of the bullpen after starter Will Neely was chased in the third inning. Neely allowed just one hit over six innings last week, and its easy to see why the undersized righty would be tough when hes on his game, because he can really spin the breaking ball and has some life on his 86-89 fastball from a three-quarters slot. But he struggled with his command against the Anteaters, so Tennessee went to strapping freshman righty Zach Linginfelter and then to fellow freshman righty Garrett Stallings to take it the rest of the way. Linginfelter started Wednesday at LMU and didnt have his best stuff or command, but he still showed a lot of talent, working at 89-92 with good arm-side run and flashing a quality slider at 80-82, though it was inconsistent.
Stallings worked the final four innings to earn his first collegiate win, allowing two runs (one earned). Hes a polished bulldog whose calling cards are his ability to spot up with his 86-88 fastball from a three-quarters slot and mix in an excellent 77 mph changeup and a nice sweeping slider at 80-82. The Volunteers are excited about the future of both of their freshmen, and its easy to see why.
Stallings is my boy, Ammons said. In the summer I called him Picasso because he likes to paint, paint the black. Him and Lingo did a great job today.
Give Irvine credit for turning in a lot of tough at-bats and racking up 12 hits and nine runs, but give Stallings credit for stanching the bleeding, too.
Obviously as the guy who handles pitching, Id have liked that to have been a little bit better, Serrano said. But you got to see a little glimpse of Garrett Stallings there at the end, hes going to be a very good college pitcher. He already is, and hes a true freshman. Zach Linginfelter, who threw Wednesday, we really questioned bringing him back but we were light, and Lingos gonna have a great career too.
So just a lot of good things. Lot of little things we did this week and last weekend, just real proud of our guys.
I only included the Tennessee information.....and as a disclaimer, the D1 Baseball subscription is well worth the cost and is highly recommended. They also have an app for your phone, its $7.99 and gives updated scores by Top 25 and Conference, also highly recommended.
.
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