Tennessee becomes NCAA champion in 2024 for the first time in its history
© Brianna Paciorka, Knoxville News Sentinel
Explosion of joy in the stands and on the diamond of Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, after the last out in the ninth inning (strike-out obtained by relief Combs on Burton) which sealed the 6-5 victory over Texas A&M in the decisive game 3, Tennessee’s conquest of the first NCAA title in baseball. A success that also put an end to the curse of the number 1 seed in the final tournament having not won since 1999 when the honor fell to Miami.
Coach Tony Vitello’s boys have had to fight throughout the year with the role of favorites sewn on them but they have always reacted to adversity, as the final series which began with a defeat demonstrates, and they deservedly won their first NCAA title, led from the volcanic coach of Italian origins who often goes out of line but is able to convey compactness and determination to sell to his talented players.
According to many, Tennessee is one of the greatest teams in NCAA baseball history with 60 wins and only 13 losses, a record for a national champion team since 1989 when Wichita State achieved 68 successes but it was certainly another world even in college baseball.
The whole group is on display but we certainly cannot fail to mention the star, the second baseman Christian Moore, sure first choice in the next MLB draft, author of the home run that made it 1-0 in the first inning in the decisive game 3, the third baseman Billy Amick and the powerful left fielder Dylan Dreiling rightly proclaimed MVP of these College World Series, given that he scored 2 decisive home runs in the first comeback game won against Florida State and in the last against Texas A&M.
The losers deserve particular praise for having fought until the last out despite the injury to star Braden Montgomery which deprived coach Jim Schlossnagle of his best card. Speaking of the latter, the signing of him as the new coach of the Aggies’ all-time rivals, the Texas Longhorns, is very recent news.
Excitement was sky-high in Knoxville, home of the University of Tennessee, where the team put on a grand parade with coach Vitello unleashed, who is now aiming for a repeat next season.
To testify to the supremacy of the Southeastern Conference, we remember how since 2019 it won the NCAA title with one of its programs.
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2024-06-26 21:32:21
#Paisà #Tony #Vitello #leads #Tennessee #triumph #Baseball.it
