Tennessee’s fight pays off with 2024 College World Series title

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OMAHA, NEBRASKA – JUNE 24: The Tennessee Volunteers celebrate after defeating the Texas A&M Aggies to win the 2024 Division I men’s baseball championship to be played at Charles Schwab Field on June 24, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Some national championships are crowning achievements, as teams march through the College World Series finals to the trophy presentation. But some national championships are hard-fought, as every out and every run is fought for.

Tennessee had to fight for the 2024 national title. This season, it won more games than any other team in the last 22 years and collected every trophy it could win. But it had to fight along the way.

Tennessee didn’t win the SEC regular-season title until the final day of the season. It lost its opening game of the SEC Tournament and was forced to play in the losers bracket. Evansville, the Cinderella of the NCAA Tournament, forced it to a third game in the super regionals. It lost the opening game of the CWS championship series to Texas A&M and found itself with its back against the wall.

It was already a struggle for the program before this season. Tennessee was making its third appearance in the CWS in the last four years, but went 0-2 in 2021 and 1-2 in 2023. In between, the 2022 team was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament but was beaten at home in the Super Regionals by Notre Dame.

Of course, Monday’s third game of the championship series wasn’t easy. Tennessee never trailed that night, thanks in part to a Christian Moore home run early in the game. But every time they took the lead, A&M fought back. Even the runs didn’t come easy for Tennessee, especially the sixth run that proved to be the deciding factor. On that play, Hunter Ensley had to adjust his jump into the plate at the last second to avoid getting hit.

But in the end, Tennessee found a way, as it has all season. The Volunteers defeated the Aggies 6-5 to claim the first national championship in the program’s history.

“For the University of Tennessee, there’s no better team to win than a group of guys that are truly the definition of a team,” coach Tony Vitello said. “And for our program, I think there’s no better play to pull off the win, a guy that’s just built with a lot of grit. His teammates follow his lead and it’s a great example of how this group has gotten things done.”

This Tennessee team is arguably the best team in college baseball history. It finished the season 60-13, setting an SEC record for most wins. It is the first team since Florida State in 2002 to win 60 games in a season, and it has won more games than any national champion since Wichita State in 1989, which went 68-16 in a very different era of the sport. It won both the SEC regular season and tournament titles. It had only one losing weekend all year, and none since mid-March (which was also the only time it lost two games in a row all season). It was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and the first No. 1 overall seed to win the national championship since 1999 in Miami.

The Volunteers have star power at the heart of the team. All-American second baseman Christian Moore will be a first-round pick next month and may be a top-10 pick. Third baseman Billy Amick won’t have to wait long to hear his name. Left fielder Dylan Dreiling, the College World Series MVP, has moved up the draft boards. Right-hander Drew Beam and All-American first baseman Blake Burke will likely be second-rounders and will go down as two of the best players at their positions in program history.

In short, there will be great players from this team. But that was never the story of the 2024 Volunteers. In his six years in Knoxville, Vitello has already faced more talented teams during his tenure in Tennessee — Just two years after the end of the 2022 season, the team already has three Major League players and more to come.

What these volunteers mastered was the mix of talent and grit, a mindset Vitello tried to instill from the day he was hired. When Vitello arrived at Tennessee in the summer of 2017, Tennessee was stuck at the bottom of the SEC standings. In the last 10 years, Tennessee had made the SEC Tournament just three times and hadn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2005. The athletic department has a proud tradition, but the program needed a jolt.

Vitello was a first-time head coach. He knew Tennessee needed to find an identity, a niche in which to establish itself and compete in the rough SEC. Tennessee couldn’t compete with Arkansas or Mississippi State in terms of facilities at the time. It didn’t have the tradition of LSU. It couldn’t simply rely on in-state players like Florida or Texas A&M.

Vitello chose to build a combative program that plays with grit. That was the foundation for the hiring of his staff, from assistant coaches Frank Anderson and Josh Elander, who have been with him throughout his tenure, to support staff like Quentin Eberhardt, the program’s athletic director. It was also the foundation for their efforts in recruiting and training.

That attitude was evident on the 2024 team and was embodied by players like Ensley, Moore and left-hander Zander Sechrist, who started and won Monday’s game.

“We have to play with the right attitude,” Vitello said. “We have to play with grit. And we have to bring in some guys that maybe don’t want to say yes to a school with a better track record than us. Guys like him, like C-Mo and a few others with the right attitude have done a lot for this program.”

That attitude, that grit, led Ensley to crash into the center field fence at full speed to catch a ball last Sunday. He was shaken up on that play and had to be replaced in center field on the next play by Kavares Tears. He also crashed into the wall to catch a ball.

“That’s how I grew up, in a working-class family,” Ensley said. “My whole family is just tough. Growing up with them, that’s what was preached to me. You show up every day, work hard, party hard, and when things don’t go your way, you work harder and do better.”

“Of course I’m willing to run through a wall in midfield for this team. I would do it again a million times.”

The mindset instilled in the program isn’t just limited to bite or grit. The Volunteers were also a tight-knit group who loved playing together and for their coaches. That camaraderie permeated throughout the squad and helped them get contributions from both up and down the squad.

Sechrist was one of those players. A senior who makes his living by pitching rather than pure ability, he worked his way into the rotation and eventually became the team’s best pitcher. On Monday, he held A&M to one run in 5.1 innings, striking out seven players and allowing six hits and one walk. Tennessee has won each of his last six starts, and he pitched to a 1.34 ERA in that run, which began on the final day of the regular season against South Carolina.

Sechrist is one of the few players to have been part of all three CWS teams in the last four years, and he said the 2024 team is better than any he has played for.

“We had unfinished business, especially since this was our third time here in the last four years,” he said. “We didn’t do well in ’21. In ’22, you could probably say that was the best college baseball team ever. In ’23, we at least won one game here, but the work wasn’t done. And ’24 just felt a little different.”

“I’m just blessed to be able to do the work today.”

Monday demanded a little of everything from the entire roster. Eight different players had at least one hit. Dreiling hit another home run, becoming the first player to hit a home run in every game of a CWS final. Moore capped one of the all-time best seasons in program history with a home run. Sechrist got off to another strong start and the bullpen held up against a strong, determined A&M team.

It ended with a wild celebration that had only just begun. Vitello jumped into the stands to celebrate with the Tennessee fans. Peyton Manning came out onto the field to soak up the atmosphere. The players hugged each other and made snow angels out of confetti.

It was the perfect ending for a team that had fought for each other for five long months. Throughout the CWS, volunteers spoke of just wanting to savor the moments and enjoy their last weeks together.

The Volunteers certainly had fun on Monday night, and for that they will forever be linked in Tennessee and college baseball history.