How Knox News captured Tennessee’s baseball history at the World Series
On June 24, the world watched as Tennessee defeated Texas A&M to win the first national title in baseball program history. Behind the scenes and on the field, Knox News worked tirelessly to capture the biggest moments in the Vols’ quest for gold.
Brianna Paciorka, photojournalist for Knox News and producer of the podcast “The Scruffy Stuff,” was in the thick of the action throughout the championship weekend. Her job: photographing history. The tireless work paid off with incredible shots that illustrate the excitement and emotion surrounding Tennessee’s victory.
Paciorka recently appeared on The Scruffy Stuff and spoke with host Ryan Wilusz about how she approached this historic task, what was going through her mind towards the end of the final game and why seeing the confetti fall was a career highlight for her, too.
Below is an edited transcript of their discussion on The Scruffy Stuff, an award-winning podcast about downtown Knoxville with new episodes every Tuesday.
The full episode is available via the podcast player below.
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How Knox News captured Tennessee’s College World Series win
Ryan Wilusz: How did you have to prepare for something like this?
Brianna Paciorka: I’ve actually never been to Omaha. But like I’ve said in other episodes, I’m from Louisiana. I graduated from LSU. LSU actually won the College World Series last year, so I completely understand how special Omaha and the College World Series are. … It was a wild trip. I didn’t find out I was going until after they won Game 2 on the first Sunday, so I was in a mad race to make my travel plans and pack everything. … Of course, you don’t know how long you’re going to be there. You could be there for two games. I was there for five games. You had to pack enough clothes and all kinds of stuff and then all the camera equipment, which is very stressful – it was a lot.
Ryan: What was it like to participate in a way that others cannot?
Brianna: They had the (teams’) entrance to the stadium and the locker rooms near the photo room where we edited the photos. When we weren’t outside taking photos of them arriving on the buses, we could hear the teams arriving. They would come in with a boombox playing loud hip hop music. You could hear them getting warmed up for the games. … The Friday before the finals, there was a practice where both teams got some time on the actual field to practice. And it’s fun to sit there and listen to the music they play during batting practice and see them laughing and having fun while they’re catching balls and swinging their bats in the batting cage.
Ryan: What about the findings from Tony Vitello’s environment?
Brianna: I noticed that a lot of times I took the most pictures of him when there were fans around, like when he got off the bus or after Game 3 and stuff. And what really stood out to me was that he really took the time to greet the fans. He’d get off the bus and stick up a couple fingers to greet the fans. He’d really make an effort to do fist bumps with the fans on the way into the stadium. After (the last game) … he walked pretty close to the Tennessee bullpen. Some fans were calling out to him, and some actually talked him into taking their phones and taking some selfies and stuff.
Ryan: Baseball is a slow game overall, but the moment a play actually happens, it’s fast. I’m wondering what you’re looking for from your perspective… when you’re photographing a game like this, and what was going through your mind when you were taking those shots – with the mindset that your job is to document history. I don’t know if you’re actively thinking about it, but how did you go about it?
Brianna: Before games, I get messages from different people above me saying, “We need certain photos of you because we’re planning on doing poster prints.” … There were things I knew I had to get. I also have to admit, I’m a very anxious person. So the whole time, at least on Monday, I was trying to tell myself that this is just another game, because otherwise I would have hyped myself up, which was probably a good thing. Because if you looked at the last inning of the game (June 24), at the beginning you’re like, “Yeah, they’re going to win, they’re going to win.” And then all of a sudden, “Uh, maybe not.” So it was a lot like, “Oh my God, do I have to change my plan and everything?”
Knowing a little about baseball helps you get the right game photos. But Tennessee is also a very emotional team. They show a lot of emotion. So it’s not just about sitting there and taking photos of the action, it’s about just continuing to take photos while something is happening because it’s a celebration in a way. And that’s how the best photos are taken.
Ryan: What was your favorite moment to capture while you were there?
Brianna: Three immediately come to mind if I could name three. The first one was actually our front page photo from (June 24). It’s the photo of Christian Moore hugging Dylan Dreiling at home plate after Dreiling hit that two-run home run that basically secured the win on (June 23). That was probably one of them. I knew before the game that I needed a front page photo in portrait format as a poster print. And as soon as … I got the photo and realized it was in focus — there were no ESPN cameras in the way or anything … I immediately texted Saul Young, who takes my photos here in Knoxville, and said, “That’s our poster photo. That’s going on the front page.”
Ryan: I saw not only the excitement in that moment, but also the exhaustion.
Brianna: Christian Moore looks very relieved and just thinks: “Oh my God, we did it.” …
Another photo I took that I really liked – it’s a wider shot. You can see the players at the bottom, and you can see the confetti at the top. And right in the middle you can see Drew Beam, and he’s looking up and his hand is up in the sky like he’s trying to catch confetti. And then you just see all these smiling faces. And I really love this photo.
And then my third photo would probably be, and it was in our special section… You open it up, and it’s a double-page photo. And it’s the team sitting on the floor. You see the confetti on the floor. They’re all looking at the highlights on the scoreboard. And you see the stadium, it says “Charles Schwab Field Omaha.” You see some of the names of the other teams from Omaha, and everyone’s smiling and holding their individual trophies. It’s not a showpiece, but you can see… it’s like the first moment where they really sit down as a team and can actually see the highlights of their trip to Omaha. … When it’s blown up, it looks beautiful.
Ryan: Is there anything else you can do to get a behind-the-scenes look at the highlights of your trip?
Brianna: If you’re a baseball fan and you get a chance to go to Omaha, you have to go. It’s a beautiful stadium. One of the highlights, the best part – and honestly a career highlight for me – was during Game 1 of the final series. I know it was a loss, but there was the most beautiful sunset for that game. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue and pink and the field was lit up. They always talk about baseball being the most beautiful sport. That night was just unbelievably magical at that moment. …
The whole town is excited about the College World Series. There was a coffee shop that Mike (Wilson) and I went to almost every day. And when the finals came around and Tennessee was playing Texas A&M, their tip jar said, “Who do you think will win?” with the logos of both teams. Everywhere we went, people talked about the College World Series. They sold special merchandise for it. I bought a T-shirt that said, “The best baseball is in Omaha.”
Ryan: We cover a lot of things (as journalists). And sometimes things that seem very exciting to the average person seem a little more routine to us, just because you’ve photographed games before, written stories or gone behind the scenes. Did you feel something different inside?
Brianna: It kind of felt like an out-of-body experience. Because I’m in that work mode… but I also realized Rick Barnes was on the field and Josh Heupel was there and Peyton Manning was there, and they were all excited. And you can see all the players are excited. The fans are going crazy. I definitely realized in that moment that it was a big deal. There’s a picture of me with confetti all over my legs because I’m kneeling on the ground taking pictures.
But afterwards, you sit in the photo studio and edit the photos and you just realize, “Wow. We’re going to have covers that are going to sell out. People are going to want this.” And then you just get random comments from people saying how great the photos are. And you just realize that while it’s sports, at the same time, this is a big moment in Tennessee sports history and for Knoxville. …
Seeing people’s reactions and realizing how much they like my photos and that I did a really good job – that feels really good. I get a little emotional when I think about it. I’m not a Tennessee fan, so at the end of the day, it doesn’t mean as much to me as it does to other people. But knowing that the fans think I did a really good job means a lot more to me than when my own bosses say something like that.
Ryan Wilusz is a downtown growth and development reporter. Phone 865-317-5138. Email [email protected]. Instagram @knoxscruff.
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