Now is the time for a team compiled of freshmen to prove themselves tried and true.
The Tennessee Volunteer baseball team is headed to Cary, N.C., for what is called the Irish Classic. They will be facing No. 22 Notre Dame along with Massachusetts and No. 25 Virginia Tech over the three day tournament.
Freshman outfielder and left-handed pitcher Vincent Jackson said that pre-game jitters and chemistry were a struggle earlier in the year, but it’s become less of an issue with every game they play.
“We’re starting to play some more games, we’re starting to become more normal,” he said. ”It feels like, let’s roll, we’re ready to go.”
As they climb onto the bus and prepare for Saturday’s game against Notre Dame, Jackson said he had no concerns about the team’s ability to work together.
“We’ve been playing with each other for what seems like a couple years now, because we’ve been playing each other so much,” he said. “We’re just trying to bond as a family, stick together through thin and thick and just play baseball like we’ve been doing our entire lives.”
For now, they’re not focusing on the tournament as a whole but on each game individually.
“We’re just gonna take each game at a time and just play baseball,” Jackson said. “We want to win each inning, so that’s what we’re trying to do.”
After a somewhat sloppy win over ETSU on Tuesday, Jackson said he wanted to fine tune his game for the weekend.
“Just staying consistent with outfield, pitching and hitting. Just overall being a consistent baseball player,” he said regarding aspects of his game that he’s looking to improve.
Drake Owenby is also a freshman and a left-handed pitcher. As he heads to North Carolina he said the game against ETSU could only help their play this weekend.
“We made a few errors on the field, but you can never really see that coming. We overcame that, we hit the ball great that game,” he said of Tuesday’s game. “I think if we just keep the bats going and pitch a little bit better we’ll be fine for this weekend.”
He said his experience with the Vols so far has done nothing but build confidence in their ability to compete.
“I’ve played baseball all my life and this is probably the biggest team that I’ve been a part of and we’ve all come together really well,” he said.
Owenby said he’s not concerned about playing more challenging teams.
“I know all the teams are supposed to be really good and Notre Dame is ranked or something, I know they’ll be great,” Owenby said. “We think we line up with them athletically everywhere so I think we’ll be fine. Talent-wise we’re a great team, just like every other team.”
