Where did Tony Vitello play college baseball? All we know about Tennessee HC's career during the early days

According to Vegas, Tony Vitello's Tennessee is currently the favorite to win the natty later this year. The Vols managed to overcome being placed in the losing side of the SEC tournament bracket after an unexpected loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores and ended up winning the event by beating LSU 4-3 in the final.

Tony Vitello is currently in his seventh season at Knoxville, and he's on the cusp of taking his team to their second College World Series appearance during his tenure with Tennessee. Vitello played college ball at rival SEC school, the Missouri Tigers, between 2001 and 2022.

During his time with the Volunteers, he has brought four SEC Eastern Division titles, two SEC Regular Season Championships, and two SEC Tournament titles to the school. Currently, the Vols are the No. 1 national seed, but Vitello doesn't seem worried about it:

“No. I just don’t think— there’s a label there but there’s a lot of reasons why it doesn’t have greater value than any of the other eight seeds. To be a top eight seed you certainly meet a criteria that’s unique." (per Rocky Top Insider)

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Tony Vitello's career at Missouri

Vitello's numbers at Columbia weren't anything to write home about. He was a utility infielder and saw no game time during his first season in 2000. He's listed as a sophomore for that year, which suggests that he may have joined the team as a walk-on player.

In 2001 he showed some signs of potential greatness, playing in 21 games and stepping up to the plate six times for a batting average of .500 and an on-base percentage of .625. He had just one RBI that season.

2002 brought serious game time for Tony Vitello, with 36 games and 60 at-bats. However, the numbers were disappointing at .217, with 13 hits, five doubles, and three RBIs. If you fashion yourself somewhat of a sabermetrician, his .351 on-base percentage might reveal a hidden gem.