OMAHA, Neb. — Tony Vitello checked his phone before bed five nights prior to Tennessee baseballmaking program history.
His iPhone popped up a string of photos, including one from October 2017 that triggered a memory montage. It showed him standing on the field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium with a glove in his right hand and his father, Greg, with a glove on his left hand before he had coached a game at Tennessee.
Vitello’s left arm is slung around his dad’s shoulders.
On June 24 in Omaha, Greg Vitello wrapped his right arm across his son’s shoulders for a family picture next to the pitcher’s mound at Charles Schwab Field. He reveled in every moment of Tennessee’s first national championship — and the brilliant work his son has done to build a program in the past seven years.