I know what you’re thinking. It’s only been two days (at the time of writing) since Tennessee beat Texas A&M to win the College World Series. There’s probably still confetti lining Downtown Knoxville streets. I’m not trying to rush it. I hope Tennessee fans bask in this championship-winning moment for a long, long time. It was an amazing run that should not be forgotten any time soon. But… the Vols are now the defending champs. And while we have almost a year until the 2025 season begins, wouldn’t it be fun to take an extremely, ridiculously early look at next year’s squad?
Facts are facts, the Vols are going to lose some important players. It’s just the inevitability of the sport. According to a recent SI.com article, Christian Moore, Blake Burke, Billy Amick and Drew Beam are projected to go in the first two rounds of the MLB Draft. Possibly joining them is MCWS Most Outstanding Player, Dylan Dreiling. That’s a lot of experience and skill walking out the door.
So, which players from the 2024 team will be back next year? One up in the air is centerfielder Hunter Ensley. Ensley was thrust onto the national stage with his incredible catch against North Carolina where he ran into the wall at full speed. He followed that up with a miraculous slide to score what would end up being the winning run of Monday night’s final. Infielders Dean Curley, Ariel Antigua, Robin Villeneuve, and Dalton Bargo are expected to return. Outfielder Reese Chapman and catcher Cannon Peebles should be back. And don’t forget pitching arms like Dylan Loy and Nate Snead.
Joining the returning champs are the newbies straight out of high school. And they look promising. Perfectgame.org has Tennessee Baseball’s 2025 freshman recruiting class ranked third overall, behind LSU (1) and Texas (2). Tennessee has a recent history of strong recruiting. 2024 stars, Burke, Moore, Ensley, Dreiling, Beam and Kavares Tears were all recruited out of high school.
Of course, you can’t leave out the transfer portal. In fact, just on Wednesday, not one, not two, but FIVE Texas A&M Aggies announced their intentions to enter the portal. After the sudden departure of Aggie head coach Jim Schlossnagle, just one day removed from their loss to Tennessee, two things can possibly be deduced. The (former) Aggie players are angry and have lost faith in their program OR they are planning to follow Schlossnagle to his new team, Texas. Maybe one or two of these players find their way to Knoxville.
Yes, it’s early. But, there’s no reason not to get excited about next season. No reason to not expect back-to-back championships. After all, Tennessee has the most valuable person returning in 2025, Coach Tony Vitello.
