Bennett, ex-Admiral Vols, manage one win in series
Joey Delmonico had a new dugout home in TennesseeÂ’s Lindsey Nelson Stadium over the weekend.
“The last time I was here was the last game with him,” said Delmonico, University of Georgia part-time starting catcher and ex-Farragut Admiral, referring to his father, former UT head coach Rod Delmonico, after his Bulldogs’ 8-6 win against the Vols Saturday afternoon, April 23.
“It’s really weird, because I grew up in the dugout over there,” Delmonico added about the Vols’ first-base home dugout where his father led Tennessee from 1989 through 2007.
Delmonico, a junior, and ex-Admiral All-state honoree Curt Powell,
UGA sophomore starting third baseman who contributed big in SaturdayÂ’s win, left UT with a 2-games-to-1 series win (5-4 loss Friday, but a 5-3 victory Sunday).
SaturdayÂ’s win came against a familiar Vols battery: ex-Admiral All-state pitcher and UT starting pitcher Rob Catapano, a senior, and ex-FHS All-state catcher and Tennessee freshman Ethan Bennett.
“It was fun to come back, especially to get a win today,” said Delmonico, battling a left hand injury — “deep bone contusion to the top part of my hand” — for much of the season who went hitless in four at bats in the series (.245 average in 18 starts behind the plate)
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say this series wasn’t special and meaningful,” added Delmonico, whose little brother, FHS All-state senior catcher/infielder Nicky Delmonico, has signed on to join Joey and Curt in Athens next season. “It is a little bigger than just some games. I want to come in and get the series here.
“Today was a lot of fun. … I hit two balls hard and got to catch. Today my hand felt alright. I’ve got some medicine I take during the game to dull the pain a little bit.”
About his ex-Admiral teammates with UT, “I got to win a state championship with all those guys over there,” Delmonico said. “Rob was our ace, and Ethan behind the plate. I saw [Matt] Ramsey. I got to talk to those guys before the game. It was pretty cool.
“I got to say hello to Rob before the game, got to talk to him a little bit.”
Powell, one of the nation’s leading junior college hitters in 2010 at Volunteer State in Gallatin where Delmonico excelled in 2009 and last season, said he’s “enjoying it, having a good time with all these guys” at UGA.
“SEC Baseball is really top notch. I started off slow, but I feel like I’m coming into figuring out my part … it’s coming together.”
Powell said playing third base “is a new experience” versus his FHS and Volunteer State position of shortstop, “but I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it a little bit.
“When I walked up to the plate I said ‘hey’ to Ethan,” Powell added. “In the beginning it’s kinda strange, but you kinda get used to it. You intersquaded with those guys all through high school.
“It’s pretty awesome to see all your former players moving on and playing Division I against you.”
With a sacrifice fly Friday while going 1-for-4 Sunday, Powell (.275 average in 35 starts) had two hits and one RBI Saturday — one of off Catapano.
Powell’s single against Catapano “was a change-up,” he said.
The Georgia sophomore made four nice stops of grounders to his left Friday, but two bad throws resulted in one error allowing a Vols run to score in the fifth.
“My fielding’s definitely been better than my throwing,” Powell said. “I’m starting to get used to the throw from third base. It’s a different angle.”
About his error, “I should have had it, no excuses.”
Powell, whose four-hit day in a March victory against Alabama has been his season highlight, pointed to a fallen teammate.
Junior outfielder Jonathan Taylor is “paralyzed from the waist down right now, and that [game] was soon after, and we were all still playing for him,” Powell said. “It was a big game. We got to play in Gwinnett Braves Stadium.
“Coach put me in the lead-off spot when J.T. got hurt, and it was a pretty good game. I was seeing it well. It just worked out.”
About coming back to Knox County and playing in front of several friends and family members in a familiar stadium, “It’s definitely a special feeling,” Powell said. “I hadn’t been home all semester. Just looking up in the crowd after the game, and seeing all the people you grew up with. It’s a pretty special moment.”
Playing alongside Delmonico “is awesome, he’s my roommate here at Georgia, and he was my next-door neighbor at Vol State.
“It’s definitely helped me through,” Powell added. “We’ve kinda picked each other up in hard times. And when things are going well you’ve got to remember to stay focused.”
Catapano, meanwhile, was hit hard Saturday and lasted just three innings (five earned runs, six hits, one walk, two strikeouts, 2-4 season record with 5.61 earned run average).
Todd Raleigh, UT head coach, said Catapano “didn’t have a lot on his ball, and got some bad counts.”
About Bulldogs contact with Catapano pitches, “There weren’t many cheap ones.”
Raleigh said Ramsey should return as Tennessee’s closer when the junior feels he’s ready to bounce back from “soreness in his forearm.”
“Medically, we don’t think there’s anything wrong,” Raleigh added. “It’s on him, when he says that he can go we’re going to have to look at it and try to get him back in there.
“He says he’s about 70 percent now. He’s one of the best closers around, but he hasn’t pitched much this year at all.”
With freshman reliever and former Admiral All-state pitcher Nick Williams firing 1 2/3 innings Friday (no runs, one hit), the Vols bullpen was much thinner leading to GeorgiaÂ’s three-run ninth Saturday afternoon.
“If you have him today, it’s probably a different story,” Raleigh said. “We’d like to have him behind the plate, too. It’s a double-edged sword for us.”
Williams, meanwhile, came back for three effective innings Sunday (no runs, one hit, one walk, one strikeout).
BennettÂ’s 2-for-10 weekend at the plate included sharp ninth-inning single helping ignite a three-run Tennessee rally Saturday.
“On 0-2 on that last hit, I stayed inside a curveball and drove it to left,” he said. “I’m seeing the ball decent.”
But recently adding the responsibility of starting catcher versus his early season role of designated hitter, Bennett said catching “definitely has some effect, you have to be focused on both things.”
“I have a tendency to drop my hands sometimes, and that’s a bad thing,” added Bennett, who ended the series batting .268 (four homers, 19 RBI). “Everything is still an adjustment.”
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