Hunter Ensley made the most memorable catch of his career last June in Omaha, Nebraska. But about eight months later, you feel obligated to address it when you begin any conversation with Tennessee’s center fielder.
Another baseball season is about to begin. The Vols will open defense of their national championship Friday against Hofstra. But Ensley’s catch still lingers.
Ensley has made more spectacular catches and more difficult ones in his baseball career. But none was as high-profile as the one he executed against North Carolina in the College World Series at Charles Schwab Field.
He garnered more attention by hitting a wall than most players do by hitting the ball over a wall. It was a three-part play. First, Ensley extended himself to glove a hit that seemed destined for extra bases. Next, he held onto the ball as he charged into the wall. Then, he left his mark – a smidgen of eye black to dot the fence.
The play didn’t just deprive North Carolina’s Anthony Donofrio of a hit in the second inning. It sent a message that the Vols would do whatever it took to win a game.
Tennessee delivered the same message again and again – with timely hitting and pitching, and especially in a ninth-inning rally to overtake Florida State – in claiming its first baseball national championship.
That championship gave Ensley’s catch staying power.
“I probably hear about it every other day,” Ensley told me.
He hears about it so much that his catch has become a running joke with his teammates, proving that sports drama can – given enough time – be converted into baseball humor.
“We get it,” they say. “You made the catch.”
Not surprisingly, in the world of name, image and likeness, Ensley has been rewarded with more than fame for his memorable catch. He made a commercial with Loudon County Fence.
“It took a couple of hours,” Ensley said. “It was a lot of fun.
“They said they had been waiting 15 or 20 years to do something with an athlete. But they had never had the perfect opportunity.”
The opportunity was as apparent as the baseball still stuck in Ensley’s glove after his run-in with the wall. He might as well have carved “NIL’ into the fence before coming off the field.
The exhilaration of a championship season now gives way to the anticipation of another season.
“This is the most exciting time of the year,” Ensley said. “Fall is great – all those scrimmages and practices, all the work.”
But they can’t surpass a real game. Ensley looks forward to bigger crowds at Lindsey Nelson Stadium – not just for an SEC series, but right away against nonconference opponents like Hofstra.
Ensley, who batted .296 with 12 home runs and 48 RBIs last year, expects to have his best season. Why wouldn’t he? He’s more experienced, and after another year in Tennessee’s intense strength-and-conditioning program, he’s stronger.
Coach Tony Vitello isn’t one to burden players with expectations. He only asks Ensley to keep doing what he has been doing.
“Just progress as a player,” Vitello said. “Every year, he has progressed in every single category, including as a leader, in the dugout and off the field.”
ADAMS: Tennessee baseball catcher Cannon Peebles prepared for a hit comeback
Despite the loss of seven starters, Ensley again will be surrounded by proven hitters, some of whom arrived via the transfer portal. Fall practice also convinced him that a revamped pitching staff will prove troublesome for opposing batters.
“They’ve got big-time stuff,” he said. “They’ve got the kind of stuff that gets hitters out.”
And they’ve got a center fielder who can turn hits into outs − even it means running into a wall to make the catch.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or [email protected]. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Hunter Ensley’s catch has staying power with Tennessee baseball
