OMAHA, Neb. — The Tennessee baseball team that will play for a national championship on the last possible day of the season cites closeness often, as do most successful teams, but Vols parents provide backing beyond the results with their pregame habits.
Just about every player on the roster is represented by mothers, fathers, siblings and extended family at an enormous tailgate before each game in Omaha. It’s put on by super fans Ray Bales and Jay and Andrea Beedle — the Beedles own 865 Bomb Squad Apparel LLC and have name, image and likeness deals with several players — and it’s not just an Omaha thing. It’s an every-game thing. Home and road. All season.
They take a moment to pray for their sons at each gathering. They eat and drink. They play cornhole. They trade funny stories and, in some cases, funny pictures, such as one shared Saturday with The Athletic of Christy Behnke’s Apple watch displaying a heart rate of 134. It was from earlier in the season when son Andrew was on the mound for the Vols, and as a consistent standing rate — which normally ranges between 60 and 100 — it would indicate a serious heart condition.
But that’s sports parenting. That’s pitcher parenting, which might be the most consistent source of stress blasts available. Kristina Snead, the mother of UT pitcher Nate Snead, also owns an Apple watch and often compares her heart leaps with Christy Behnke’s. Perhaps a record number will emerge from the final pitch of Sunday’s 4-1 win over Texas A&M to extend the season a day, off Snead’s right hand and launched to right center by Aggies pinch hitter Ryan Targac.
It looked like it had a chance to tie the game with two runners on, but Targac had just missed centering it up. Kavares Tears settled under it on the Charles Schwab Stadium warning track. Snead and catcher Cal Stark shared a hug as the ball made a leathery landing. The heart of the Vols was confirmed again, as the hearts of Vols lovers slowly dropped from their throats.
“We’re gonna fight, man,” said Vols star Christian Moore, after a day of UT frustration at the plate finally broke late with two-run homers from Dylan Dreiling and Stark. “I’ve been preaching it all week and that’s what it is. We’re gonna fight, we’re not gonna give up. There’s nine innings, and we’ve got to hit. So good luck.”
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Tennessee baseball shows heart, elevates heart rates, forces Game 3 for the national title
