Randy Smith
The Vanderbilt baseball team goes into this week's NCAA Tournament as the top seed after claiming the SEC Tournament title this past weekend. The Commodores have won eight straight games and 13 of their last 16 to earn the number one spot. Vanderbilt is one of a record thirteen SEC squads to make this year's field and the Vandy Boys are in the mix for a nineteenth consecutive year....the longest streak in the country.
Vandy's pitching was totally dominant in the SEC tourney.
In the three wins, Commodore pitchers gave up three runs including a 10-0 run rule shutout of rival Tennessee in the semi-finals. In other words, the Black and Gold is getting hot at the right time and playing the best baseball of the season. In addition this is the first time since 2007 Vandy is a number one overall seed. The 2025 season has been a dream come true for former Boyd-Buchanan star Brodie Johnston. The freshman had a great season for Vandy and was named the SEC Tournament's Most Valuable Player after going two for four with a solo homer and two RBI in the 3-2 championship win over Ole Miss. As impressive as his bat has been this spring, Brodie;s play at third base was good enough to make the ALL-SEC defensive team.
Coming out of Boyd-Buchanan his senior year, he was the number one prospect in Tennessee as well as the 20th ranked shortstop in the country and the 75th best overall prospect. The Ooltewah resident has all the physical tools....he's 6'-2" and weighs 200 pounds and he's a five-tool player with speed, hitting for average, hitting for power, a strong arm and great glove. He was obviously the crown jewel of Coach Tim Corbin's 2024 recruiting class.
Sports has never been that strong at Vanderbilt, let's face it. But since Tim Corbin came to the Nashville school in 2003, he has built the Commodores baseball program into a national powerhouse winning a pair of national titles in 2014 and again in 2019. He's taken a total of five teams to the College World Series and while he refuses to name which team is his best, the 2025 group of " Vandy Boys " is awfully fun to watch.
Growing up in Nashville I wanted to pull for Vanderbilt teams, but it's hard to root for them when they lose more games than they win. Cheering for Tim Corbin and players like Brodie Johnston is a whole new ball game.
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Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com