One of the most memorable plays in Tennessee baseball history was named college baseball’s play of the year.
D1 baseball on Tuesday capped its annual D1 Dozen list by naming the unforgettable College World Series Championship Game slide by Tennessee’s Hunter Ensley as the play of the year.
Ensley’s slide at the time seemed like an impressive exclamation mark to give Tennessee a 6-1 lead in the seventh inning of a title-winning game, but it proved to be so much more important. Texas A&M rallied back within 6-5 in the ninth inning, so Ensley’s iconic slide was the run that ultimately decided the game and earned the Vols a national championship at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.
That Ensley made that play with a significant hamstring injury made it even more impressive. The Alaska native and former All-State quarterback from Huntington High School in rural West Tennessee played in that finale against A&M just days after tearing his hamstring on another incredible play — a running catch into the wall against North Carolina earlier in the College World Series that D1Baseball ranked as the No. 4 play of the 2024 season. Ensley’s eye black left a stain on the outfield wall that was still there eight days later when Tennessee beat the Aggies for the title.
Ensley’s slide in that finale took the top spot, though.
“No. 1: We’ll never forget Hunter Ensley’s ABSURD slide in the #MCWS championship game,” D1’s official Twitter/X account posted.
? The D1 Dozen: Top Plays of 2024 ?
No. 1: We’ll never forget Hunter Ensley’s ABSURD slide in the #MCWS championship game ? @HunterEnsley x @Vol_Baseball pic.twitter.com/JvZ2OMoiOM
— D1Baseball (@d1baseball) December 31, 2024
Ensley — who insisted throughout the College World Series that he was fine, but moments after the title game finally confessed to GoVols247 that he probably wasn’t even 50 percent healthy — initially thought he would jog home on the play that ended with his acrobatic maneuver.
With senior All-American and National Stopper of the Year Evan Aschenbeck on the mound, Tennessee sophomore right fielder Kavares Tears barreled a ball off the top of the wall in right center field. Ensley wasn’t at full speed because his body wouldn’t allow it, but after a brief hesitation when the ball was scalded off the bat, he realized it might not be a home run and hit the gas. Third-base coach Josh Elander waved him home.
It looked like Ensley would score with relative comfort, but an absolutely perfect relay from A&M changed that. Center fielder Jace LaViolette barehanded the ball off the wall and threw an absolute missile to shortstop Ali Camarillo, who turned and burned at pace and threw a dart toward catcher Jackson Appel. The hard throw to the plate one-hopped to Appel, who barely needed to move his feet and extend his glove to the left to pick it.
Ensley should have been out, but he juked from the outside of the baseline to the inside of the baseline, avoided Appel’s tag and slapped his left hand on home plate. Umpire Grady Smith had a great view and correctly called Ensley safe.
“I know KT really hit that ball hard,” Ensley said. “You could probably say I was assuming it a little bit, at the very beginning off the bat, that I thought he got enough of it. Peeked in. Saw that it stayed in. It took a really good bounce right to LaViolette. When I saw that I knew I had to get on my horse. Dean [Vols’ then-freshman shortstop Dean Curley] was pretty much telling me, ‘Outside, outside, outside,’ and the throw actually ended up carrying the guy to the outside.
“Just natural instinct trying to make a play right there and get back on the inside part of the bag. And just was able to avoid the tag right there, and ended up being a pretty big run.”
Ensley took time after last season to consider his options, and ultimately he chose to return to school as a fifth-year senior and help Tennessee’s effort in defending its title. Ensley and the Vols are scheduled to open the season with a Feb. 14 game against Hofstra at renovated Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
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