Sometimes plans can change, and sometimes plans can be put on hold.
Henry Ford can attest to both.
This time last year, the former Baylor School standout was practicing with his hometown Virginia Cavaliers as a draft-eligible sophomore who displayed the potential of being a first- or second-round selection. The 2025 Major League Baseball draft came and went, Cavaliers coach Brian O’Connor left for the opening at Mississippi State, and Ford found himself Saturday afternoon at AT&T Field as part of Tennessee’s intrasquad game.
“Obviously our head coach and our whole coaching staff left, which was kind of a shock and a surprise and kind of came out of nowhere,” Ford said. “I was just kind of exploring my options and had some options to go play pro, but I felt like the opportunity here at Tennessee was what was best for me.”
A healthy crowd of 4,029 watched Saturday as the Orange and Grey played to a 7-7 deadlock after nine innings. The intrasquad game for the Volunteers, who went 46-19 last season and reached the NCAA tournament’s super regional round for a fifth consecutive year, wasn’t even announced until Sept. 22.
“It was surprising how great of a crowd it was, because there is a lot going on,” Vols coach Tony Vitello said. “The people showed out, and they were enthusiastic. They were into the game, and most people stayed until the very end, which for a split-squad situation was surprising to me.”
Ford played third base for the Orange team and went 2-for-4 at the plate, producing singles to left field in the third and sixth innings. The 6-foot-5, 200-pounder never played at AT&T Field during his two seasons with the Red Raiders, when he hit .422 as a junior and .439 as a senior, but did attend some Chattanooga Lookouts games.
During his debut season at Virginia in 2024, Ford hit .336 and set freshman records for the Cavaliers with 17 home runs and 69 RBIs, with O’Connor saying, “He made as big of an impact as any freshman has in two decades in this baseball program.” He played first base that year and was in right field this past spring, when he hit .362 but saw his power numbers dip to 11 homers and 46 RBIs.
Ford played center field this summer in the Cape Cod League but is now working where he did at Baylor.
“We take alot of pride in having our guys play different positions and to be able to move around, and you saw that last year with our infield in particular,” Vitello said. “Even if a guy never plays another position, it can help him learn the game a little bit if he sees it from a different perspective. For Henry, center field is a position he wants to show scouts he can play and not just be a corner outfielder, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised with him at third base so far.
“Let’s calm down when I say this, but he is kind of reminiscent of Kris Bryant a little bit as far as how he looks, the body, the frame and how he goes about it at third base. Now, it’s a different-looking swing than Kris Bryant, but he’s a guy who could play the game for a long time.”
Vitello said Ford is already providing a sense of maturity, adding that he is not afraid to chime in and has a feel for when to do it whether in a meeting or a group setting. That has been a bonus for Vitello because of his younger roster, and each day for Ford right now seems to be justification that he made the right decision.
“I spent a lot of time with God and a lot of time with my family,” he said. “I’m a big believer, and I feel like he made the choice really clear for me. I knew what I wanted and what it was going to take to get to pro ball, and I knew the opportunity that I had here.
“I’m happy I ended up here. I’m enjoying it.”
‘It was incredible’
Vitello sat next to former Vols quarterback and current Baylor parent Peyton Manning during Friday night’s Baylor-McCallie football game at Spears Stadium, which the Red Raiders won 38-35 behind 280 rushing yards and three touchdowns from junior running back David Gabriel-Georges.
“It was incredible,” Vitello said. “How that guy is not the No. 1-rated tailback in the country I don’t know, but that was arguably the No. 1 environment in the country last night. What’s not an argument is that was the No. 1 game of that particular Friday for sure. I was blessed to be there, and I’ve been wanting to kind of check out that game to begin with.
“Obviously we’ve recruited athletes from both schools in multiple sports, and you can see why. The alumni’s enthusiasm kind of reminded me of Vol Nation, and it was a phenomenal game overall. You knew it was a matter of time that if you were handing the ball off, the game is probably going to go Baylor’s way. They’ll meet again, so maybe it will be a different outcome next go-around.”
Vitello said he got out of his car before the game and wanted to be in neutral colors, but he grabbed a blue hat without thinking about it.
“I’m not on anyone’s side,” Vitello said. “I don’t want my tires getting slashed. I’ve heard that people were throwing eggs and shooting paint balls and stuff like that in the past. Hopefully everything was peaceful and that the competition was on the field.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.