You could easily say that Tony Delmonico was born to wear garnet and gold - it was just delayed by a few years. He left Tennessee after the 2007 season and has transferred to Florida State. He's now expected to be the Seminoles' starting shortstop, replacing Mark Hallberg who signed a pro contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks after a great junior season at FSU.

Tony was born in 1987 when his father Rod was an assistant coach under Mike Martin at Florida State. Two years later, Rod got the head coaching job at the University of Tennessee and was there until this year, becoming the winningest coach in Volunteer history, amassing a 699-396 record, Eight NCAA appearances, and three College World Series appearances in 18 seasons. Before Delmonico arrived, UT had only been to one World Series in the previous forty-two seasons.

Following a 35-25 season where the Vols missed the Regionals for the second straight season, Delmonico was bought out of his contract and has since signed on to be Florida State's new volunteer assistant coach.

Delmonico hit .335 as a freshman in 2005, and earned Freshman All-America honors. As a sophomore in 2007, he hit .323 and made the SEC All-Tournament Team.

Tony Delmonico SS

6'0 185 lbs

Knoxville, TN (University of Tennessee)

It wasn't really a question of if, just a question of where. There wasn't even an issue to think about, I knew I was leaving. I was more worried about how my dad was and how my family would react. I just knew that going into my junior year, I had to get out. I couldn't let my emotions hurt my play or my teammates, so I had to go.

Tallahassee is much more of a college town, while Knoxville is a lot bigger, and Tennessee's campus is a lot more spread out, which is good and bad. Here, everything is close by, and I love having the football stadium right next door. It makes for a neat atmosphere, plus everything is within walking distance and you don't have to mess with buses.

As for the facilities, the ones at FSU are the best of the best. The field is also one of the best in the whole country. We as a team are very fortunate to have this clubhouse, showers, and the personnel that runs it all. The whole baseball family is just phenomenal. FSU is just one-step short of the Big Leagues.

I wouldn't say it was a shock, but it was obvious that FSU was just more prepared because they had been able to practice a lot more. I think we (UT) had only been practicing outside for three days. That doesn't take away from what FSU did that weekend though. I thought there would be three close games, but what FSU did offensively against us and all season last year will not be done again. You just don't score those kinds of runs like they did. It's unfortunate that it had to stop in the Regionals, because I really felt they would go all the way. I was looking forward to seeing them play Vanderbilt in the College World Series.

The fan support and environment at FSU is a huge advantage. It's very unique in college baseball, and I'm very fortunate to be a part of this.

I hated the K-time chant last year, but I'm gonna love it this year. It's very difficult as a batter because when you go to the plate, you're not supposed to think about striking out, but with that chant going, you can't not hear it and think about it.

I loved the crowd. I'm really excited about playing front of big crowds every single game.

Well, they're still a rival. I went from one school who hates them, to another school who hates them. Tennessee may hate them even more than FSU does. I learned to hate them growing up, and I can't stand them. It feels great to beat them in any sport. Last season, Tennessee beat them two out of three times, and it was great. They may have had a down ball club, but it still felt good to beat them.

The New York Yankees, and I'm not a bandwagon fan. I'm actually more of a Derek Jeter fan than a Yankee fan because of the on and off field presence he brings to the table. Jeter is the guy you want up in the bottom of the 9th in a tie game in game seven of the World Series, because he'll do just what he did the other day when they needed it.

I think the Yankee organization is like FSU is on the college level. They're expected to win, and they're supposed to win. FSU hasn't won a national championship, but I think we're on the verge.

In order to be the best, you have to want to be the best, and I think you have to like the best. While it's fun watching winners perform, I just like the competitiveness that they bring to the field, day in and day out.