NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Some Middle Tennessee parents are in a bind after they were told their child couldn’t go to summer camp last minute. They are now trying to juggle a job while watching their kid with special needs.

Almost 10-year-old Landon Mitchell loves to be in the water. All around, he’s a cool kid, which is what his mom, Nichole Mitchell, admires about him.

“He is a joy,” she said. “He is very social, he loves being around people, high energy.”

Landon Mitchell is also autistic and non-speaking. His mom said he was supposed to return to Camp Widjiwagan in Antioch starting this week. It’s a YMCA camp the disability nonprofit, Easterseals Tennessee, has a day program with.

“But unfortunately, we got those letters last week that said they are not able to continue those services,” said Nichole Mitchell.

The letter was from Easterseals to parents discusses a new limit that restricts camper from attending and leaves parents with no options.

“Within 48 hours it was like “you’re going to be working from home for the next five weeks, figure it out”,” explained Nichole Mitchell.

The letter said due to changes in YMCA guidelines, Easterseals must limit how many of their kids can go.

“Things abruptly stopped when the ratio was switched up with the number of counselors and campers,” explained Nichole Mitchell.

The message said the YMCA now requires each camper to have a counselor, which Easterseals said they could not provide due to staffing.

WSMV4 asked the YMCA why they made the change.

In a statement, the YMCA said:

“Our YMCA is honored to work with Easterseals to make summer camp opportunities possible for the young people they serve.

As has been the arrangement for many years, Easter Seals provides staff for their campers in order to ensure proper and specialized supervision based on the specific needs of their children while utilizing our Camp Widjiwagan facility.

The YMCA maintains a set of standards required of external groups and has worked with Easter Seals to review those standards to ensure the safest environment possible for campers.

Those expectations, including camper-to-staff ratios, were communicated nearly a month ago. It is our understanding Easter Seals mailed letters to parents regarding their camp guidelines explaining how this may have affected their child’s enrollment as a result.”

– K. Dawn Rutledge, Ed. D. Director of Communications for YMCA of Middle Tennessee

“It’s almost a disservice whenever we have to parent and work simultaneously,” said Nichole Mitchell.

She said while she is blessed to be able to work from home, it’s not ideal. She added she wishes there were more options for children like Landon.

Easterseals said in the letter families would be reimbursed if they were unable to attend Camp Widjiwagan. They plan to work with the YMCA to enhance the program next summer.

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Tennessee baseball is losing a few arms from its bullpen and pitching rotation, so Tony Vitello and company went into the transfer portal to add the first arm to the pitching staff. 

Tennessee has had seven players announce their intention to transfer out of the program with the portal window closed on July 2. With the portal closed, no new players can enter it, but players can still finish their portal recruiting process and commit to a new program. 

Kennesaw State transfer Tanner Franklin announced his joining the Vols on Tuesday. The right-handed pitcher is the first player to transfer to Tennessee after the Vols’ national championship run. 

“It’s the best spot for me,” Franklin told 247Sports. “I felt like God was telling me to go there. It’s home at the end of the day. That’s what led to the decision.”

“I was looking for somewhere I can go and develop as a person, but also as a player, somewhere it’s fun playing baseball,” Franklin said. ” When you watch Tennessee, they have fun every single day. It doesn’t matter if it’s a practice or a game, whatever it is. They’re enjoying being out there and are after the same thing. That’s something I was looking for.”

Franklin is returning home as a Johnson City, Tennessee, native after pitching 27.1 innings and collecting a 4-1 record, five saves, 43 strikeouts, and a 5.60 ERA with the Owls. 

He brings some heat to the Tennessee pitching staff, where he will likely serve out of the bullpen. His fastball topped out at 99 MPH this past season, which is why Tennessee was interested in the young arm. 

Franklin said a big reason the staff was interested in him was his size and power on the mound. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound right-handed pitcher can throw heat and bring an intimidating presence to the mound. 

He comes to Rocky Top with two years of eligibility and joins JUCO RHP Thomas Crabtree as the first two commits to sign with Tennessee.

OMAHA, Neb. — Tony Vitello checked his phone before bed five nights prior to Tennessee baseball making program history.

His iPhone popped up a string of photos, including one from October 2017 that triggered a memory montage. It showed him standing on the field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium with a glove in his right hand and his father, Greg, with a glove on his left hand before he had coached a game at Tennessee.

Vitello’s left arm is slung around his dad’s shoulders.

On June 26 in Omaha, Greg Vitello wrapped his right arm across his son’s shoulders for a family picture next to the pitcher’s mound at Charles Schwab Field. He reveled in every moment of Tennessee’s first national championship — and the brilliant work his son has done to build a program in the past seven years. 

“You know the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ when he says, ‘Hey, is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa?’ No, this — this — is heaven for us,” Greg Vitello said. “You can’t do any better than this.”

Why Greg Vitello thinks Tony Vitello is successful as a coach

Tony Vitello hugged his staff, ran to celebrate with his players, dashed back to shake the hands of the Texas A&M coaching staff, then made the most important stop after Tennessee beat the Aggies 6-5 to win the national championship.

He climbed up the stairs behind the third-base camera well to lead his parents and family onto the field. 

“I don’t think a lot people really understand what it takes to get here until you do this,” Greg Vitello said. “To be able to walk away with a championship, it is just totally amazing.”

Any conversation about Tony Vitello being a coach has to begin with his father. 

Greg Vitello coached at De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis for 46 years, winning six state titles — five in soccer and one in baseball. Tony Vitello watched his dad, played for him and is undoubtedly on his father’s coaching tree.

Greg Vitello didn’t know what kind of coach his son would be when he got into coaching. He was — at his own admission — a marginal player, but undoubtedly a hard worker. Tony Vitello hopped into coaching at Missouri as a volunteer assistant as soon as his playing career for the Tigers ended. He worked at TCU then landed at Arkansas, where he continued to become feared as a recruiter and a master of player development.

Tim Jamieson, who coached then hired Tony Vitello at Missouri, once told Greg Vitello he had never seen anyone work as hard as Tony Vitello did.

That is one of the traits that Greg Vitello said got Tennessee to the national title.

“He has gone through a whole lot — every coach has,” Greg Vitello said. “His perseverance and being able to rather than point the finger at somebody else, point the finger at me, I think that is one of the reasons he gets along so well with his players.”

How the Vitello family came together for Tennessee baseball national title 

Tony Vitello took off on a full sprint down the left-field line in Omaha, up a rolled-up tarp and into the stands after Tennessee won the title. 

Moments prior, he was hunched over between his mom and dad to embrace them both. It was a moment within the many celebratory minutes that Greg Vitello, 77, said he hopes to remember for a really long time.

“I will take it to heaven with me,” Greg Vitello said. 

Vitello family members from across the country flocked to Omaha for the College World Series final. Greg Vitello’s brother came from Chicago. Family members from Houston came and others did from New York. 

Family was on Greg Vitello’s mind after Tennessee won it all. He lauded the way Kathy Vitello raised their four kids — Tony Vitello and his three older sisters. He admires his wife’s strength. It could be why Tony Vitello is the way he is and why he battles so hard for for his players. He value family and clearly treats his players like family members.

BOOK: Celebrate Tennessee baseball’s epic CWS national championship with our special new book

The Vitellos posed for photos in the middle of the field, holding commemorative newspapers, shirts and pompoms. More importantly, they held each other. 

“His baseball brought together our family,” Greg Vitello said. “It’s all our family. It is all because of baseball. You just don’t do better than family. You really don’t.”

That isn’t lost on Tony Vitello. Neither is what he saw in the old picture with his father from seven years ago.

Lindsey Nelson Stadium had natural grass, trees behind left-field and only one row on porches. The ballpark is entirely different now and about to change even more, including a decal on the wall for the first national title in Tennessee baseball history.

“It is a dream,” Greg Vitello said. “It is a dream come true.”

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it