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BASEBALL |
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Pirates welcomed home as champs |
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GREENVILLE — An enthusiastic
contingent of East Carolina fans
made the trek to Clark-LeClair
Stadium on Monday to extend
congratulations and a hearty welcome
to the Pirates upon their return to
Clark-LeClair Stadium after
capturing the NCAA regional title in
Charlottesville over the weekend.
Bonesville's W.A.
Myatt captured a few pictures of the
occasion and recorded interviews
with ECU head coach Cliff Godwin and
Regional MVP Travis Watkins.
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Play audio and view
photos... |
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates power up, go Super |
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — Two-run homers
by Charlie Yorgen, Travis Watkins
and Eric Tyler keyed East Carolina's
8-4 win over William & Mary on
Sunday, clinching the NCAA regional
championship. The Tribe (31-31) had
edged 2015 College World Series
champion Virginia 5-4 in an
elimination game earlier in the day
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BASEBALL |
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Walkoff wallop whips Wahoos |
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — A three-run
homer by Travis Watkins capped a
five-run ninth inning for East
Carolina and provided an 8-6 walkoff
win over Virginia in the winners'
bracket matchup Saturday at
Davenport Field.
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates pull away in eighth |
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — East Carolina
broke open a pitching duel with
seven runs in the eighth inning to
defeat Bryant 9-1 in the Pirates'
NCAA Tournament opener on Friday.
Third-seeded ECU (35-21-1) advances
to play top-seeded Virginia (38-20)
at 6 p.m. today.
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BASEBALL |
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Regional represents redemption |
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 The
Bryant Bulldogs have momentum
going into the Charlottesville
regional. East Carolina's first
round opponent at 4 p.m. today
has won 10 in a row. Momentum is
not a factor in the Pirates'
favor as ECU is coming off an
0-2 showing in defense of its
2015 championship in the
American Athletic Conference
tournament
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More from Al Myatt...
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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Dual-threat QB plans to
enroll early |
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 One
play was all it took for
Kingsley Ifedi to start
turning heads in his varsity
debut as Vance High School's
starting quarterback last
August. Ifedi had served as
the backup to senior Omar
Baker, Jr., the year before
as a sophomore after
transferring to Vance from
Phillip O'Berry Academy
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More from Sammy Batten... |
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates return to Charlottesville |
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East
Carolina received a bid to the NCAA
Tournament on Monday and will be
returning to Virginia's Davenport
Field where the Pirates won two of
three against the Cavaliers in a
series Feb. 26-28.
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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Pirates stock up at quarterback |
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  In
the month since starting quarterback
contender Kurt Benkert transferred
out of the program, East Carolina
coach Scottie Montgomery has busied
himself replenishing ECU's reservoir
of talent at the position.
Highly-regarded prep signal callers
Kingsley Ifedi (left) and Mic Roof
(right) are the latest talents to
make their pledges to the Purple and
Gold. ...
Class of 2017 thumbnails... |
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By
Brian Bailey
©2016 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE
ALPHA VERSION OF THIS PAGE
It was the 'shot heard 'round the Pirate Nation.'
More than that, it was a shot heard 'round the entire
nation!
Travis Watkins hit a three-run, walk-off home run in
the bottom of the ninth Saturday night, propelling East Carolina to
a stunning 8-6 win over home-standing Virginia, the
defending National Champion and the top seed in the Charlottesville
Regional.
Sure, the Pirates still had work to do. But that
blast sent the champs reeling and moved ECU within one win of the NCAA
Super Regionals.
While many of us were thinking and hoping for a
sacrifice fly, Watkins was just trying to win the pitch.
“On the home run, I honestly wasn’t going for the
home run," Watkins explained. "He beat me in and that’s what we talk
about in this program. Coach (Cliff) Godwin stresses it: ‘Don’t get beat
the same way twice.' So he beat me in and I was like ‘I’m going to get
to that fastball in’ and he threw me a fastball in and I got the barrel
to it."
It will go down as one of the most stunning wins in
East Carolina baseball history.
I've really never seen or heard anything like it.
Watkins got all of it. My mind quickly switched from tying the game, to
walking-off with a victory.
The Cavalier faithful turned silent. It was over in
an instant. The only sound came from the Pirate celebration, the first
of two for the weekend.
The Pirates plated five in that 9th inning against
Virginia. As in true team fashion, just about the entire lineup
contributed in the inning.
Of course the job wasn't done. ECU still expected one
or perhaps two battles with Virginia before the weekend would be
complete.
The stunned Cavaliers never recovered from that 9th
inning, essentially turning one loss into two. William & Mary beat
Virginia early on Sunday, setting the stage for the Pirates to complete
the regional win.
The Pirates did just that. Watkins, the
Charlottesville Regional MVP, snapped a 4-4 tie with the Tribe in the
5th with a two-run round-tripper, and then Eric Tyler followed later in
the inning with a two-run homer of his own for
the winning 8-4 margin.
Sam Lanier was the star on the mound, as his stock
continues to rise out of that Pirate bullpen.
Pirate Coach Cliff Godwin came close to going to
Omaha as a player at ECU. Now his team is just two wins away in his
second year as the team's skipper.
"There were so many great teams in this regional,"
said Godwin. "Any team, William & Mary, Bryant, UVa, any one of those
teams could have won this regional. Our guys played their hearts out.
We’re lucky, but our guys earned it. I’m so happy for East Carolina
University, all these players, all the former players and former coaches
at East Carolina."
Next up is a super regional matchup with No. 5
national seed Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas.
Texas Tech lost one game in its regional but
regrouped to beat Dallas Baptist 5-3 to advance.
The super regional schedule should come out Tuesday.
This past weekend was one I'll never forget. The
Pirate players agreed and spoke in depth about the celebration after the
regional clincher Sunday night.
"Dog piles are awesome," said Watkins. "I’m the
catcher so I’m always on the bottom of it. It hurts in the moment, but
man it’s worth it. (I will) remember that for the rest of my life. It
was awesome to celebrate that with my teammates.”
Eric Tyler agreed.
"It’s just been a blast this entire season," Tyler
said. "It’s been up and down but there’s not a closer group of guys than
this team. It’s just such an honor to go down in history for East
Carolina baseball.”
Cliff Godwin is very much a part of that history. As
a player he came close. As a coach he is close right now. Godwin says
this team is beginning to comprehend the gravity of the mission.
"They understand this is bigger than themselves,"
Godwin said. "So many former players texted me yesterday that are so
proud of our guys. That’s what East Carolina baseball is all about...
It’s a family. East Carolina deserves to go to Omaha. Will it be this
year? I hope so, but we’re going to get there sometime.”
Sometime could be sooner rather than later.
BB
