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Pirates avoid 'energy vampires'

By Al Myatt
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

A sign in the East Carolina dugout during a 9-1 win over Houston on Sunday in the American Athletic Conference Tournament championship cautioned against energy vampires.

It's a reference to "The Energy Bus," a book by Jon Gordon, that provides counsel on advantageous direction and focus.

The self-help tome has become a how-to-succeed manual for the Pirates.

"I've read the book several times," said first-year ECU coach and alumnus Cliff Godwin, the AAC Coach of the Year. "We had the guys listen to 'The Energy Bus' on the audio over Christmas break. We go through it. We got through each chapter and talk about it. ... I think it's one of the best reads of anybody. If everybody in society read it, then this world would be a better place. ... It goes along with focusing on what we can control. We can always have good energy, positive energy.

"When we strike out, we don't want bad body language. We don't want energy vampires and looking at stuff negatively."

The Pirates have maintained a positive outlook during an eight-game winning streak they take into the NCAA Tournament regional at Coral Gables, FL.

ECU (40-20) is seeded second in the regional and plays Columbia (31-15), the No. 3 seed, at 1 p.m. Friday in the opening game of the double-elimination event. Host Miami (44-14), the top seed, meets Florida International (29-29) on Friday at 7 p.m.

"That's one of the reasons we play well," said Godwin, who wears No. 23 in memory of his former Pirates coach, Keith LeClair. "We've got a lot of energy givers in the dugout. That's helped us."

LeClair's energy as coach at ECU from the 1998 season to 2002 was directed on getting ECU to the College World Series in Omaha.

Brandon Saunders keeps his Pirate teammates going with his enthusiasm and imagination. Saunders fashioned some paper cups into a Pirate eye patch and beard during the AAC final.

"He's the Chief Energy Officer, the CEO," Godwin said of the former Pitt Community College pitcher.

Facing Romero again

If there was a situation for a potential energy vampire to pounce, it might have been Sunday against the Cougars. Houston sandwiched 10-1 and 11-1 wins around a 4-1 Pirates victory pitched by Reid Love in the AAC series at Houston on May 8-10.

Seth Romero shut down ECU in the 11-1 outcome that lasted only seven innings by virtue of the 10-run mercy rule in the series closer two weeks previous.

The freshman left-hander with a 2.15 earned run average was on the hill again for the Cougars on a sunny, 90-degree day.

"The first time we played them we got in a hole pretty big," Godwin said. "He's one of the best pitchers in the country. Once we got in a hole, it was tough to get to him. With the game close, we got some better swings off and we were able to put some more pressure on him."

Bolka, Durazo deliver

Luke Bolka and Nick Durazo became heroes as ECU won a league tournament for the first time since beating Houston in Kinston for the Conference USA crown in 2002.

Bolka hit a two-run homer off Romero in a five-run fifth inning that put the Pirates ahead to stay. Bolka has just 27 at-bats this season.

"Bolka has power," Godwin said. "He has as much bat speed as anybody on our team. He would have started at Houston on that Sunday (May 10) when we played a few weeks ago but he dove in the outfield in Thursday night practice and landed on his right shoulder and sprained his AC joint. He's just really not been available.

"He's been taking BP and kind of getting better and better every day. When I saw him hitting in the cage on Sunday morning I just said, 'We've got to go with Bolka. I mean he's going to be the guy if Reid Love can play center field because Reid's foot has been bothering him. We've got to go with Bolka because Bolka's got as much bat speed as anybody.' Coach (Jeff) Palumbo and I talked. We discussed it and said, 'Hey, look, we're going to put Bolka in that nine hole.' It worked out. He got in a hitter's count and got him a fast ball and ran it out of there."

Durazo didn't give the Cougars an opportunity to rally.

A left-handed junior, Durazo allowed just one hit over five shutout innings to improve to 5-0. He struck out five and didn't allow a walk. Starter David Lucroy battled through some jams before encountering cramps in his right forearm.

"Durazo had been tossing down there and it was warm," Godwin said. "He didn't have trouble getting loose. We needed that. We needed a guy to come in and kind of take control of the game when we had the lead.

"That's who Nick is. When Nick's on, he's as good as anybody in the country. He's shown flashes of that. He hit a spell for about a month where he just kind of wasn't himself. His arm wasn't feeling great but he told me that's as good as he's felt in a long time."

Godwin likes site

The AAC Tournament was played at Bright House Field in Clearwater, FL, home of the Clearwater Threshers of the Florida State League.

"A neutral site is even for both teams," Godwin said. "It's always a little bit tougher for them if they were playing at East Carolina. If it was in Houston, it would be tougher for us. ... (The AAC Tournament) is in the fairest place for everybody when it's in a place like that. They have auxiliary fields so we both can take BP at the same time.

"Just the way the tournament is run is as good a tournament as I've ever been associated with. We had a hotel that was on the beach. Every team had a hotel that was on the beach. The Phillies complex there is as nice as any place in the country. The fans were up underneath because they had shade. A lot of times you couldn't see that on TV. I don't think it will move from there any time soon and I don't want it to move.

"We just need people to take vacation on Memorial Day down to Clearwater and come support the Pirates."

Quality at-bats

The ESPNU telecast showed several signs in the ECU dugout. One kept count of the number of quality at-bats (QABs) for the Pirates.

"It's a list of things," Godwin said. "The thing we want to focus on is what we can control. You can't control batting average but you can control quality at-bats. You can get a quality at-bat from getting a sacrifice bunt down, for moving a runner from second base to third base with no outs, ... any RBI is a quality at-bat, a walk is a quality at-bat but every hit is not a quality at-bat. If you flare a ball or cap a ball or get jammed, it's not necessarily a quality at-bat."

Lining out is a quality at-bat.

"Ninety-nine percent of hard contact is a quality at-bat," Godwin said. "If you smoke a ball at somebody, it's a quality at-bat. ... We want to focus on what we can control and that's why we keep track of it."

Journey continues

The Pirates have a five-game winning streak in the Sunshine State, dating back to a 6-0 win at South Florida on April 12. Lucroy, Durazo, Joe Ingle and Jimmy Boyd combined for that shutout.

"I'm just real proud of our guys," Godwin said. "I'm proud of our coaches. I'm proud of everybody associated with East Carolina University because there were no expectations externally. Externally, there were low expectations of what this team could accomplish. I told the team on the bus after the game (Sunday) that I was extremely proud of 'em, that I loved 'em because when you work hard, it's a simple recipe for success.

"My grandfather and my dad taught me this a long time ago. There's no magic pill but if you work hard and you believe in something and you're selfless like these guys have been, then there are no parameters we should put on this team.

"We didn't put any parameters on them as a coaching staff and everybody inside the workings of East Carolina baseball knew that we could win games, that we could win a championship. That's one of our goals. We knocked off two of our goals, to win 40 games and win a championship. I'm just so happy for the guys because they earned it. We don't ever get stuff handed to us in life or in baseball.

"Those guys earned it. They earned a championship. Nobody can ever take that away from 'em. They won the American Conference and they won 40 games at East Carolina University.

"That's what ECU baseball is about. That's why people come play at East Carolina."

E-mail Al Myatt

PAGE UPDATED 05/27/15 10:41 PM.