Pirates set to wind up for first pitch

By Brian Bailey
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We had our first sign of snow this past week. It must be baseball season at East Carolina.

The Pirates will practice for the first time this Friday. The defending American Athletic Conference champions will open the regular season on February 19th, hosting Longwood for the first time.

Pirate coach Cliff Godwin is especially excited to begin his second season as the ECU coach.

“The guys are really excited this time of year,” said Godwin at the team’s annual media day. “Friday is our first day of practice. That’s three weeks away from the home opener on February 19th, so guys are fired up. They are ready to get out there and compete against each other and get ready for the start of the season.”

Godwin spent a lot of his first year as head coach developing the culture of his program. It was tough at times, trying to form the nucleus of his program. The coach says guys have certainly bought in for year two, and he’s as excited as the players to get things started.

“The past week has been the best individual workouts that I have ever been associated with,” Godwin explained. “We have been inside a few times. We actually had to go inside Saturday morning at 6 a.m. over at Next Level. You always worry about those early morning practices. Are you really going to get out of (it) what you need to get out of (it) but our guys have been really focused and really on edge to get out there and compete against each other.”

Godwin has a veteran squad returning. He is also welcoming several talented newcomers and expects battles for positions and playing time to be intense. Godwin also hopes his older players provide the leadership his new Pirates need.

“I think the older guys, the 17 returners, have done a great job transitioning the 17 newcomers into our program and into what our expectations are on the field and off the field. It’s a unique group. They have brought a lot of athleticism position player wise, a lot more team speed, a lot more depth on the pitching staff. Last year this time I was like, I don’t know if we’ll have enough pitchers to finish five games but this year the newcomers have provided plenty of depth on the mound.”

Godwin is consistent about pushing the theme.

“Culture wins," he proclaimed. "I will preach that until the day that they tell me that I can’t coach here anymore. We believe in that. We believe it 24-7 and our guys take pride in it.”

Godwin and the Pirates will host the 2016 Pirates Baseball Banquet on February 6th. It’s a privilege for me to serve as emcee for the second straight year. Former Pirate great Chad Tracy will be the featured speaker. Tickets are on sale through the end of this week.

One of the items in the silent auction is a Carolina Panthers football helmet signed by the 10 team members that made the Pro Bowl this season for the NFC Champions. That list includes Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, and Thomas Davis. That should be a great item for a Carolina Panthers fan!

Congrats to Pirate basketball

I was in Charlotte on Sunday for the Panthers' win over the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship game when I got a text from a friend asking about Caleb White and why White wasn’t playing in ECU's game at Memphis.

I sent a quick text saying that White was out with a concussion and that the Pirates were so depleted by injuries that I didn’t like their chances against the Tigers.

My friend texted back that the Pirates were up by nine at the half. I immediately got the Panthers press box buzzing about the possibility of an ECU upset.

Prince Williams hit four clutch free throws in the final seconds and the Pirates pulled off the stunner over Memphis, 84-83.

I saw Coach Jeff Lebo going into the post office and I told him congratulations on the big win.

I said, ‘I don’t know how you did it!’

He shot back, “Neither do I!”

We shared a quick laugh and you could see the sense of relief on his face.

He then quickly went back to thinking about the Pirates' next game as ECU hosts the Temple Owls on Wednesday night.

All Temple did was upset previously unbeaten Southern Methodist over the weekend.

It certainly doesn’t get any easier in the AAC.

BB

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