Bonesville: The Authoritative Independent Voice of East Carolina

News & Features from ECU, the AAC and Beyond

  • Home
  • News & Features
  • Recruiting
  • Photos
  • Audio
  • Roundup
  • Comments
  • Legacy Archives

• ECU 2022 Baseball Schedule
• ECU 2022 Football Schedule
• ECU 2021-22 Hoops Schedule
• Recruiting: Football • Hoops

From the Anchor Desk
Talent-rich Pirates have targets on their backs

January 29, 2019 By Brian Bailey Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

You can see it in the players’ and coaches’ faces that this is a Pirate baseball team that can’t wait to open the 2019 schedule.

The Radford series can’t get here quick enough on February 15th.

Monday was media day for the Pirate baseball team. The event opened with head coach Cliff Godwin.

Column continues after photo…

ECU head baseball coach Cliff Godwin addresses reporters at Monday’s media day. (Photo by Brian Bailey)

“The guys are excited,” said Coach Godwin. “These guys have worked really hard and are looking forward to the season. We have lots of guys who will play, which is important for our depth.”

Make no mistake about it. This will be a deep ECU baseball team. The Pirates have depth on the mound and on both offense and defense.

“We really think we can put different lineups out there, depending on the situation,” said assistant coach Jeff Palumbo. “We could have some really big bats in the lineup and then substitute for defense late and really cover some ground.”

Column continues after photo…

ECU assistant coach Jeff Palumbo talks with reporters at Monday’s media day. (Photo by Brian Bailey)

The Pirates return 23 letter winners led by All-American Bryant Packard.

Packard received his 4th preseason All-America honor on Monday. He was named 2nd team All-American by Baseball America.

The Pirate star and Greenville native had already garnered preseason All-America accolades by Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball and Perfect Game – all first-team honors — while also being selected as the American Athletic Conference Preseason Player-of-the-Year by the league’s nine head coaches.

Packard says it’s not easy to, as Coach Cliff Godwin preaches, ‘ignore the noise.’

“It is hard,” said Packard. “But all of these preseason honors are based on last season. They don’t hand out the trophies this early. I just have to go out and prove myself every day.”

Column continues after photo…

Preseason All-American Bryant Packard fields questions from reporters at Monday’s ECU media day. (Photo by Brian Bailey)

Packard became the first player in program history to be included in seven All-America teams in the same season a year ago,

The real, lighthearted part of media day concerned Spencer Brickhouse’s hair style.

Brickhouse has a full mullet. It almost looks like the mane of a lion. The first five questions from the media for Brickhouse concerned his hair style.

“The pitchers said they liked it when I first started it,” said Brickhouse. “I’m just trying to have a little fun with it. My mom didn’t like it at first but she came around.”

Coach Godwin said last week that while he didn’t favor anything that brought attention to an individual, it was OK with him as long as the play on the field and the effort in the classroom remained strong.

Column continues after photo…

All-AAC designated hitter Spencer Brickhouse takes questions from reporters at Monday’s ECU media day. (Photo by Brian Bailey)

“He spends more time on his than I do on mine,” said Packard, who introduced his mullet a year ago.

The Pirates have a great problem on the mound. Even though pitching Coach Dan Roszel says you can always have more pitching depth, he has to like what he’s starting the year with.

That staff includes the likes of Jake Agnos, Tyler Smith, Trey Benton and Alec Burleson. This is a talented and veteran staff. The coaches weren’t ready to announce their first weekend rotation as these guys will continue to battle for the next couple of weeks.

Column continues after photo…

ECU pitching coach Dan Roszel engages in an exchange with reporters at Monday’s media day. (Photo by Brian Bailey)

Godwin also said at media day that ECU and Wichita State were the only two schools in the American that will be equipped for replay reviews this season. The AAC coaches voted to use the replay system at games hosted by the Pirates and the Shockers.

Godwin knows his Pirates will have a target on their backs this season. He knows his program didn’t handle that role well in 2017 because of a number of factors.

I don’t see a repeat of ’17 at all in 2019. That year was strange in many ways. Injuries and breaks just didn’t go the ECU way.

Injuries are always a concern, but this Pirate team is deep in all areas.

It should be an exciting spring. And it all starts in less than three weeks.

ECU 2019 BASEBALL SCHEDULE
PIRATE NATION BUYING WHAT HOUSTON IS SELLING
YETNA SPARKS USF PAST PIRATES
KIRKPATRICK: ‘ONCE A PIRATE, ALWAYS A PIRATE’

Related

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

Filed Under: News & Features, Photos

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent News & Features

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Man with deep roots notes Pirates’ progress

Baseball News
Pirates walk off in 10th for sweep

Baseball News
Pirates continue roll

Baseball News
Pirates overtake Houston for 12th straight win

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Pirates grind to success

Baseball News
ECU edges Campbell, 7-6

Baseball News
Pirates clinch AAC crown

Baseball News
ECU captures series, boosts conference lead

Baseball News
Pirates take series opener with Bulls

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates aim high for interior line talent

More News & Features

ECU Schedules

  • ECU 2021 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2020-21 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2021 Baseball Schedule

ECU Recruiting

  • Football Recruiting Class of 2021
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2020
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2019
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2018
  • Football Recruiting Class of 2017
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2021-22
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2020-21
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2019-20
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2018-19
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2017-18
  • Hoops Recruiting Class of 2016-17
Tweets by bonesville

Past Football Schedules

  • ECU 2020 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2019 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2018 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2017 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2016 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2015 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2014 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2013 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2012 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2011 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2010 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2009 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2008 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2007 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2006 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2005 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2004 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2003 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2002 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2001 Football Schedule
  • ECU 2000 Football Schedule
  • Historical Schedules

Past Basketball Schedules

  • ECU 2019-20 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2018-19 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2017-18 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2016-17 Basketball Schedule
  • ECU 2000-2015 Basketball Archives

Past Baseball Schedules

  • ECU 2020 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2019 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2018 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2017 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2016 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2015 Baseball Schedule
  • ECU 2001-2014 Baseball Archives

Recruiting Class Profiles

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates aim high for interior line talent

ECU Recruiting News
Well stocked Pirates enter fray for O-linemen

ECU Recruiting News
ECU faces uphill battle in hunt for tight ends

ECU Recruiting News
Pirates cast wide net for wide receivers

ECU Recruiting News
Loaded Pirates still courting running backs

ECU Recruiting News
ECU targets quarterbacks of the future

AAC Football Recruiting News
Transfer portal reshaping AAC football programs

Class of 2022 Defensive Report Card
ECU’s former weak link becoming big strength (updated)

Class of 2022 Offensive Report Card
Help is on the way for blocking corps (update 3)

American Athletic Conference Recruiting
Bearcats lead AAC’s early signing push

Class of 2022 In-depth Analysis
Surprises, depth highlight early recruiting haul

VIEW FROM THE EAST
‘What a difference a year makes’

Football Recruiting Report
Prolific receiver Webb may enroll early

Football Recruiting Report
Another gifted running back headed to ECU

Football Recruiting Report
ECU wins pledge from hotly recruited RB Gunn

Football Recruiting Report
Coveted lineman Sacra may enroll early

Football Recruiting Report
Pirates lure a star from DB factory

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Harrell on quest for unanimous effort

Football Recruiting Report
West Craven star Mims sticking close to home

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Pirates ready for preseason camp

Football Recruiting Report
Lineman built his future during COVID layoff

Football Recruiting Report
Norcross star on track for early enrollment

VIEW FROM THE EAST
Pirates pulling from portal

Football Recruiting Report
Big man Allen tapping into ‘nasty side’

Football Recruiting Report
ECU gets one of NC’s top D-line prospects

Recent Web Roundups

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Monday, May 23, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Sunday, May 22, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Saturday, May 21, 2022

Writer Archives

  • Bonesville Staff
  • Brian Bailey
  • Sammy Batten
  • Bethany Bradsher
  • Brett Friedlander
  • Al Myatt
  • NFF
  • Greg Vacek
  • Danny Whitford

Recent Web Roundups

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Monday, May 23, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Sunday, May 22, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Saturday, May 21, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Friday, May 20, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Thursday, May 19, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Wednesday, May 18, 2022

GREG VACEK'S WEB ROUNDUP
Monday, May 16, 2022

More Web Roundups

Copyright © 2022 Bonesville.net · Website by Seaport Webworks. · Log in · Privacy Policy