BAILEY'S
TAKE ON PIRATE SPORTS
From the
Anchor Desk
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
By Brian
Bailey |
|
Baseball report card
a mixed bag
By
Brian Bailey
©2012 Bonesville.net
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East Carolina wrapped up its 2012 baseball campaign with
that 5-3 loss to North Carolina
in the Chapel Hill Regional on June 3. After a week of reflection, now
is a good time for a brief synopsis of the season:
Biggest series sweep: East Carolina swept Stony Brook
by scores of
1-0,
2-1 and
4-3 to open the month
of March. At the time, many Pirate fans wondered why the games were
so close. Stony Brook is now the hottest team in the country and
will head to Omaha this weekend for the College Baseball World
Series.
Biggest tournament wins: The Pirates rolled in the
DRASH Alabama Baseball Classic,
beating Alabama,
Oral Roberts and
Louisville in the three
games.
Biggest non-conference win: East Carolina
beat North Carolina State 6-5
on March 20 at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Pirates split the season
series with the Wolfpack,
falling 4-3 in 11 innings in
the game in Raleigh on March 28.
Biggest non-conference Loss: The Pirates'
frustrations in Chapel Hill continued this season with a couple of
losses. East Carolina’s loss
to North Carolina in the Chapel Hill
regional was the Pirate’s 15th straight loss to the
Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. On April 25, the Pirates
lost a 1-0, 10-inning pitching duel
to North Carolina. The exasperating part for many is that East
Carolina certainly had chances to win both of this season's games at
Boshamer Stadium. The Pirates outhit the Tar Heels 10-5 in the
regional loss but eight walks were the difference in the game.
Biggest positive: The ECU coaching staff really
didn’t know what they had on the mound to start the year, but
overall the hurlers were very solid. The Pirates did have problems
with a fifth starter during the year, but the staff combined for a
3.55 ERA for the season. Kevin Brandt was perhaps the most effective
pitcher with the least to show for it. The senior lefthander was
just 7-6 on the season with a 2.12 ERA. He had four complete games,
all of which were losses.
Biggest negative: The Pirates struggled getting key
hits in games, which led to several losses and plenty of frustration
from the ECU faithful. The Pirates hit nearly .300 as a team (.295)
but just couldn’t come through in many scoring situations.
The goal of making it to Omaha and the College Baseball
World Series will have to wait for another season.
The Pirates did make their 26th NCAA Regional appearance
and 12th in the past 14 years.
But is that enough?
That answer is no. It’s not enough for Pirate fans and
more importantly it’s not enough for head coach Billy Godwin and his
staff.
“It’s frustrating,” said Godwin after the Pirates' loss
to North Carolina to wrap up the season. “Nobody is any more frustrated
than I am. All I know how to do is to keep working to get this program
to Omaha.”
That’s the goal. The late Keith LeClair put the goal in
focus. This year and every year the goal for Pirate baseball is to
finally make that trip to Omaha and the College Baseball World Series.
The work will continue.
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06/12/2012 02:18 AM |