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Audio: Brian Bailey
Show |
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 The
Brian Bailey Show
airs on Pirate Radio
1250
on Mondays at
6:30 p.m. Brian's
guest this week was
ECU assistant
baseball coach
Frankie Everitte
(above):
Replay
show... |
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates power past
UConn |
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 GREENVILLE
—
Charlie Yorgen
and
Bryce
Harman
hit home
runs in
support
of
winning
pitcher
Jacob
Wolfe as
East
Carolina
topped
Connecticut
5-2 on
Sunday
at
Clark-LeClair
Stadium
to take
the
American
Athletic
Conference
series
two
games to
one and
maintain
a tie
for
first in
the
league
standings
with
Houston.
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Story & pictures... |
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Pictured: ECU's
Charlie Yorgen turns
a double play in the
deciding game of an
American Athletic
Conference series
with Connecticut on
Sunday. The
sophomore second
baseman went 2-3
with a two-run home
run in the bottom of
the first inning. (Photo by W.A. Myatt) |
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BASKETBALL RECRUITING |
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Pirates ink power forward |
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 Australian
big man Deng Riak has signed to pursue his college
basketball
career at East Carolina.
The
three-star recruit fielded offers from
Florida, Minnesota, Oregon and Virginia
Tech, among others, before opting to
become the third member of Coach Jeff Lebo's recruiting
class of 2015-2016. ...
Thumbnail sketch... |
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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Juco WR/RB sticks with ECU |
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 Mauldin
(SC) High School product Dre Massey has
renewed his commitment to East Carolina
after spending a year at Holmes (MS)
Community College. The former prep
quarterback originally committed to the
Pirates in 2014. He is projected as a WR/RB
in the recruiting class of 2016. ...
Thumbnail sketch... |
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BASEBALL |
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Tough Love lifts Pirates |
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GREENVILLE — Reid Love led East Carolina's
5-4 win over Connecticut on Saturday at
Clark-LeClair Stadium as the Pirates halted
a two-game losing streak and maintained a
share of the American Athletic Conference
lead. Love (5-3) pitched a complete game and
was 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs. ...
More... |
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Next: ECU vs.
UConn | Sunday, 12:30 pm |
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BASEBALL |
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UConn thrashes Pirates |
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GREENVILLE — Connecticut scored five runs in
the first two innings and went on to a 13-2
American Athletic Conference win at East
Carolina on Friday night. The Pirates
dropped to 29-18 overall and 9-7 in league
play as the Huskies (29-18, 8-8) evened the
season series at 2-2. ...
More... |
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BASEBALL |
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A week to remember |
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 On
Monday of this past week I asked
first year East Carolina baseball
coach Cliff Godwin what a 5-0 week
would mean to his program. In
typical coach-speak fashion, Godwin
gave me the ole ‘we take them one a
time’ speech. ...
More
from Brian Bailey... |
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates sweep UCF |
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GREENVILLE — A four-run first inning that
included a three-run homer by Luke Lowery
put East Carolina ahead to stay as the
Pirates completed an American Athletic
Conference sweep of Central Florida with a
6-5 win at Clark-LeClair Stadium on Sunday.
...
More... |
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates hold off UCF, take series |
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STORRS, CT — East Carolina reliever Joe
Ingle struck out Central Florida's Dylan
Moore on a full count pitch with two out in
the top of the ninth inning on Saturday with
two runners in scoring position as the
Pirates took a 3-2 American Athletic
Conference win at Clark-LeClair Stadium ...
More... |
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates nip UCF in 10 |
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STORRS, CT — Eric Tyler's two-out RBI single
up the middle on Friday night provided East
Carolina with its third straight walkoff win
at Clark-LeClair Stadium. ...
More... |
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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Recruiting Wars: Wide Receivers |
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 Few
Football Bowl Subdivision coaching staffs
have done a better job identifying and
developing wide receiver talent than East
Carolina during the five seasons under
Ruffin McNeill's guidance. ...
More from Sammy Batten... |
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Recruiting Wars:
QB |
RB |
WR/TE | OL
| DE | NT | LB | DB |
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By
Brian Bailey
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF THIS PAGE
This was another winning weekend on the diamond at East Carolina in more
ways than one.
The Pirates bounced back from a game one loss to Connecticut on Friday
night to beat the Huskies twice in a row to take the series. It’s the
second series win for the Pirates over UConn this year.
With the outcome the Pirates are still very much a part of the
championship race in the American Athletic Conference with just two
weekends to play.
East Carolina will head to Houston this weekend for a battle of first
place teams. The Pirates and Cougars both stand at 11-7 with six games
to go.
“Yeah, we're playing for a championship,” said first year Pirate coach
Cliff Godwin. “I don't know, you guys have to tell me when the last time
that happened. I'm proud of the guys because they have worked hard. They
deserve to be in this moment.”
Godwin knew things didn’t look so good in the loss on Friday night. The
team had a sloppy outing and lost to UConn 13-2.
“I thought they pressed on Friday night,” said Godwin. “But they
gathered themselves after we got punched in the mouth a little bit and
played well the rest of the weekend.”
This certainly isn’t the most talented Pirate team on record, but they
do play hard. Among the ‘over-achievers’ was Sunday’s winning pitcher,
Jacob Wolfe.
“It just shows how strong we are as a team,” said Wolfe. “We play as a
team and we win as a team, that's just how it is. We just want to pick
up this win and take it home and build on it.”
An
"Exceptional" day
Sunday's other win for this East Carolina baseball team came later in
the day when the Pirates hosted their annual game with the Exceptional
Community Baseball League.
The ECBL is a baseball league for children and adults with special
needs. Those needs come in all shapes and sizes. Personally, it’s been a
privilege to work in the league for the past ten seasons.
Story
continues after the following picture...
“It’s the biggest day of the year for our players,” said ECBL president
Gordon Darragh. “All of players really love getting out there and
playing with the Pirates.”
Over the years the Pirate players have always welcomed the ECBL players
with open arms. I truly think they get just as much or more out of the
day then 'Exceptional' players do.
Story
continues after the following picture...
“These kids deserve it because some of these kids don’t have the same
opportunities that we have and it’s big time,” said ECU first baseman
Bryce Harman. “This is the second year that I have had the chance to do
this and it’s a great time. The kids deserve it!”
Story
continues after the following picture...
Godwin agreed and had a smile on his face all afternoon.
“It’s really cool for our guys to give back,” said Godwin. “To see them
up there helping them hit and watching our guys in the field. It just
brings so much excitement to these kids to be able to come out on our
baseball field and play around and hang out with our guys. Some of the
people that were here last year remember our guys and it’s just neat to
see.”
Story
continues after the following picture...
It’s hard not to get emotional when you watch the two worlds interact.
None of these parents asked for children with special needs, but that’s
the hand they were dealt. I have so much respect for each and every one
of them. None of us will ever know what they go through on a day-to-day
basis.
For one afternoon, though, everyone’s on the same stage.
To hear your name called in the big stadium has to be a tremendous
thrill for everyone.
Story
continues after the following picture...
“I think it’s big to put everything in perspective,” said Godwin. “Look,
our games our important, but it’s not life or death. We’re so blessed to
be able to play this great game and our guys to be able to be fully
healthy and be able to give back to the community and to help people
out. It’s awesome.”
For the Exceptional Community Baseball League, it was also awesome.
BB
Kinston
High School
basketball star
Brandon Ingram (near
right) and Kinston
High School coach
Perry Tyndall (far
right):