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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
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By Brian Bailey |
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Pirates warming to the task
in wintry start
�2006 Bonesville.net
Credit the East Carolina
players and coaches for not making the weather a big issue this February.
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Replay the archive
of Monday night's Brian Bailey Show, with guest
Billy Godwin, ECU's head baseball coach. |
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Select clip |
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The Pirates took two out of
three from Maryland last weekend, splitting a frigid doubleheader on Sunday
that included snow flurries. This past weekend, ECU again won two out of
three, beating the College of Charleston in a series that featured crazy
twists in the weather.
Friday�s 5-0 win over the
Cougars featured a 70-degree day and a great Pirate effort. Pitcher T.J.
Hose picked up his second win of the season after firing six shutout
innings.
Saturday�s weather was simply
miserable. It was cold and wet and just an absolute mess. Still, the Pirates
once again slowed down the Cougars, winning 4-2.
The sun returned on Sunday,
but still the temperatures barely made it over the freezing mark. It was a
long, cold afternoon at the park, made colder when the College of Charleston
bats heated up. The Cougars out-hit the Pirates 16-6 in rallying for an 11-8
victory.
Make no mistake about it. East
Carolina�s goal was to take this series against the Cougars, but to a man
everyone was disappointed in the outcome of the third game.
�We saw a lot of positives
this past weekend,� Coach Billy Godwin said on my
weekly radio/cable show last night. �We just wanted to finish
better, and we made some mistakes.�
Duke comes to town today for a
single game at 3 p.m. Former J.H. Rose star Mike Flye will get the start for
the Pirates against the Blue Devils. The weather is expected to be nice, a
great change from the weekend.
�I really don�t think the
weather was that big of a deal,� said Godwin. �Once you move around a little
bit and get your body temperature up, it wasn�t that bad.�
Godwin seems to be at ease as
the Pirate coach. His coaching career certainly hit the fast track last fall
when he replaced Randy Mazey as the Pirate�s skipper. One minute Godwin was
the new pitching coach; the next minute he was in charge of the entire
program.
Godwin cites three keys for
the success of the program: �East Carolina has such a great history and
tradition in baseball. Also, we have such a great administration in place.
And, the Pirate fans are the best anywhere.�
Bermuda Triangle
The 2006 season is only six
games old, and already we�ve seen some crazy things.
First, on opening day, Jake
Smith hit a check swing home run to right field. Jake checked his swing, and
the ball took off, aided by a strong wind blowing out to right field.
This past Sunday, the College
of Charleston had a pair of outfielders who struggled in left field. The
first guy missed two easy plays. Later, a new outfielder again botched a fly
ball. I�ve seen guys make one mistake, but I�ve never seen a team totally
lose it like the Cougars' defense did.
�It was sort of like the
Bermuda Triangle out there,� said Godwin.
Give credit to the �Jungle�
out in left field as well. I certainly wouldn�t want to play left field
against East Carolina. Evidently, the Cougars didn�t have anyone that wanted
to play left field either.
On deck: The LeClair Classic
East Carolina plays host to
the 3rd annual Keith LeClair Classic this weekend at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates will play Penn
State in their first game on Friday at 5:00. ECU then matches up with rival
UNC-Wilmington on Saturday before taking on Virginia Tech on Sunday.
North Carolina State and West
Virginia are also in the tournament�s field. For true college baseball fans,
it�s a great weekend to get a chance to see several different teams. Games
start each day at 10 a.m.
Here�s hoping the weather
cooperates. If it doesn�t, it looks like we�ll all be bundled up at the
stadium to check out some great baseball!
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Brian Bailey.
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02/23/2007 01:33:29 AM |
