|
BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
-----
|
From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
 |
ECU aims to loosen up at
the beach
By
Brian Bailey
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
For the ninth time in
the last decade, East
Carolina will play in
the NCAA baseball
regionals.
For the first time, the
Pirates are headed to
Conway, SC, where
Coastal Carolina will
play host as the number
one seed.
The Pirates are seeded
second. Alabama, one of
nine teams from the
Southeastern Conference
in the tournament, is
the third seed. Columbia
is the fourth seed.
Surprisingly, Coastal
Carolina will meet
Columbia in the 1:00
game on Friday. The
Pirates will play the
Crimson Tide in the 7:00
game that night.
East Carolina coach
Billy Godwin was
delighted with the news.
“This starts a new
season for us,” said
Godwin. “We’re excited.
We’ve got a good week
ahead to get ready to go
down to Myrtle Beach.
"We’re excited about our
draw and we look forward
to playing fairly close
so our fans can make the
trip. We’re very
excited.”
The major concern out of
the Pirate camp is on
offense. The Pirates
lost two out of three
games in the Conference
USA Tournament, scoring
a grand total of just
nine runs.
Godwin says he thinks
his team just came out
tight in New Orleans,
for whatever reason. He
says that will be key
coming up this weekend.
“One of the things we’ve
done all year is hit,”
said Godwin. “I think
guys were pressing.
We’re going to do some
things this week, some
drills, to try and get
guys more relaxed at the
plate.”
ECU slugger Corey Kemp
was also surprised at
the team's offense in
the C-USA Tournament.
“I thought we pitched
well and played good
defense,” said Kemp.
“You’d like to do it all
but it just didn’t
happen. We’ll just get
back to practice and
work on relaxing. We
know we are a good
hitting team.
"We just have to let the
game come to us, and not
press so much.”
The Pirates will
certainly be tested in
their opener. Alabama
comes from a tough
baseball league and the
match-up looks pretty
even on paper. The
Pirates will most likely
start true freshman Seth
Maness against the
Crimson Tide.
Although Coach Godwin
hasn’t announced it,
look for T.J. Hose to
come on in relief in the
regional. Justin Bristow
will likely start the
second game. Hose
relishes the likelihood
of getting the call out
of the bullpen.
“I hope so,” said Hose.
“I told Coach Godwin
before the C-USA
tournament to use me in
the first two games if I
could come in and give
us a chance to win. I
definitely want that
opportunity to come out
of the pen.”
Hose was originally
recruited as a closer.
He certainly could take
that role again this
weekend.
A trip to the beach to
start the summer should
be fun.
Coastal Carolina is
favored as the top seed,
but you have to like
East Carolina's and
Alabama’s chances,
depending on how things
play out.
The winner heads to the
Super Regionals. The
Conway regional is
paired up with the Cary
regional, where North
Carolina is the number
two national seed.
Call it “May Madness” or
“Baseball Bracketology.”
Whatever you call it, it
is college baseball at
its best!
BB
Send an e-mail message to
Brian Bailey.
Click here to dig into Brian Bailey's Bonesville
archives.
05/27/2008 02:10:03 AM |
