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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, May 26, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Clark-LeClair gets its day in the sun
By
Brian Bailey
©2009 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
For those who worked so
hard to build Clark-LeClair
Stadium, Friday will be
a most emotional day.
The stadium was built to
give East Carolina a
home in the postseason.
Now, the Pirates
will get a chance
to show off their jewel
in the NCAA baseball
tournament.
East Carolina will
welcome South Carolina,
George Mason and
Binghamton to Greenville
beginning on Thursday
for the teams'
practices, and then for
the first day of action
on Friday.
The Pirates were a bit
of a surprise as an NCAA
host, and maybe a
surprise as a number one
seed. Either way, Pirate
coach Billy Godwin was
fired up just after
ESPN’s selection show on
Monday.
“Isn’t this a great day
to be a Pirate,” Godwin
told the assembled crowd
of Pirates,
administrators and
media. “I’m so excited
for our players who have
worked so hard and for
our fans and
administration that
we’re able to play these
games at Clark-LeClair.”
The rich baseball
history at East Carolina
adds a chapter this
coming weekend. The
Pirates will make their
24th NCAA Regional
appearance and 10th in
the last 11 years.
It is the fifth time
that ECU has been a
number one seed.
It’s the third time the
Pirates will host a
regional, but it’s the
first in Greenville. ECU
also hosted in Wilson in
2001 and in Kinston in
2004.
“It’s a big honor to be
the team that did bring
a regional to Clark-LeClair,”
said Godwin. “This team
understands the history
here at ECU. We hope to
continue to add to that
history.”
The Pirates take on
Binghamton on Friday in
the night game (7 p.m.).
The Bearcats are coached
by Tim Sinicki.
Coincidentally, Sinicki
played his college ball
with one of the
namesakes of the
facility where his team
will play its first-ever
NCAA regional game. He
was a teammate of former
ECU coach Keith LeClair
at Western Carolina.
Sinicki was a pitcher
with the Catamounts and
helped lead them to
back-to-back NCAA
regional appearances.
"East Carolina has a
tremendous tradition and
they have been very
successful over the
years," Sinicki said in
his school’s tournament
release. "Greenville is
a great college town and
I'm sure they will
support their team and
make it a tremendous
atmosphere. Our guys are
looking forward to the
challenge. They are
still flying high after
the weekend.
"We are all very excited
and proud to have this
opportunity to represent
Binghamton and the
America East."
South Carolina and
George Mason will match
up in Friday’s first
game (3 p.m.).
Gamecocks coach Ray
Tanner has certainly
seen his share of East
Carolina through the
years. Tanner is in his
13th season at South
Carolina. Before that he
spent nine years at N.C.
State.
“I’m excited about going
to Greenville,” Tanner
said. “Our team won 11
of 12 before the SEC
tournament to get into
this conversation."
“I’ve been to East
Carolina plenty of
times,” Tanner added. “I
played there growing up
a little bit. We played
there when I was at N.C.
State. Billy Godwin has
done a great job and
with that facility, they
deserve to be a host
after winning the
regular season
championship in
Conference USA. We’re
just excited to be a
part of it.”
This weekend’s regional
winners match up in the
NCAA Super Regionals.
The ECU regional is
paired with the UNC-Chapel
Hill regional.
The final destination is
Omaha. This year, the
journey for East
Carolina begins at home.
Clark-LeClair was built
to host. Now, East
Carolina’s jewel of a
diamond will get that
shot!
BB
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05/26/2009 12:44:49 AM |
