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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, August 18, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Roller, Harris spurn
pros for a year
By
Brian Bailey
©2009 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
There is good news from
Pirate baseball. Both
Kyle Roller and Devin
Harris will return to
the diamond for East
Carolina next season.
Roller and Harris have
been leaning toward
returning for a while.
Coach Billy Godwin
wasn’t totally relieved
until the signing
deadline passed at 12
midnight this morning.
Roller was selected by
the Oakland A’s in the
47th round of the
amateur draft.
Since the draft,
Roller’s stock has
skyrocketed. The Pirate
slugger became just the
second player in Cape
Cod League history to
win the MVP award for
both the regular season
and the playoffs.
Roller played first base
and led the Bourne
Braves to the Cape Cod
League championship.
During the regular
season, he led the CCBL
in home runs (10), RBI's
(33), doubles (13),
slugging percentage
(.644), extra-base hits
(24) and runs scored
(33), and ranked second
in batting (.342), hits
(51) and on-base
percentage (.449).
In the playoffs, Roller
continued his torrid
pace, hitting .500
(7-for-14) with eight
RBI's and scoring six
runs in the Braves'
perfect 4-0 playoff run
to the title.
Though his stock rose,
the money for a 47th
round pick just wasn’t
worth it for Roller. The
Cape Cod MVP awards and
a great year next season
should pay big
dividends.
“It’s a win-win for me,”
said Roller last night.
“I get a chance to come
back and play another
season and continue my
education.”
Harris is also staying.
The Baltimore Orioles
picked him in the 8th
round of the draft in
June.
Harris became a folk
hero at East Carolina
with his home run to tie
the
Greenville regional
championship game
against South Carolina,
and then his RBI single
to win it.
“I haven’t talked to the
Orioles in about three
weeks,” said Harris last
night. "They didn’t
reach the number I was
looking for. They said
they were going to use
some of the money I
turned down to sign some
of their other players.”
“We’re thrilled to have
both of those young men
returning to our
program,” said Godwin
just after the midnight
signing deadline.
Godwin joked that he was
usually in bed asleep by
about 9:30 most nights,
but that he was going to
stay up late to make
sure everything played
out like he thought it
would.
It did. Two sluggers
like Roller and Harris
can make any coach sleep
a little better at
night.
Youth served in first
scrimmage
Scrimmage number one is
in the books, and it
went down without any
major injuries.
That was goal number
one, for sure.
Goal number two was to
formulate the depth
chart. Several nice
battles are going on,
especially with some of
the younger players.
Playing time, with this
veteran squad, will be
at a premium.
One of the most
intriguing battles is
for the spot just behind
Patrick Pinkney. If the
Rob Kass experiment
continues at tight end,
then either redshirt
freshman Josh Jordan or
true freshman Rio
Johnson has to step up.
“I was really impressed
with Rio,” said Pirate
coach Skip Holtz after
Saturday’s scrimmage.
“The way he moves his
feet, the way he moves
around, the decision he
makes with the ball
under his arm.
Quarterbacks know what
everybody’s doing but
its about making good
decisions. I thought he
did a good job of
protecting the ball.”
Holtz also likes Jordan,
who has to be the
favorite to back up
Pinkney because he
already has a year of
Pirate football under
his belt.
“Josh Jordan is a
physical player,” said
Holtz. “He knows the
offense better. They’re
both doing a good job
and merit some time.”
BB
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08/18/2009 04:13:38 AM |
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