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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
By Brian Bailey |
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Expectations high as
first pitch nears
By
Brian Bailey
©2010 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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Billy Godwin |
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(Photo: ECU SID) |
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Kevin McMullan |
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(Photo: UVa SID) |
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The East Carolina
baseball team continues
to rack up the national
rankings this preseason.
Obviously, there are too
many national polls for
baseball. But the
different rankings do
make for great
conversation.
This is the first time
in school history that
ECU is ranked in six
national preseason
polls. The highest the
Pirates are ranked is
11th by Rivals.com.
We’ll have more baseball
this Saturday as the
program announces which
Pirate player will wear
the number 23, to honor
former ECU coach Keith
LeClair. It’s the annual
“Meet the Pirates”
luncheon, and the
highlight each year is
the “23” announcement.
Coach Billy Godwin gets
emotional when he talks
about the honor.
“It is the highest honor
for any ECU baseball
player,” said Godwin.
“These guys know just
how much it means.”
The Pirates open the
2010 season two weeks
from Friday when
Virginia comes to town
for what should be a
great three-game series.
The Cavaliers are ranked
as high as second in the
national polls.
Virginia’s associate
head coach Kevin
McMullan served as the
Pirates' acting head
coach for Coach LeClair
in 2002, when LeClair
could no longer continue
on with his duties
because of his battle
with Lou Gehrig's
Disease. LeClair died in
2006.
McMullan led the Pirates
to a Conference USA
title and the NCAA
regionals during a very
trying time. McMullan
should have been
rewarded with the head
coaching job, which was
later given to Randy
Mazey.
It’ll be good to see
Coach McMullan in a
couple of weeks. I’m
sure his emotions will
also be running high as
he coaches in the
stadium named for his
former friend and
colleague.
ECU and Virginia open
their series on February
19th.
Budget doubleheader nets split
East Carolina offered a
rarity in this day and
age on Saturday. The
Pirate basketball
doubleheader featuring
both the men and the
women went on, despite
terrible road conditions
all around the state.
For those that were
close enough to get to
the games, admission was
free.
How about that for a
cheap date! There were
no “ticket takers.” All
you had to do was show
up and find a seat in
Williams Arena. Two wins
would have made for a
near perfect day.
The women held up their
end. Despite losing two
of the league’s best
players from last year
in Jasmine Young and
LaCoya Terry, the Lady
Pirates moved into a tie
for first place in
Conference USA with a
convincing 76-59 victory
over Memphis.
This Lady Pirates set a
new home winning streak
mark with their 11th
straight victory. This
seems to be a close knit
group. It’s also a group
that may get even better
as the season continues.
Sharon Baldwin-Tener
knows her team can play
even better.
“We turn the ball over
way too much,” said
Baldwin-Tener after the
win. “Thank goodness we
shoot the ball well from
the floor. Our defense
was decent in the game,
except for boxing out. I
think we have to take
care of the basketball,
there’s no doubt.”
The women are fun to
watch. They play a very
unselfish style of
basketball in which a
new star seems to rise
to the occasion with
each outing.
McCarthy groping for
answers
As for the men, Mack
McCarthy described his
feelings after Saturday
night’s loss to Rice as
“befuddled.”
Coach Mack could have
used other words to
describe his feelings on
how his team trailed by
18 points at halftime to
previously C-USA winless
Rice. He could have used
perplexed. How about
bewildered?
Coach Mac certainly
seemed dazed after
the 69-58 loss.
McCarthy’s squad just
isn't good enough to
come out flat against
any team. Rice dominated
the Pirates in the first
half Saturday night.
ECU did play much better
and much harder in the
second half, but the
squad seemed to run out
of gas after cutting the
lead to two with about
five minutes to play.
McCarthy said he didn’t
think the team warmed up
well. He says the staff
watches the team from a
monitor in the locker
room and was concerned
before the game.
After that tough first
half, the Pirates did
battle.
“We had some good
efforts (in the second
half)”, said McCarthy.
“Darrius Morrow really
played hard. Corvonn
Gaines really played
hard. I thought a lot of
people played hart in
the second half. For the
first half, I’m
befuddled.”
BB
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