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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
By Brian Bailey |
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ECU adapting to
midseason shakeup
By
Brian Bailey
©2010 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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BRAIN BAILEY SHOW |
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Monday night's
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Adversity is a part of
every sports season. Be
it a key injury or
suspension or something
else, problems arise
every year. It’s how a
team handles that
adversity that
determines essentially
how successful that team
is.
The East Carolina
baseball squad is still
adjusting to life after
losing one of the team’s
best players in
shortstop Dustin
Harrington.
The Pirates dropped a
game to UNC-Wilmington
the night that
Harrington and pitcher
Stihl Sowers were
dismissed from the
program. The squad then
lost two out of three to
Tulane before beating
Memphis in two out of
three games this past
weekend.
Coach Billy Godwin told
me during the Tulane
series that he thought
it might take a week or
two for the dust to
settle, for everyone to
get accustomed to their
roles with the loss of
the two players. The
problem was that he
didn’t have a couple of
weeks.
It is very difficult to
build a team for a
season and then have to
revamp halfway through.
That’s the challenge,
though, for Godwin and
his staff.
“I think everyone is
getting more comfortable
with the changes,” said
pitching coach Bill
Jarman on my weekly
radio show on Pirate
Radio 1250 Monday night.
[Replay
Show]
Jarman knows another key
to this season is his
pitching staff. He is
adamant that the team’s
success may hinge on
Brad Mincey, who’ll get
the start against
Campbell later tonight.
“We’re going to throw
Brad Mincey against
Campbell,” Jarman said.
“If we are going to be
in the thick of this
thing down the stretch,
we will need a healthy
Brad Mincey. We’d like
to get five strong
innings out of him and
then hopefully get a
chance to see some of
our other pitchers that
need work.”
Jarman got some good
news on Monday with the
announcement that Kevin
Brandt was named as the
Conference USA Pitcher
of the Week. Brandt
struck out a career high
11 in
the Pirate’s 3-2 win
over Memphis
on Sunday.
“He was pretty good,”
Jarman said. “What’s
funny about pitching is
that he didn’t have a
good bullpen session
before the game. He
usually does have a
great pen before a game,
but he didn’t this time
out. But when he got in
the game his breaking
ball came back and he
was really good.”
Jarman and the coaching
staff decided to change
up the rotation this
past weekend, throwing
Zach Woods in as the
Friday starter. Woods
pitched well enough and
put the Pirates in
position to win. The
Friday jinx, however,
continued as
Memphis rallied for
the victory.
The Pirates are just
20-12 overall and 3-3 in
Conference USA. It’s not
where this squad wanted
to be at this point.
Jarman says the Pirates
certainly aren’t pushing
the panic button.
“I thought last year
there was more parity in
our conference,” Jarman
said. "But this year I
think there is even
more. I don’t think any
team is a clear cut
favorite. The leader in
the conference has three
losses, and that’s what
we have.”
Spring football climax
Pirate fans will get
their first real look at
this new East Carolina
football offense and
defense this weekend
with the annual spring
game.
I’ve been to both
scrimmages and have
really been impressed
with Brad Wornick at
quarterback. I met Brad
for the first time after
the first scrimmage, and
he seems like he’s ready
to take advantage of
this opportunity with
the new offense.
Wornick said the design
of the offense is for
someone to be wide open
on every play.
“It’s really not
complicated at all,”
explained Wornick. “It’s
designed to give the
quarterback a couple of
different reads and I
just go through those
reads to get the ball to
the open receiver.”
Rio Johnson and Josh
Jordan will also see
plenty of action this
week.
Head coach Ruffin McNeil
will break down the
spring game on the radio
this coming Monday night
at 6:30 p.m. on my show.
Enjoy this weekend,
because it’s a long time
until September!
BB
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Brian Bailey.
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