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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
By Brian Bailey |
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Kee & Co. primed for
Austin Regional
By
Brian Bailey
�2010 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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Tracey Kee |
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Toni Paisley |
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(Photos ECU SID) |
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It�s back to Texas for
the East Carolina
softball team. The
Pirates are making their
third trip in five weeks
to the Lone Star State.
Tracey Kee and her squad
took care of business in
the Conference USA
tournament in Houston.
The reward is a return
trip to Texas, where the
Pirates will play in the
Austin Regional
beginning Thursday.
�For us, it was huge for
our program,� said Coach
Kee back on campus on
Monday. �To get over the
hump, we had been the
bridesmaid so many
times. To finally go in
as the one seed and to
actually answer, I�m
really proud of these
kids.�
Three teams in
Conference USA will
compete in the
postseason. UAB and
Central Florida join
East Carolina in the
tournament.
The Pirates will be
joined in Austin by
Brigham Young, Iona and
host Texas. The Pirates
open with BYU, a team
that East Carolina lost
to on a walk off homer
two years ago.
�They are phenomenal
hitters,� said Kee.
�Anytime you hit over
.300 as a team and have
the amount of home runs
and RBI�s that they have
� we�ll have our work
cut out for us.�
The Pirates are
certainly playing their
best at the right time.
The squad takes an
11-game winning streak
into the NCAA
tournament.
ECU is 40-9 after that
2-7 start. But that
early season featured
three one-run losses to
Florida. The Gators are
a national seed as a
part of their own
regional.
�It�s come full circle,�
said Kee. �We knew we
put our schedule heavy
on the front half. I
kept telling people and
telling this team that
we were the best 2-7
team in the nation. I
told them they had to
keep working, to trust
us as coaches, and that
tough schedule really
paid off.�
The Pirates are led by
ace Toni Paisley.
Paisley was the MVP of
the Conference USA
tournament. She threw a
complete game
three-hitter in the
title game as she picked
up here 30th win of the
season. She has a new
ECU record 340
strikeouts this season
and her ERA is down to
.97.
Paisley agrees that the
tough schedule prepared
this team to make a run
in the postseason.
�It definitely helped,�
said Paisley. �I think
in the beginning all we
saw were losses. As we
started winning, we got
more confidence and
realized the difference
in the competition.�
Kee loves her junior
right-hander.
�I think Toni is an
elite pitcher,
especially in our
conference,� Kee said.
�I don�t know where she
matches up with some of
the BCS schools but I
think she�s right up
there. She�s not as big
as some others but she
has an incredible amount
of endurance and
competitiveness.�
Kee hopes to ride
Paisley�s right arm to a
regional title and a
berth in the Super
Regionals next week.
�Anytime you give Toni
Paisley the ball you
have a chance to win the
game,� Kee said. �Our
team feels that way, and
she feels that way.�
BYU had better feel that
way. Paisley gets the
ball again on Thursday
in Austin.
BB
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05/18/2010 02:00 AM |
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