Sam sets sail for professional baseball career

ECU ace follows trail blazed by family

Bonesville.net
From ECU Media Relations and staff reports

GREENVILLE — For East Carolina's baseball team and its fans, the cerebral pitcher with the pro pedigree delivered the answer sooner rather than later.

Sam Narron, the junior southpaw selected by Texas in the 15th round of last week's Major League Baseball amateur draft, has signed a contract with the Rangers.

ECU's Media Relations Office issued the announcement Wednesday.

For Narron, whose genes are steeped in the aura of professional baseball, the decision to seize the moment with a year of collegiate eligibility remaining required some serious pondering.

In the end, the Goldsboro native chose to relish fond memories of his career as a Pirate and head for the next level.

 "I felt this was the right time and right situation for me," he said. "It was a very difficult decision. The past three years here at East Carolina have been the best three years of my life. I couldn't have asked for a better experience."

Narron's father, Richard 'Rooster' Narron, was an ECU All-American before embarking on his own pro baseball quest three decades ago with the New York Mets organization, and his grandfather and namesake, Sam, played with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

To make the family circle complete, the parent club of the Texas Rangers organization the junior Narron will be joining is managed by his uncle, Jerry Narron.

The Rangers have assigned Narron to Pulaski of the Appalachian League.

Narron leaves East Carolina sixth on the school's career wins list (26) and ninth in innings pitched (278.2). During his three years at ECU, he compiled a 26-7 record with a with a 3.26 earned run average.

As a junior, he earned second team All-Conference USA honors and was named to the C-USA All-Tournament team after helping the 6th-seeded Pirates sweep to the title at Kinston's Grainger Stadium.

Unlike the scenario that factors into decisions by many college athletes who bolt for the pros as underclassmen, Narron was not swayed by academic pressures. He is a two-time Academic All-American and was the recipient of both the 2002 ECU Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award and the Conference USA Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.

From ECU Media Relations and staff reports

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