Woody's Ramblings Monday, February 16, 2009 By Woody Peele

The number four has a great significance to the 2009 East Carolina baseball team as it prepares to open the season Friday against Monmouth.

�Last year, we were four wins away from making it to Omaha,� fourth-year coach Billy Godwin said. �This year, those four more wins are our goal.�

And Godwin believes � as do the Pirates � that Omaha is a legitimate goal this season.

Led by one of the top young pitchers in the country in Seth Maness, and enough returning and new players, �this team believes in its heart that we will play in Rosenblatt Stadium this year,� Godwin said.
�We are on a mission, and we�re in a great league. It�s been proven that if you can win Conference USA, you can make it to Omaha.�

Picked to finish second in C-USA this season, Godwin smiled and said, �That�s one spot too low.�

But beating out favorite Rice, among others, will be a tough task. Having the Owls in Greenville (April 10-12) might make things a little easier.

�Our fans will be exceptionally excited,� said Maness, who has earned a number of pre-season All America honors. �It will be a great atmosphere and help us step our game up to another level.�

�Rice has earned the right to be the favorite,� Godwin said. �The road to Omaha leads through Rice.�

Godwin sees the 2009 Pirate team as having a great deal of depth, a mixture of experience and youth.

�I�m as excited about this team as any I�ve ever had,� he said.

Maness, who went 9-2 with a 3.57 earned run average, will be the No. 1 hurler, taking the Friday night spot in the rotation. Last season�s C-USA Freshman of the Year admits that he feels a good deal more pressure entering his sophomore season.

�I�ve got a lot to live up to,� Maness said. �So I want to do better this year. I just hope the pressure turns into motivation.�

Behind the flashy soph, Godwin has pretty well settled on his next three, although he�s still not fully set on their order. Chris Hester, a junior transfer from Seminole College in Florida, is the likely Saturday starter.

Sunday�s starter is a battle between sophomore Sthil Sowers (4-4, 4.66) and Mike Anderson, a red-shirt sophomore (1-1, 3.00 as freshman).

�Our pitching is young, but it could be our strength,� Godwin pointed out.

�(They) have the ability to beat any team on any given day,� Maness said of his starting teammates on the mound. "They�ve really looked good this spring and I have a lot of confidence in them.�

Turning to the men behind the pitching staff, Godwin believes he has the makings of a good defensive unit.

�Our entire infield is back, so I think we have a chance to be really good on defense," Godwin said.

Likewise, Godwin is high on the prospects for offense.

�We had seven hitters who hit .300 or better last season," he said. "You have to feel good about that.� (The hot hitters' club: Brandon Henderson .347; Stephen Batts .333; Dustin Harrington .320; Drew Schieber .319, Ryan Wood .306; Kyle Roller .299; and Jared Avchen .320 at Seminole College).

Godwin also likes the team speed.

�We�ve got as much as we�ve had since I�ve been here,� he said. �We can attack a lot of people in a lot of different ways.�

Power could be a question mark, despite the fact that last year�s squad hit the second most homers in school history.

�It�s hard to project,� the coach said. �Our veterans have to come back and be veterans.�

Maness agrees with his head coach.

�Our defense is going to be good and our offense even better,� he said. �The competition at every position has been great.�

No. 23

The number 23, worn by the late Keith LeClair, who was the head coach at ECU from 1997 to 2002, has become a symbolic treasure for the Pirate baseball team. LeClair, during his brief tenure before he was struck down by ALS (Lou Gehrig�s disease), showed great leadership, compassion and courage before his death in 2006.

Since 2003, the jersey, rather than being retired, has been passed to a player deemed to hold up the tradition and characteristics displayed by LeClair.

This past Saturday, Brandon Henderson, a senior first baseman from Alpharetta, GA, was chosen to wear No. 23 for the 2009 season, the seventh Pirate to be given the honor.

�We want (No. 23) to be as important 20 years from now as it is now, when some of the players knew him," Godwin said.

Last year�s winner Drew Schieber presented the jersey to Henderson.

�It�s a great honor,� Henderson said. �It�s the best that I�ve ever received, to be in the group who have already worn it, and with Coach LeClair.

�Our one goal is Omaha,� he continued, �and if we make it, I know he�ll be up there cheering us on.�

Henderson said he feels that wearing the jersey carries a responsibility to lead on and off the field, especially with the young players.

�I want to set an example so that they�ll know that they have a chance to wear No. 23," he said.