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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
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By Brian Bailey |
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Prep teams relish limelight
in Greenville
©2006 Bonesville.net
It’s that time of the year
again! The Eastern Regionals in high school basketball return to Greenville
this week.
It’s the 16th straight year
that Greenville has hosted the state quarterfinals and semifinals.
Each year, coaches rave about
the facilities at East Carolina, and about how their individual teams look
forward to the trip — if they can get through the sectionals.
Many of the coaches and
administrators from the schools have East Carolina University roots.
Mike Gainey played tight end
at East Carolina in the mid 80’s for Art Baker. Now, Gainey returns to his
alma mater as the coach at Rocky Mount.
“I really look forward to the
regional,” Gainey said. “Some of these folks saw me drop passes when I was
here (laughing), so it’s great for me to come back so they can see me
coach!”
The boys games will be played
at Minges Coliseum's Williams Arena on the ECU campus. The girls games will
be staged at J.H. Rose High School.
Former Lady Pirate standout
Shay Hayes has her Farmville Central Jaguars back in the regionals. Hayes
and her club, led by Megan and Kim Zullo, have been a fixture at these
regionals for some time.
Games tip off tonight with
doubleheaders each night at both sites. The Eastern Regional finals are set
for all day on Saturday.
It truly is a great time of
championship basketball in its purest form.
Keith LeClair Classic a winner
Chalk up another great weekend
of baseball at East Carolina. The Keith LeClair Classic provided another
outstanding tournament, with great games throughout the event.
N.C. State was the only
unbeaten in the field, but the Wolfpack certainly got pushed.
East Carolina was 2-1 for the
weekend, beating Penn State and UNC-Wilmington, but falling to Virginia
Tech.
The Hokies banked on the
scouting report and used a lefthander to handcuff the Pirates at the plate.
East Carolina had better get used to seeing the southpaws, because that’s
where teams are finding success against the Pirates.
It was great to see Coach
LeClair for a brief time up in the press box. Communication is difficult,
but hopefully the coach knows that he and his family our always in our
thoughts and prayers.
Isn’t it amazing that Coach
LeClair’s wife, Lynn, keeps a smile on her face all the time. She is truly a
remarkable person. Also, J.D. and Audrey did a nice job with the ceremonial
first pitch.
The great folks at the Catfish
Hunter Chapter of the ALS Association were also on hand, taking donations.
That group also announced that this year’s Walk to d’Feet ALS will be held
on September 30th, with an entirely new route for the walkers.
Both the baseball and softball
teams at East Carolina, as well as many other Pirate athletes, help to make
the “Walk” a great fundraiser for our community.
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Brian Bailey.
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02/23/2007 01:33:30 AM |
