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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
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By Brian Bailey |
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Pirates cool-headed as tourney looms
By Brian Bailey
©2007 Bonesville.net
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The East Carolina Pirates were
back on the field at Clark-LeClair Stadium on Monday, gearing up for the
upcoming Conference USA Tournament.
It was certainly a relaxed
atmosphere around the simulated scrimmage. In fact, Dale Mollenhauer played
shortstop for one of the teams, wearing a brace on his injured throwing
hand. He looked good, too. He almost threw out Jake Dean at first base on
one play, catapulting the ball to first with his glove hand!
“I don’t know what the
difference is,” said Ryan Tousley after Monday’s practice. “We are just more
relaxed this year. We’re not pressing. And we’re looking forward to
Wednesday night’s game with Tulane here at home.”
Pirate coach Billy Godwin has
his team in a relaxed state of mind for the start of the postseason. Many
feel that the Pirates are in the NCAA regionals, regardless of how things
turn out. Of course, winning a few games would only add to the resume.
“Our guys are excited to back
at home at Clark-LeClair Stadium,” said Godwin after Monday’s workout. “The
difference in our season was the two weekends when we lost the first two
games and then came back and won big on Sunday. We were able to really turn
it around from there.
"We just feel that we have to
get hot at the right time and play well.”
If there was a concern to
start the week, it was with the flu bug. Several players, most notably Ryan
Wood, Dustin Sasser and Shane Matthews, missed Monday’s practice with
flu-like symptoms.
“I don’t think it’s going to
be anything that holds us back,” said Godwin. “I just told the guys that if
they weren’t feeling well then to get to the doctor and get well. Anybody
that had the sniffles today we decided to hold back.”
East Carolina’s traditional
Friday night starter, T.J. Hose, will get the start on Wednesday night
against Tulane.
“I just want to come out and
get ahead in the count early,” said Hose. “When I struggle, I get behind in
the count and have to throw more fastballs. I just want to come out and
establish all three of my pitches.”
“We will go with T.J. in the
opener, and then we’ll go with “to be determined,” said Godwin. “We’ll take
a look at matchups and see who gives us the best chance to win after that.”
I asked Coach Godwin if “to be
determined” was a good pitcher. I should have asked if he was a righty or a
lefty.
“He’s a good guy,” said Godwin
laughing. “I thought Dustin [Sasser] threw well last week. Dustin pitched
well enough to win; you just have to score more then three runs. I thought
Josh Dowdy gave us another solid Sunday effort. I really feel good where our
pitching is right now.”
Godwin’s main concern is with
his team’s inconsistency at the plate.
“We did bust out of it on
Sunday with 16 hits,” said Godwin. “We know we can play with anybody in the
country when we play our game. We’ve proven that.”
It should be several great
days of baseball. It all starts bright and early on Wednesday morning.
Rice is the favorite, but I
like East Carolina’s chances, especially after I received my media pass for
the tournament.
Each pass is numbered. My pass
is number 23.
That certainly gave me chills.
I hope to see you at the
tournament.
BB
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04/21/2008 07:02:24 PM |
