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CHAPEL HILL — East
Carolina should eventually punch its ticket to Omaha. After returning to
NCAA Regional play after a one-year hiatus, the formula for reaching
that goal is abundantly clear.
The overall quality and
depth of ECU's pitching staff needs improving, as does game management
from the dugout. Both factors are responsibilities that fall squarely on
the shoulders of Pirates coach Billy Godwin and his staff.
The former has been
evident for quite some time. The Pirates have lacked a dominant ace
since Greg Bunn provided weekly lights-out performances during that
memorable 2004 run that almost ended in Omaha.
It was the lack of support
throughout the staff that essentially kept that from occurring. And if
East Carolina has any designs of ever flirting with a trip to the
College World Series, it needs a dependable rotation and bullpen that
can stifle the type of high-powered offenses it faced in Chapel Hill
this weekend.
That much must first be
addressed on the recruiting trail and later with intense tutoring during
bullpen sessions.
As for game management, a
pair of ill-advised decisions in Saturday's loss to North Carolina
proved costly. The first was the insertion of Dale Mollenhauer at short
in the sixth inning after he hadn't played since the Pirates' victory
over Southern Miss on April 29.
The result was two errors,
two unearned runs, an 8-7 Tar Heels lead, and new life among the
previously deflated Tar Heels faithful.
"One of the things that we
feel like he's been 95 or 100 percent," Godwin said. "Defensively, he
felt that way. The coaching staff felt that way. If I had to go back and
do it again, I would do the same thing."
Maybe so, but it wouldn't
be the percentage move given the situation. A meaningless midweek game
is the more appropriate setting for testing a player who hasn't seen
action in more than a month — especially one recovering from a broken
throwing hand.
An NCAA Regional in which
you have the nation's No. 3 national seed against the wall hardly fits
that criteria.
In 2004, we witnessed a
similar decision when then-coach Randy Mazey called to the mound
previously untested Trevor Lawhorn. The eighth inning of game two of the
NCAA Super Regional is at best an odd time to give your second baseman
his first shot on the hill.
Almost as odd was the
timing Godwin chose for getting ejected Saturday. With ECU leading 10-8
and six outs away from positioning itself in the driver's seat of the
Chapel Hill Regional, the Pirates skipper was tossed for arguing — of
all things — a correct call.
Even if the umpire had
blown the call, that wasn't the time to get run off. The game had
reached a point when ECU's players needed a calming presence in the
dugout, not a frantic one overcome with emotion.
Credit both decisions to
Godwin's relative inexperience in games of that magnitude. How quickly
the Pirates make it to Omaha is contingent largely on his ability to
make the right calls at critical times.
Just like Mike Fox.
The Carolina skipper's
lengthy confrontation with umpire Ken Eldridge after the ejection of
pitching coach Scott Forbes couldn't have been more timely. It
completely changed the rhythm of a game that was firmly in ECU's favor.
To the core, Godwin is a
quality individual who possesses outstanding morals and is a solid role
model for every member of ECU's dugout. He is a complete 180 from his
predecessor. He embraces a blue-collar work ethic and the
lead-by-example ideals that are slowly eroding in major college
athletics.
If a mysterious scandal
ever occurs on ECU's athletics campus, he's the first name you can cross
of the list.
For the most part —
Saturday's ejection excluded — Godwin also is they type of even-keeled
personality that is so vital in the sport where a player's confidence
can be the most fragile. That much is evident by the number of late
inning comebacks produced by the Pirates this season.
But ultimately Godwin's
success will be tied to recruiting and how quickly he grows into a more
astute manager of the game. That first and foremost is where the Pirates
must improve before Omaha becomes a reality.
Time will tell if Godwin
is capable of getting them there.
