...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM EDT FRIDAY...
* WHAT...Southwest winds 15 to 20 kt with gusts up to 25 kt.
* WHERE...Albemarle Sound and Alligator River, and Pamlico,
Pungo, Neuse, and Bay Rivers.
* WHEN...Until 4 AM EDT Friday.
* IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller
vessels, should avoid navigating in hazardous conditions.
&&
East Carolina’s Connor Norby, left, slides into second base during a game against Rhode Island at Clark-LeClair Stadium in February.
One of the positives from the No. 9 East Carolina baseball team traveling to Houston last weekend but not being able to play the Cougars because of COVID-19 protocols, was the Pirates returned Saturday and held a productive intrasquad scrimmage the next day at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
“It was probably the best scrimmage we’ve had the entire year, so the guys did a really good job on Sunday,” said coach Cliff Godwin, who also confirmed ECU has put in a bid to be an NCAA regional host, during a Zoom interview Tuesday morning.
Godwin added the off weekend from games allowed All-American infield candidate Connor Norby, who has been dealing with a quad issue, to rest his legs. Godwin and pitching coach Jason Dietrich also got an extended look at an array of pitchers, including Carter Spivey.
A positive test and subsequent contact tracing within Houston’s team led to the series being canceled.
ECU started 8-0 in the American Athletic Conference and has five AAC weekend series remaining on its schedule, beginning Friday versus UCF at Clark-LeClair and concluding May 20-22 at South Florida. The NCAA is slated to announce the 16 regional sites during the week of May 10.
“I know we put a bid in, like we do every year when we are in a situation to host,” said Godwin, whose Pirates were a regional host in 2018 and ‘19. “But make sure all the media members know this that we could tank this thing on the way out and not have to worry about hosting a regional. It’s very premature to talk about, in my opinion. You have to put bids in, but it’s a very premature thing to talk about it because you can have a couple bad weekends and you are not worrying about hosting, but hopefully just trying to get into a regional.”
ECU is 26-5 overall with a No. 7 RPI ranking and is the only AAC team with an unbeaten league record. Tulane is 6-1, followed by Wichita State (7-4) and UCF (7-5).
“(UCF) has a real dude on Friday night in Colton Gordon,” Godwin said of the Knights’ top pitcher, who has a 2.77 ERA, 72 strikeouts and 13 walks in 55.1 innings. “We actually recruited him, so he picked UCF over us. ... There will be a lot professional scouts here Friday to see that matchup between Gordon and (ECU ace Gavin) Williams.”
Williams was a starter in Friday’s intrasquad scrimmage in Houston, which the Pirates conducted the day after they learned their four-game series with the Cougars would not be played. He has a 4-0 record, 0.86 ERA and 51 strikeouts with 11 walks in 31.1 innings.
After the East Carolina-UH series was wiped out, the Pirates were left with a 4-4 road record, and they are 22-1 at home heading into the UCF series. The Knights are 10-12 in away games.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily something that we are not prepared for, but I think it’s just kind of worked out that way,” Godwin said of his team’s eight road games compared to 23 at Clark-LeClair Stadium. “Obviously, our guys feel comfortable at home, especially since fans are allowed back in the stands. Of course we would have liked to compete against somebody else, but it was out of our control and we are not going to sit here and complain. It also could work as a positive, and we don’t know until we kind of see the way the rest of the season plays out.”
Contact Ronnie Woodward at rwoodward@reflector.com, 252-329-9592 and follow @RonnieW11 on Twitter.
