East Carolina went 13-4 last season and the Pirates come in excited to get the 2021 baseball season underway with a good group of returning players and a solid group of incoming freshmen that are reason for additional optimism in Greenville

Veteran ECU baseball coach Cliff Godwin enters the season at 214-113-1 in six seasons at the helm of a program that has been to 30 regionals including the last two straight.

With baseball season just around the corner, Godwin met with the press along with his assistant coaches on Monday.

“Our guys have said to all of us as coaches is the one thing Covid has allowed, going back to the spring and summer zoom calls when we got the freshmen incorporated into our team and getting them incorporated into our culture is that since they’re creating such a tight bubble in the fall, they’ve become closer to one another,” Godwin told PirateIllustrated.com, “So the positive is they have better relationships than probably any other team that we’ve had here since I’ve been head coach. Some of that was forced because of Covid. But man, you talk about guys who care about one another and I think we have that.”

“The challenge is for us is they are super close so sometimes at practice they maybe joke around too much and maybe aren’t as locked in but other than that it’s been a tremendous asset that the guys are super close to one another.”

Godwin along with a lot of teams this season has a squad that is very deep due to a shorter draft last season and other factors. He sees them all as important individuals on the team.

"I'm going to steal this bit from Nick Saban, but we don't want to look at the guys on the bench as backup players. They are just starters who haven't gotten into the game yet,” Godwin stated, “It definitely has the potential to be one of the deepest teams I’ve had. We need to stay healthy, but I think we could probably maneuver through some injuries better this year than we have ever been able to in the past, especially on the mound.”

Assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Jeff Palumbo comes into this season with cautious optimism knowing that ECU has great depth in the roster.

“Obviously we’re confident in the group of guys we have. You have a lot of older players returning on both sides on defense and on the mound. That doesn’t necessarily matter because everyone is going to be older this year and we and the players know that,” Palumbo told PirateIllustrated.com, “It always gives you a comfort level as a coach to some degree to run out guys in the lineup who have just been in there. I think that’s going to be important this year with less fans in the stands and the type of season at some point in time we will face some adversity.”

“Just having guys who have been there, are older guys and have been through it is going to certainly benefit us. The approach we take is just get one percent better every day. It’s allowed us to be very consistent in how we approach practice, road trips, batting practice and just getting caught up in the process is I think vital. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best team in the country or the worst, that’s going to put you in the best spot to be successful and win.”

The Pirates open this year’s college baseball season on Feb. 9 in a three-game home set with Rhode Island in Clark-LeClair Stadium. That will be followed by a matchup with Duke on Feb. 23 in Greenville. ECU then hits the road for a three-game series at Georgia Southern before returning home for a Mar. 3 matchup with ODU and a three-game set with Appalachian State.

Then comes a return matchup at Duke on Mar. 9 in Durham and a three-game matchup with Charlotte, a road tilt with UNC-Wilmington on Mar. 17, a three-game series with Illinois State, a visit to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina, a three-game set with St. John’s in Greenville and UNC’s return to Clark-LeClair Stadium on Mar. 23 before AAC play begins with Cincinnati in Greenville on April. 1.

Jake Kuchmaner, Tyler Smith, Cam Colmore, Matt Bridges, Gavin Williams, Zach Agnos and two-way player Ryder Giles are among a large group of returning pitchers for the Pirates. Williams, Smith and Kuchmaner look to be the likely starting rotation heading into the season. Bridges, Mayhue and Colmore are among ECU’s top options out of the bullpen. Garrett Saylor and Skylor Brooks were both solid off the bench as well last season and provide ECU with additional firepower on the mound.

A group of five freshmen pitchers show a lot of promise in the form of two-way player Austin St. Laurent who throws in the mid 90’s and Cameron Clonch along with Danny Beal and Josh Grosz who both throw around 90 mph giving East Carolina pitching coach Jason Dietrich an abundance of options this season.

“I like the guys. Coach Palumbo and Coach Godwin have done a great job in assembling and recruiting a lot of talented players. Good guys, it’s deep, I like the blend. We have some experience with some returning guys and starters,” Dietrich told PI on Monday, “There are a lot guys I like. Older guys and younger guys and I think the blend in itself is allowing us to continuously put our best effort to figure our who is going to start, who is going to be the middle relievers, who is going to be the setup guys and who are going to finish the ballgames for us. To have those luxuries, it’s a good thing to have.”

“So you mix that with some guys who are kind of itching to make a name for themselves, so to speak and it’s good. It’s deep,” said Dietrich, “But like anything I think experience is a huge piece of the puzzle and then again it’s the new guys that maybe don’t have as much experience but they’re showing us that they’re ready to take the ball.”

Right hander Seth Caddell returns to lead a group of four catchers along with junior Ben Newton. Caddell was hitting at a .305 clip with one homer and 10 RBI last season before the Covid crisis kicked into gear.

Connor Norby with a .403 average with 10 RBI and one homer along with Thomas Francisco at .423 and seven RBI along with Ryder Giles at .239 at shortstop was also timely at the plate and perfect in the field along with Zach Agnos at .246 who cooled off at the plate as the season progressed. Josh Moylan, who could have been drafted, adds additional firepower at the plate for the Pirates and sets up as a starter at first base.

In centerfield, Bryson Worrell was really solid last season in the outfield and at the plate with five homers, six doubles a .373 average. He is joined by Lane Hoover in right who batted at a .353 clip on 24 hits, 12 RBI and a home run. Junior outfielder Christian Smallwood was limited by injuries last season but was solid when he played in just five games. He along with freshman Alec Makarewicz are definitely names to watch.