Spring Break
Baseball ends fall season
Hart Holloman
Issue date: 10/23/08 Section: Sports
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This wrapped up the month long process of getting back into shape and integrating the new faces into the squad. The Black team took the series two games to one.
The intra-squad, three-game series pitted the split-squad teams against each other for a doubleheader Thursday and a night game on Friday. The scrimmages were used to evaluate the progress of new and returning players, as well as give the team an opportunity to play in a game-like atmosphere.
"We've been playing scrimmages like these in practice for a while, but not at this magnitude," said ECU coach Billy Godwin. "When they put on the uniform and come out and the scoreboard is on, it has a different feel to it, and it is important to see how these guys react to that."
Game one saw a tight finish when senior Stephen Batts drove in the winning run with a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning. Batts was the star of the game collecting three hits, two RBIs and scoring a run himself to lead the Black team to victory in the first game of the doubleheader 4-3.
In the second game, the Purple team struck back and took the second game 7-4 behind a Trent Whitehead homer as he drove in four runs on the day on two hits. Freshman Corey Thompson also had a good game for the Purple team, going two for three at the plate with two RBIs. For the Black team, Ryan Wood, Trent Ashcraft and Batts all had solid games, each compiling two hits and combining for three runs and three RBI's in the loosing effort.
The final game Friday night saw the Black team emerge victorious in the series as they pummeled the Purple team 9-2 in a rain-shortened game.
Ashcraft drove in five runs on two hits to single-handedly lead the Black team to the win.
Sophomore Sthil Sowers had a good game on the mound for the Black team, going four and one-third innings and only allowing four hits and two runs to get the win.
After the game, Coach Godwin spoke about the team and their progress.
"I see a lot of talent, which is what we knew," he said. "I saw a lot of good things, even out of our young guys. Guys swung the bat well, Trent [Ashcraft] had a really big hit tonight, which is good to see and there were just a lot of positive things to take away from this."
Godwin also acknowledged that the team had a lot to do before the season opens up in February. "Certainly we're not ready to open up right now, but it's a good way to end the fall," said Godwin. "I thought our guys competed, played hard and had fun. The key now is for the next five weeks. We need to get in the weight room and do a lot of developmental work so when we step on the field [on Feb. 20], we're a whole lot better club."
Godwin also noted the overall importance of these types of scrimmages.
"I saw some guys step and do some things that they might not do in practice or a controlled scrimmage, which is good," Godwin said. "I think these games are very important. We can't play outside competition during the fall, so this is as close to simulating a game as we can get."
The Pirates will open up the season Feb. 20 when they host Monmouth.
This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.
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