Godwin Welcomes 17 Newcomers To Baseball Program
August 26, 2022 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Ninth-year head coach Cliff Godwin formally announced East Carolina's 17-man incoming class Friday, a group that features 10 position players and seven pitchers.
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Joining the three-time defending American Athletic Conference regular season champions are seven infielders (Cam Murphy, Dixon Williams, Nate Chrismon, Connor Rasmussen, Colby Thorndyke, Parker Byrd and Cam Burgess), one outfielder (Miles Curley), two catchers (Sam Johnson and Nick DeLisi) and seven pitchers (Lane Essary, Jonathan Childress, Tyler Bradt, Zach Root, Mason Smith, Willie Lumpkin and Landon Ginn).
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"We are thrilled to welcome these young men to ECU," Godwin said. "They are very talented and will be great additions to our P.I.R.A.T.E.S. family not only as baseball players, but also as people. Coach (Jeff) Palumbo and the entire support staff did a fantastic job putting this class together. Our main goal now is to cultivate our culture with our entire team. We look forward to putting in a lot of work this fall so our program can continue to succeed at an elite level on and off the field."
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During his eight years at the helm of the program, Godwin, a four-time AAC Coach-of-the-Year honoree, has guided East Carolina to six NCAA Regional berths (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 Greenville Regional host), four Super Regional appearances (2022 Greenville Super Regional host), three American Athletic Conference regular season titles and three AAC Tournament championships while posting a 304-151-1 (.668) overall record. Godwin has also mentored 20 All-America selections, 23 NCAA All-Regional performers, 33 all-conference award winners (26 first teamers) and 14 Major League Baseball Draft picks.
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Under Godwin, a two-time Academic All-America selection as a player at ECU, the Pirates have combined to put over 350 members on the East Carolina Director of Athletics Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or higher). Through his efforts, more than 125 student-athletes have earned AAC All-Academic Team honors – including 37 of 38 members from the 2022 club.
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ECU has earned seven-straight AAC and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Awards while boasting the highest team GPA of all baseball programs in The American since the 2015-16 academic year. Five players have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors since 2016 (Travis Watkins/2016 first team, Charlie Yorgen/2016 third team, Jake Agnos/2019 first team, Alec Burleson/2019 third team and 2020 first team and Matt Bridges/2021 third team). Burleson became the third player in program history to be named a two-time Academic All-America selection, joining Godwin and Sam Narron.
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The Pirates have volunteered over 6,000 hours in the community, working with programs in the Pitt County area such as the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, Team IMPACT, Riley's Army, Cypress Glenn Retirement Community Flood Relief, Hurricane Relief, Red Cross, First Born Community Development Center, ACES for Autism, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital.
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On July 14, 2022, Godwin agreed to a contract extension that secured his position through the 2029 season.
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The newest members of Pirate Nation, as well as the squad's veterans, began fall classes Monday, Aug. 22, and will engage in a four-week period of conditioning drills and individual workouts until official team practice starts later in the fall. The complete 2023 schedule will be released at a later date.
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ECU, which posted a 46-21 record, won the AAC regular season and tournament championships, captured the NCAA Greenville title and hosted the NCAA Greenville Super Regional in 2022, welcome back 24 players including Collegiate Baseball Third Team All-American and 2022 AAC Pitcher of the Year Carter Spivey as well as D1 Baseball Freshman All-America selection Jacob Jenkins-Cowart and all-conference honorees Lane Hoover (first team), Cam Clonch, Alec Makarewicz, Garrett Saylor and Jacob Starling. On the whole, the 2023 roster consists of 12 freshmen, 10 sophomores, 15 juniors and four seniors.
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Joining the three-time defending American Athletic Conference regular season champions are seven infielders (Cam Murphy, Dixon Williams, Nate Chrismon, Connor Rasmussen, Colby Thorndyke, Parker Byrd and Cam Burgess), one outfielder (Miles Curley), two catchers (Sam Johnson and Nick DeLisi) and seven pitchers (Lane Essary, Jonathan Childress, Tyler Bradt, Zach Root, Mason Smith, Willie Lumpkin and Landon Ginn).
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"We are thrilled to welcome these young men to ECU," Godwin said. "They are very talented and will be great additions to our P.I.R.A.T.E.S. family not only as baseball players, but also as people. Coach (Jeff) Palumbo and the entire support staff did a fantastic job putting this class together. Our main goal now is to cultivate our culture with our entire team. We look forward to putting in a lot of work this fall so our program can continue to succeed at an elite level on and off the field."
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During his eight years at the helm of the program, Godwin, a four-time AAC Coach-of-the-Year honoree, has guided East Carolina to six NCAA Regional berths (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 Greenville Regional host), four Super Regional appearances (2022 Greenville Super Regional host), three American Athletic Conference regular season titles and three AAC Tournament championships while posting a 304-151-1 (.668) overall record. Godwin has also mentored 20 All-America selections, 23 NCAA All-Regional performers, 33 all-conference award winners (26 first teamers) and 14 Major League Baseball Draft picks.
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Under Godwin, a two-time Academic All-America selection as a player at ECU, the Pirates have combined to put over 350 members on the East Carolina Director of Athletics Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or higher). Through his efforts, more than 125 student-athletes have earned AAC All-Academic Team honors – including 37 of 38 members from the 2022 club.
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ECU has earned seven-straight AAC and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Awards while boasting the highest team GPA of all baseball programs in The American since the 2015-16 academic year. Five players have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors since 2016 (Travis Watkins/2016 first team, Charlie Yorgen/2016 third team, Jake Agnos/2019 first team, Alec Burleson/2019 third team and 2020 first team and Matt Bridges/2021 third team). Burleson became the third player in program history to be named a two-time Academic All-America selection, joining Godwin and Sam Narron.
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The Pirates have volunteered over 6,000 hours in the community, working with programs in the Pitt County area such as the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, Team IMPACT, Riley's Army, Cypress Glenn Retirement Community Flood Relief, Hurricane Relief, Red Cross, First Born Community Development Center, ACES for Autism, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital.
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On July 14, 2022, Godwin agreed to a contract extension that secured his position through the 2029 season.
Â
The newest members of Pirate Nation, as well as the squad's veterans, began fall classes Monday, Aug. 22, and will engage in a four-week period of conditioning drills and individual workouts until official team practice starts later in the fall. The complete 2023 schedule will be released at a later date.
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ECU, which posted a 46-21 record, won the AAC regular season and tournament championships, captured the NCAA Greenville title and hosted the NCAA Greenville Super Regional in 2022, welcome back 24 players including Collegiate Baseball Third Team All-American and 2022 AAC Pitcher of the Year Carter Spivey as well as D1 Baseball Freshman All-America selection Jacob Jenkins-Cowart and all-conference honorees Lane Hoover (first team), Cam Clonch, Alec Makarewicz, Garrett Saylor and Jacob Starling. On the whole, the 2023 roster consists of 12 freshmen, 10 sophomores, 15 juniors and four seniors.
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Players Mentioned
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