Godwin Welcomes 31 Newcomers To Baseball Program
REENVILLE, N.C. – 2024 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Cliff Godwin formally announced East Carolina’s 31-man incoming class Friday, a well-balanced group that features 15 position players and 16 pitchers.
Joining the five-time defending American Athletic Conference regular season champions are seven infielders (Alex Bouche, Braden Burress, Neil Griffin, Austin Irby, Nick Slogik, Braxton Tramel and Roger Vergara), five outfielders (Drew Downs, Jack Herring, David Lillis, Alex Peltier and Riley Williams), three catchers (John Collins, Holden Cooper and Michael Kalinich), 12 right-handed pitchers (Brett Antolick, Tyler Brashear, Talor Grubbs, Trevor Jackson, Sean Jenkins, Dawson Kehr, Brad Pruett, Ian White Jr., Lance Williams, Gavin Wray, Ethan Young and Bradley Zayac) and four left-handed pitchers (Gabe Beschloss, Nick Moran, Dawson Neal and Ryan Towers).
“We are thrilled to welcome this class of student-athletes to ECU,” Godwin said. “These highly talented young men will be great additions to our P.I.R.A.T.E.S. family not only as baseball players, but also people. As always, Coach (Jeff) Palumbo, Coach (Austin) Knight, Coach (Henri) Lartigue and the entire support staff did a fantastic job of assembling this group. We will work hard this fall to ensure that our championship culture is as strong as ever as we continue to set lofty expectations for this program.”
During his 10 years at the helm of the program, Godwin, a five-time American Athletic Conference Coach-of-the-Year honoree, has guided ECU to eight NCAA Regional berths (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024 Greenville Regional host), four Super Regional appearances (2022 Greenville Super Regional host), five American Athletic Conference regular season and three AAC Tournament crowns while posting a 397-187-1 (.679) overall record. Under his direction, 14 players have earned All-America status while 25 have been named to NCAA All-Regional Teams. Additionally, 46 student-athletes have garnered all-conference status (27 first-team selections) and 28 players have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams.
Under Godwin, a two-time Academic All-America selection as a player at ECU, the Pirates have had over 400 student-athletes earn a spot on the East Carolina Director of Athletics Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or higher) while upwards of 200 players have earned AAC All-Academic Team honors – including all 39 members of the 2024 club.
ECU has also earned nine-straight AAC and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Awards, boasting the highest team GPA of all baseball programs in The American every year since the 2015-16 academic cycle. Seven 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, Matt Bridges/2021 third team, Carter Cunningham/2024 first team and Trey Yesavage/2024 first team). Burleson became the third player in program history to be named a two-time Academic All-America selection joining Godwin and Sam Narron.
In the community, the Pirates have volunteered over 6,000 hours 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.
On July 14, 2022, Godwin agreed to a contract extension that secured his position through the 2031 season.
The newest members of Pirate Nation, as well as the squad’s veterans, began their academic schedules Monday, Aug. 19, 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 2025 schedule will be released in due course.
ECU, which posted a 46-17 record, won the AAC regular season title, hosted the Greenville Regional and advanced to the regional finals in 2024, welcomes back 16 players including Greenville Regional All-Tournament Team selections outfielder Ryley Johnson (Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner/AAC Defensive Player of the Year) and infielder Dixon Williams as well as Freshman All-American and All-AAC Freshman Team member LHP Ethan Norby.
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