East Carolina welcomed 20 players as the newest members of its incoming baseball class on Friday.
ECU Sports Information has more details below.
Check out Pirate Radio
Website | Facebook | X (formerly Twitter) | Instagram | YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
=====
Photo credit: (ECU Sports Information)
Head Baseball Coach Cliff Godwin formally announced East Carolina’s 20-man incoming class Friday consisting of a well-balanced group the features nine position players, 10 pitchers and one two-way athlete.
Joining the 2025 American Conference Tournament Champions are three infielders (Luke Craddock, Carlos Jacome, Matt Lashley), five outfielders (Brayden Bachman, Grady Lenahan, Jeff Sabater, Jack Strom, Jack Vogele), one catcher Blade Carver), eight right-handed pitchers (Frank Ciccone, Gavin Marley, Thomas Paxton, Ethan Rose, Gavin Van Kempen, Joe Webb, Colby Weber, Nathan Wines), two left-handed pitchers (Charlie Hoagland, Luke Payne) and one two-way player (Brett Beasley).
“We are excited to welcome this class of student-athletes to ECU,” Godwin said. “These highly talented young men will be great additions to the P.I.R.A.T.E.S. family not only as baseball players, but also people. Coach (Jeff) Palumbo, Coach (Austin), Knight and the entire support staff did a great job of assembling this group of young men. We look forward to getting on the field this fall to ensure that our championship culture is as strong as ever as continue pursuit of our goals for this program.”
During his 11 years at the helm of the program, Godwin, a five-time American Athletic Conference Coach-of-the-Year honoree, has guided ECU to nine NCAA Regional berths (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024 Greenville Regional host), four Super Regional appearances (2022 Greenville Super Regional host), five American Conference regular season and four American Conference Tournament crowns while posting a 432-214-1 (.699) overall record. Under his direction, 17 players have earned All-America status while 29 have been named to NCAA All-Regional Teams. Additionally, 50 student-athletes have garnered all-conference status (28 first-team selections) and 30 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 nearly 450 student-athletes earn a spot on the East Carolina Director of Athletics Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or higher) while upwards of 225 players have earned AAC All-Academic Team honors – including all 43 members of the 2025 club.
ECU has also earned 10-straight American Conference 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 2032 season.
The newest members of Pirate Nation, as well as the squad’s veterans, began their academic schedules Monday, Aug. 25, 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 2026 schedule will be released in due course.
ECU, who won the American Conference title, advanced to the Conway Regional finals in 2025, welcomes back 23 players including Conway Regional All-Tournament Team selections Braden Burress, Jack Herring, Austin Irby and Ethan Norby. The trio of Burress, Irby and Norby each collected All-America honors last year.