After winning the regionals last weekend, the East Carolina University club baseball team will be headed to the Club Baseball World Series for the first time in school history.
Four of ECU’s key members on the team are from Beaufort County – Alan Swain and Dennis Butts, both Washington graduates, along with M.J. Mackey, a former Northside star – all played significant roles in getting ECU (12-3) to the World Series.
Swain and Mackey are two of the teams leaders, as Mackey’s batting average is .354, Swain is one of the best pitchers in college baseball today.
The championship, which is being held in Columbus, Ga.,  began on Thursday and will end on June 2.
The team won a regional tournament two weeks ago. After that, they played in another regional tournament and won that as well. Now, they’re off to Georgia.
“We played James Madison University and (University of) Maryland twice,” Swain said, who is the starting pitcher. “It was between us, James Madison and N.C. State in the tournament. But this is our first time ever going to the World Series so we really don’t know what to expect.”
Swain added they made it to the World Series, now they just have to stay focused.
Ben Fox, another Washington High School graduate, is the first base coach for the team and has played baseball but prefers to coach.
“I played first base in high school and pitched some,” Fox said. “But I would really rather coach.”
Mackey, an outfielder, said he is extremely happy and excited about going to the World Series.
“It’s a big accomplishment that we’ve been striving for since we’ve been here,” he said. “We’re finally getting there, so it’s just an amazing feeling.”
Butts, the first baseman, said, “This is basically a dream come true. When we were at Washington (High School) we had tons of talent, but we just never made the playoffs. And the past two years, here at ECU, we should’ve made it but always fell just short. Now, we made it and it’s the first time ECU has ever gone to the World Series.”
Butts added that they are one of only eight teams to play in the World Series.
The eight teams playing in the 2011 NCBA World Series, to be held at Golden Park in Columbus, Ga., from May 27 to June 2, are the top seeded University of California – Santa Barbara, the University of Massachusetts, Texas Tech University and fourth seeded East Carolina University.
Florida State University is the ranked fifth followed by the University of Iowa, Western Washington University, and the University of Michigan.
Head Coach Joe Carraci said that panel-wise, the team has been good for the past four years and have come really close to getting to the World Series.
“We’ve been one game away from making it to the series for the past three years,” he said. “And this is the first time we’ve made and we’re going to play our hardest and do our best.
“Florida State University, the first team we play, has some really good gaudy offensive numbers, but we have one of the best pitchers in the country who’s going to go out there and do his best.”
Caracci added FSU’s strength is not as high as the Pirates. However, they do have some really good players.
All the players said they are just glad to be able to finally go to the World Series. When asked if he cared to add anything else, Swain said, “I love my mom.”
To find out more about the team and to see how they do in the series, there are minute to minute updates on www.clubbaseball.org/series.asp.