Player of the Year: Bennett Lee, C, TulaneĪs a true freshman, Lee played in just one of the Green Wave’s first 10 games and then missed the final nine-including the conference tournament-after being hit in the wrist by a pitch. As is, the path to the regular season title once again runs through Greenville, N.C. Picking the field in the conference tournament has been a good bet the last two seasons, but East Carolina looms large as the favorite to top the standings. Even with those names gone, the trend of the Pirates rolling figures to continue. The draft saw 15 players selected-including two in the first two rounds in East Carolina’s duo of Gavin Williams and Connor Norby. In the end, ECU and USF were the only two teams that reached regionals. Central Florida was expected to have a big season after going 15-3 in the pandemic-shortened season, but instead finished fifth in the standings, while Tulane slumped late to miss out on a tournament berth. However, the rest of the American didn’t fare quite as well. It was just the second time the American had two teams make it that far, with the last time happening in 2014 when Louisville was still in the conference. South Florida-picked by coaches in the preseason to finish last-won the conference tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament, where it won the Gainesville Regional to make its first super regional appearance in program history. The Pirates weren’t the only team from the conference to go that far, though. Last season, East Carolina was once again the preseason conference favorite and went on to claim the regular season title and reach super regionals. East Carolina celebrates its 2018 American Athletic Conference Tournament championship (Photo courtesy of ECU)
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