Last Thursday, Coastal Carolina won the University’s first-ever national championship with a landmark 2-1 series win over Arizona in the College World Series.

In a heart-breaking second-place year for Carolina sports fans, Coastal finished the job. It seemed for many East Carolina baseball fans, this was the biggest glimmer of hope since the Pirates were eliminated in the super regionals on June 12.

College baseball yields perhaps the best opportunity for mid-major programs to has a shot at national titles; before Coastal was Fresno State in 2008, Cal State Fullerton in 2004 and Rice the year prior. ECU was a mere 90-feet from Omaha on June 11 but a one-year wait may not be all that unreasonable.

As of now, the Pirates will only lose a pair of outfielders in Garrett Brooks and Parker Lamm and pitcher Jimmy Boyd, as far as starters go. However, ECU is bringing in a stacked recruiting class out of high school. The lone current or incoming player last to the draft was Virginia native Brenan Hanifee as he signed with the Baltimore Orioles after being selected in the fourth round of the June draft.

Perhaps the most notable and exciting prospect in ECU’s class is Spencer Brickhouse from Zebulon, North Carolina. Brickhouse can play a number of positions including first base, catcher and outfield. He has a big frame at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, according to his Perfect Game profile. Perfect Game also lists the Rawlings All-Region First Team member as the No. 4 prospect in the state of North Carolina.

On the mound, the Pirates brought in the No. 1 left-handed arm in the state of Virginia in the 2016 recruiting class. Jake Agnos racked up 13 strikeouts in a Virginia state playoff game this past season and has had his fastball clocked at 92 miles per hour, according to Perfect Game. Agnos also has experience playing outfield.

Along with the No. 4 in-state recruit committed, ECU earned a pledge from the No. 8 recruit in Ricky Benton from Cerro Gordo, North Carolina. Benton is a 6-foot-5 right handed arm and plays on the same summer team as Brickhouse. Benton has a fastball, which sits in the high 80’s and has been clocked at 94 miles per hour, a biting curveball and change up in his arsenal.

As important as the incoming prospects are the big-name players that will return to the Pirates next season. It seemed like a number of ECU players had a shot at being drafted with the likes of Travis Watkins and Evan Kruczynski, though none had their name called in the draft.

Two-thirds of ECU’s weekend rotation will return for the 2017 season in Kruczynski and Jacob Wolfe. The entire Pirate infield will return with rising seniors Bryce Harman, Charlie Yorgen and Eric Tyler.

Despite Harman’s difficult year at the plate, he has established himself as one of the premier defensive first basemen in college baseball. Yorgen has been the biggest mainstay in ECU baseball for the past three seasons as he has started each game since taking over for Drew Reynolds early in his freshman season. Tyler has progressed better than perhaps any ECU player currently on roster after hitting .138 in his freshman season, Tyler finished over .300 and second on the team in RBI.

The past freshman class was one of ECU’s best in recent years with head coach Cliff Godwin’s first full season recruiting class. Dwanya Williams-Sutton made Baseball America’s First-Team Freshman All-America list while Turner Brown appeared in 60 of ECU’s 62 games. Freshman relievers Chris Holba, Sam Lanier and Matt Bridges aided the pitching staff.

The Pirates’ future is bright and Coastal Carolina’s feat makes the possibility of an ECU run seem much more plausible. With the tools currently on the roster, the incoming class and a top-tier coaching staff, ECU seems even closer than 90 feet from a first-ever trip to Omaha.