ECA celebrates 20 college baseball signees
By Trey Scott | Neuse News Sports
Twenty Eastern Carolina Academy baseball players celebrated early signing day Nov. 12, with coach Adam Pate discussing their work and the program’s growth.
ECA signing class
| Player | College |
|---|---|
| Sam Lopez | Carteret Community College |
| Carson Mentlewski | Gaston College |
| Miguel Delgado | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Patrick Keller | Carteret Community College |
| Chandler Hill | East Carolina University |
| Jace Jones | Old Dominion University |
| Jacori Covington | University of Maryland Eastern Shore |
| CJ Summerlin | Carteret Community College |
| Conner Horner | Presbyterian College |
| Alex Hernandez | Brunswick Community College |
| Drake Smith | Barton College |
| Jackson Brown | North Carolina Wesleyan University |
| Wesley Kennedy | Carteret Community College |
| Baines Raynor | University of Mount Olive |
| Cooper Redfern | University of Mount Olive |
| Eli Chowning | College of Charleston |
| Jack Adams | Carteret Community College |
| Braxton Toler | Carteret Community College |
| Tanner Trevathan | Brunswick Community College |
| Will Evans | Brunswick Community College |
College destinations: ECA’s official 2026-27 roster.
Q&A with ECA coach Adam Pate
Trey Scott spoke with Adam Pate about the signing class, preparing players for college and ECA’s growth. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Trey Scott: How many kids signed today?
Adam Pate: Twenty signed today, and another one we’ll be doing his next week. So 21 so far.
Scott: Talk about how hard these young men have worked.
Pate: It’s obviously really cool to see a lot of kids pursuing their goals and dreams and getting to the next level. And they put a lot of work into it, there’s no doubt. A lot of these kids, they make sacrifices to prioritize a sport that they have a passion for and a love for.
But we remind them that it’s just one cool day. It’s a special event, but it doesn’t mean a whole lot. You got to show up to wherever you go play in college and get ready to get to work.
Scott: When kids reach out to you, what are you promising them? What are you telling them to do?
Pate: We can always provide them an atmosphere that’s like college and it’s preparing them for college at a little faster rate than what most of the time they can get somewhere different.
“Hey, what can you do for me with college? What can you do for me with recruiting?” Well, I can’t do anything other than see what you have and what we can help you get better at and then communicate with the college coaches that we’re fortunate to know.
And it’s nothing groundbreaking. It’s just the way to approach the game is at a college level daily.
Scott: Is this the third year?
Pate: This is the third year, yep.
Scott: What can you say about the number of kids going to college increasing each year?
Pate: Yeah, that’s obviously been cool. The more kids each year that have gone to college is something that we can see through signing days and when we have our roster posted and whatnot.
But more so it’s kind of just the foundation that was laid by that first group of guys, 2025, that grad class. They paved the way. They set a standard. They set an example of, yeah, they were talented, but they went about the game in a way that we’re trying to keep, maintain in the program.
And that’s how to play, how to practice, and what to do so when you go to college, you’re as ready as possible for that transition.
Scott: Anything else you want to add?
Pate: Today was obviously a cool day seeing all these guys, and we obviously have another group in the spring that’ll be committing. There’s some guys that are going to honestly commit the next week or so.
But for signing day, we kind of just go ahead and do the one in the fall for the guys that are signed, and then we’ll do the one in the spring for all the other guys that are committing between now and then. So, yeah, really cool day.
