‘It’s the home of CCU’: City of Conway filled with Teal Pride during NCAA Conway Regional

CONWAY, S.C. (WMBF) – The city of Conway is buzzing with excitement as the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers set their sights on Omaha.

Coastal Carolina University is hosting Duke University, University of North Carolina Wilmington and Rider University this for the Conway Regional in the NCAA Baseball Tournament.

The first games kicked off on Friday and had downtown Conway filled with fans.

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Conway City Councilman William Goldfinch said the city and university have been working together to build a relationship for the past several years.

During that time, CCU flags have been put up on lightpoles, CCU logos have been spraypainted on the sidewalks and of course Teal Alley was created by CCU students.

“It’s been a long journey to get people to realize that CCU is in Conway not Myrtle Beach. We love Myrtle Beach, but at the end of the day, Coastal Carolina University is in the city of Conway and it’s the home of CCU,” Goldfinch said.

Goldfinch said that hosting the regional games is huge not only for the university but for the entire city of Conway. It has introduced more people to the city and helps businesses grow.

“It’s been a blessing to have the school and see their success right in our backyard,” Goldfinch said.

Having the Conway Regional has been great for hometown fans like Evan Hale.

Hale grew up in Horry County and has seen Chants baseball go from being a team at a small town school to the 2016 National Champions.

He said he’s been to most of the home games this season and believes the Chants have what it takes to make another run to Omaha.

“They have so much potential… The bats have been smoking hot,” Hale said. “Even Coach Gilmore said he thinks there’s more talent on this team than in the 2016 team so I’m really excited about that.”

For the Chants first game against Rider University, the first 2,500 fans received a t-shirt that states “CCU in Conway” to show both CCU and Conway pride.

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