Gaston College baseball completes fall drills with high goals for a repeat of 2023 - if not more
When Shohn Doty was hired as Gaston College baseball coach in 2021, he had high hopes of turning the Rhinos into a national junior college power.
With 91 wins, 30 four-year college signees and a historic World Series appearance in the first two years, it would be easy to be satisfied with the work that has already been done.
Not Doty.
After 2023 fall practice drills, he remains confident the 2024 Rhinos can meet the high bar set by the school's first two teams - if not do even better.
"I think this team has got a chance to do what we talk about every year: And that's to win 40 games, be in the top 10 in the country and have a chance to go to the championship of the Eastern district," Doty said. "This team can accomplish all three of those things."
Eleven players return with varying degrees of experience from last year's 50-13 season that included a Region 10 championship, a National Junior College Athletic Association East district title and a World Series win in Gaston College's first year of postseason eligibility.
With 26 newcomers added to the mix, the 37-player roster finished up fall drills that included scrimmages and showcase events with an intrasquad scrimmage at the Rhinos' Sims Legion Park home in Gastonia.
"Early in the year it was an adjustment period for us because we lost a lot of guys," Doty said. "Anytime you replace 21 guys it's going to take some time for chemistry to be developed and for them to learn how we want to play.
"I thought the returning guys did a great job in trying to lead in that direction."
In the "Rhino World Series," assistant coach Kyler Johnston's Gold team won two games to none over assistant coach K.J. McAllister's Blue team in games in which both teams showed talent and the potential for improvement when the 2024 season gets underway in late January.
"I thought as the fall progressed, we got a lot more comfortable with how we want to play," Doty said. "I thought we pitched at a really high level later in the fall. And, offensively, I think we've got a chance to be really, really good.
"We still have a couple of pieces that need to continue to get better. We'll probably bring in a couple of pieces at the break as we do every year.
"But we like our team. I thought the last two weekends at Gardner-Webb and High Point (for scrimmages) we played extremely well and we look to keep building on that."
In the Rhinos World Series, pitchers Landon Carr, J.J. DeVos, Caleb Estes, Bryson King, Wagner Morrissette, Caleb Sawkins, Shane Thorson and Isaac Williams and hitters Tyler Burke, Seth Christmas, Nick Lundquist, Andrew Muraco, Freddie Oliver and Nathan Williams were among the standouts.
Other players singled out by Doty include pitchers Connor Frai, Clayton Sherwood and Mason Smith and hitters Ben Karpowicz and Trevor Lucas.
A welcome change for Gaston College has been in how much respect the Rhinos received during fall scrimmage games.
Gaston College frequently faced the top pitchers of rival teams and college showcases frequently pitted the Rhinos against 2023 Region 10 regular season champion Florence Darlington Tech, the team Gaston College had to beat twice on the final day of the East district tournament at Sims Legion Park for a World Series berth in Grand Junction, Col.
"From a recruiting standpoint, it's great for our guys," Doty said. "We've had coaches at all the games we've played. We've had coaches at practices. Everybody now thinks of us now. And two years ago, nobody knew who we were."