Gaston College begins 21-game homestand on Wednesday

After an impressive start to its season, Gaston College's nationlly No. 14-ranked baseball team begins a 21-game homestand on Wednesday with a 1 p.m. game against Fayetteville Tech.

Why such a long homestand so early in the season?

The reason is exactly why Gaston College and the City of Gastonia did major renovations on Gastonia's Sims Legion to change from a dirt and grass field to a turf field during the fall of 2021 and early winter of 2022.

"A lot of people want to play us early in the year at home because they don't have to worry about weather and know they'll get the games in," Rhinos head coach Shohn Doty said. "That's one of the reasons we did what we did with the field when we did it."

And home field has been a significant advantage for the Rhinos in their three-year history as Gaston College is 61-4 in home games that includes a 52-3 record at Sims Legion Park.

The Rhinos played their first 10 home games at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park while renovations were being completed at Sims Legion Park.

Current High Point University pitching standout Gus Hughes threw the school's first no-hitter on the school's Sims Legion Park dedication ceremony on March 26, 2022.

The only home losses have come against Catawba Valley and Spartanburg Methodist in 2022 and Walters State and Florence-Darlington Tech in 2023.

The loss to Florence-Darlington Tech in the National Junior College Athletic Association district tournament last May ended a record 26-game winning streak and after five home wins to open this season, the Rhinos have won eight straight games at the historic ballpark that first opened in 1950.

"We're happy to be at home but we're not going to take anything for granted," said Doty, whose team hosts a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and a 1 p.m. single game against Cleveland Community College on Sunday in this weekend's home games. "For the past two years, we've played really well at home and I expect that trend to continue. It all starts on Wednesday against Fayetteville Tech."

Through seven games this season, Gaston College has a collective .305 batting average and scored 60 runs and has a collective 2.93 ERA while yielding 16 runs.

Ben Karpowicz (.400 average, 3 doubles, 3 home runs, 9 RBIs), Trevor Lucas (.400 average, 1 double, 1 home run, 6 RBIs), Andrew Muraco (.400 average, 1 home run, 5 RBIs), Brandon Crabtree (.364 average, 3 doubles, 4 RBIs), Sean Sullivan (.350 average, 2 double, 2 RBIs), Tyler Burke (.333 average, 1 double, 2 RBIs), Nick Lundquist (.333 average, 4 RBIs) and Trent Murchison (.333 average, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs) have led the offense.

Starters Mason Smith (1-0 record, 2.57 ERA), Calvert Clark (1-0 record, 0.00 ERA), Connor Frail (1-0 record, 7.71 ERA) and Evan Vandenbosch (1-0 record, 3.38 ERA) and reliever Landon Carr (2 saves, 0.00 ERA) have led the pitching staff.