No. 14 Gaston College shakes off early struggles to take 8-2 win over Fayetteville Tech

Perhaps it's understandable that No. 14 Gaston College would have a letdown following its impressive three games to one series victory over No. 5 Walters State last weekend.

Whatever the reason, the Rhinos on Wednesday afternoon frustrated head coach Shohn Doty with a slow start before bouncing back for an 8-2 win over Fayetteville at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.

"I'm disappointed in the way we played but happy with the outcome," said Doty, whose team scored eight runs in the eighth inning after trailing 2-0. "That effort is not indicative of what we are and where we want to go."

The visiting Trojans came in confidently with a 5-0 overall record and used six pitchers to hold Gaston College scoreless for seven innings.

Fayetteville Tech seemed to gain momentum through the early innings as its pitchers no-hit the Rhinos for 4 2/3 innings and eventually took a 2-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning.

That momentum grew even more after a Gaston College scoring rally in the bottom of the seventh was snuffed out when the Trojans threw out a runner at home plate on an infield grounder after a leadoff triple.

But that momentum seemed to shift toward the Rhinos after reliever J.J. DeVos wriggled out of an eighth inning jam and completely shifted when Gaston College scored its eight runs off three relievers in the bottom of the eighth.

Trevor Lucas and Ben Karpowicz drew back-to-back walks to start the rally, pinch-hitter Freddie Oliver's sacrifice bunt moved both into scoring position and Seth Christmas followed with a game-tying two-run triple before the flood gates really opened.

The Rhinos closed the inning by getting three more hits - two-run singles by Caleb Estes, Tyler Burke and Karpowicz - and also took advantage of three more walks and two fielding errors.

"I thought we came out flat," Doty said. "I didn't think our practices the last two days were very good - and that's how we played. So our practices the next two days need to be a lot better so we're ready for Saturday."

Gaston College will have a chance for Doty to pick up his 100th career victory as head coach with a sweep of Saturday's 1 p.m. doubleheader against Cleveland Community College. The Rhinos and Cleveland Community College also play a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

"We've got to figure some things out," said Doty, who has guided Gaston College to a 98-23 record during his tenure. "I know that and they know that. So we'll spend the next two days trying to figure it out. How we played is not indicative of how we need to play.
"The good thing - if there is a good thing - is that we played bad and found a way to win. But we've got a lot of work to do."

Wednesday's Gaston College starter, Gabe Hernandez, threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his first outing since 2022 and relievers Clayton Sherwood (3 1/3 innings), J.J. DeVos (1 1/3 innings) and Landon Carr (1 inning) closed it out with DeVos picking up the victory.

Karpowicz (2 hits, 2 RBIs), Estes (2 hits, 2 RBIs) and Nick Lundquist (2 hits) led an eight-hit offense that also drew eight walks.