No. 10 Gaston College rolls to 10-run victory on Wednesday afternoon

Three days after a disappointing and rare home loss, Gaston College's No. 10-ranked baseball team responded emphatically with a fast start to a 13-3 victory over Patrick & Henry Community College on Wednesday afternoon at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.

The Rhinos improved to 10-2 on the season with five runs in the first two innings and a strong performance from starter and winner Gabe Hernandez in a game that was shortened to five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

"I thought in the first two innings, from an offensive standpoint, is as good as we've been in awhile," said Gaston College head coach Shohn Doty, whose team had its sixth and seventh innings of five or more runs. "And I thought he (Hernandez) was as sharp as you possibly could be the first two innings and pitched outstanding."

Brandon Crabtree (2 hits, double, home run, walk, 4 RBIs), Seth Christmas (2 hits, home run, 3 RBIs), Tyler Burke (2 hits, double) and Trent Murchison (2 hits, 1 RBI) led a 10-hit Gaston College offense and Hernandez retired the first seven batters he faced before finishing with four strikeouts and allowing one hit and one run in three innings.

Crabtree's two-run double, Christmas' two-run home run and Murchison's RBI single led the five-run first inning and Ben Karpowicz's RBI single, Crabtree's two-run home run and Caleb Estes' sacrifice led the five-run second inning.

Karpowicz drew a bases-loaded hit batter, Crabtree a bases-loaded walk and Christmas a RBI single to end the game with one out in the fifth for the Rhinos, who were ranked No. 14 in the National Junior College Athletic Division I preseason poll and ranked No. 10 by Perfect Game earlier this week.

"We just had a lot better approaches at the plate," Doty said. "We hit pitches we could handle. We didn't chase out of the zone. Things that have made us successful the last three years are what we got back to today.
"Patrick & Henry has a lot of tradition and they're a real good club. Shortening the game helps us for the weekend and helps our bullpen."

Relievers Shane Thorson (1 1/3 innings) and J.J. Devos (2/3 inning) closed out the victory.

The Rhinos return to action this weekend with a three-game home series against Caldwell Tech, playing a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and a 1 p.m. single game on Sunday. The Cobras, No. 5 in the Division III preseason poll, has won three straight Region 10 Division III titles and won 119 games since 2020.

"Caldwell obviously has a lot of tradition so they'll come in here ready to play," Doty said.