No. 1 Gaston College advances into Region 10 winner's bracket final

No. 1-ranked Gaston College overcame an early deficit to down Spartanburg Methodist 9-1 in Saturday's second round Region 10 baseball tournament game at Lexington County, S.C., Stadium.

The Rhinos (51-6) yielded a single run in the top of the first inning before starter and winner Landon Carr shutout the Pioneers the rest of the way.

Gaston College scored four times after two were out in the bottom of the third inning to take the lead for good. Seth Christmas' 2-out, 2-run double drove in the first two runs. The other two runs scored on a Ben Karpowicz RBI single and a wild pitch.

The Rhinos then ended the scheduled nine-inning contest in the bottom the seventh by the eight-run mercy rule.

Karpowicz had a two-run double, a wild pitch tallied another run and Tyler Burke closed the game out with a two-out, two-run walkoff single.

"Anytime you can throw two complete games in two games, that's huge for a pitching staff," said Gaston College coach Shohn Doty, whose team got a five-inning no-hitter from Evan Vandenbosch in Friday's 13-0 opening round victory over USC Salkehatchie. "Kudos to Landon. He got off to a rough start before he got settled in. He gave up one baserunner in the last four innings."

Saturday's contest was moved back three times due to rainy weather in the Columbia, S.C., first moving from 10 a.m. to noon then from noon to 4:30 p.m. and finally from 4:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Carr finished with a three-hitter with six strikeouts and three walks. And Christmas (2 hits, doubles, 2 RBIs), Karpowicz (2 hits, double, 3 RBIs), Burke (2-run single) and Trevor Lucas (double). led the Rhinos' nine-hit offense.

The win advanced Gaston College into the winner's bracket championship of the eight-team tournament against No. 7-ranked Florence-Darlington Tech on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

"Looking forward to tomorrow," Doty said. "It's probably as it should be with two top 10 teams going against each other."

Also the Rhinos' athletic director, Doty had a busy day following his school's softball and beach volleyball teams in addition to coaching baseball.

The Softball team lost in the Region 10 championship game while the beach volleyball team finished seventh in the National Junior College Athletic Association championship tournament with a pair of wins on Saturday.

"I know (softball head coach) Mike (Steuerwald) is disappointed and the coaching staff and the team are disappointed," Doty said of Rhinos' softball team. "They had a great season with 49 wins. I'm really proud of our team and that program.
"And I'm excited about how our volleyball team finished with two wins today and hanging in there after a tough week."

Here is the full Region 10 tournament schedule:

(Friday, May 3)
Game 1 - USC Lancaster vs. USC Sumter - USC Lancaster 1-0
Game 2 - Spartanburg Methodist vs. USC Union - Spartanburg Methodist 8-0
Game 3 - Gaston College vs. USC Salkehatchie - Gaston 13-0 in 5
Game 4 - Florence-Darlington-Tech vs. USC Lancaster, 7:30 p.m.

(Saturday, May 4)
Game 5 - Spartanburg Methodist vs. Gaston College - Gaston 9-1 in 7
Game 6 - USC Union vs. USC Salkehatchie, 7:30 p.m.

(Sunday, May 5)
Game 7 - USC Sumter vs. Spartanburg Methodist, 10 a.m.
Game 8 - USC Lancaster vs. Game 6 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 9 - Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 4:30 p.m.
Game 10 - Florence-Darlintgon Tech vs. Gaston College, 7:30 p.m.

(Monday, May 6)
Game 11 - Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 12 - Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 13 (if necessary) - If Game 11 winner wins Game 12, approximately 4 p.m.