Gaston College splits challenging weekend series with potential postseason foes

A challenging early season weekend series against two of the top teams in Region 17 that Gaston College's Region 10 will be paired with later this spring in National Junior College Athletic Association district playoff action has to be considered a success for the Rhinos.

For the second straight day, Gaston College split a doubleheader against a Region 17 power with a win in the second game after an opening game defeat.

"Overall it was a good weekend for us," said Rhinos head coach Mike Steuerwald after splitting a doubleheader with Georgia Military in an 8-5 loss and 4-1 victory on Saturday. "We would've loved to have won them all but splitting with these teams on the road in tough environments is good for us.
"If we get through our region, we're probably going to face one of these two teams to win the district to get to the World Series. So it's been a great opportunity for us to see the fields, the teams and what it'll be like."

Gaston College, which advanced to the 2023 NJCAA World Series, split its doubleheader at fellow World Series competitor Gordon State on Friday. Gordon State defeated Georgia Military to win the 2023 Region 17 title.

In Saturday's contests, the Rhinos rallied from an early 4-0 deficit in the opener but couldn't get closer than two runs before scoring the first four runs in the nightcap and relying on unbeaten pitcher Abigail Brewton to gain the split.

"We competed really hard and played well but were just a step slow in that first game," Steuerwald said. "Then it was another good job from the group of bouncing back and responding in the second game.
"Brew threw another really good game and we had big hits from Kinsey Reid and Skye Harrington so there were a lot of good things to take away from the weekend."

Brewton threw a seven-hitter with seven strikeouts, one walk and one unearned run to improve to 3-0 on the season and Alayna Patrick (3 hits, 3 RBIs), Gabrielle Porterfield (3 hits, 1 RBI), Grace Kealy (2 hits, home run, 3 RBIs), Kendall Bradshaw (2 hits, double), Reid (2 hits, 1 RBI) and Harrington (2 hits) led the offense.

Gaston College remains on the road in its next contests - a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Brunswick Community College - on Tuesday.