Opportunity knocks for Gaston County softball program

When Gaston College restarted its athletic programs in the 2021-22 school year, the Rhinos hit the ground running against top competition.

The basketball and baseball teams played top 10 nationally-ranked teams early in their first seasons.

That continued last season when the basketball team became the first in school history to play a No. 1 team when the Rhinos lost at Davidson-Davie Community College on Feb. 20, 2023.

On Tuesday, the softball program will get that opportunity when it hosts No. 1-ranked Louisburg College in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park.

Louisburg head coach "Eric (Lee) and Louisburg have a great club and a great program," Gaston College coach Mike Steuerwald said. "They haven't lost very many games the last few years so it's a good challenge for our team."

Louisburg has won five straight Region 10 titles - as a Division I member in 2018 and as a Division II member in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 - and was No. 1 in the preseason poll after finishing fourth in the Division II World Series in Spartanburg, S.C.

The Hurricanes, a longtime power in softball, have a 250-41 record in Lee's seven-year tenure as head coach that includes 9-1 so far this season.

"Even though they are a D2 opponent, everyone in D1 knows how good they are," Steuerwald said of Louisburg. "They've played some of the top teams in D1 and beaten them or been right there with them.
"For us, it's a really good barometer to see where we are with the program that's been the best in the state in the last several years. They have some D1 players up and down their lineup so it'll be good to see how we compete with them."

The Rhinos (18-2) have won their last 15 games behind a dominant 1-2 pitching staff of Abigail Brewton (10-0 record, 0.64 ERA with two no-hitters) and Abigail Gawlinski (8-2 record, 2.32 ERA) and a balanced offense.

Kendall Bradshaw (.540 average, 21 RBIs, 12 stolen bases), Alayna Patrick (.500 average, 4 home runs, 27 RBIs, 15 stolen bases), Skye Harrington (.452 average, 1 home run, 16 RBIs), Gabrielle Porterfield (.439 average, 2 home runs, 18 RBIs, 17 stolen bases), Gracie Brown (.414 average), Grace Kealy (.373 average, 6 home runs, 37 RBIs), Dakota Marshall (.368 average, 16 stolen bases), Layla Manning (.341 average) and Emma Ghorley (.328 average, 1 home run, 18 RBIs).

"From our end, I like where we're at in all three facets of the game," Steuerwald said of his team's pitching, hitting and defense. "We still have areas where we can get better but I'm excited for Tuesday to see what we can do."