Gaston College softball team rallies to gain DH split against No. 3-ranked Louisburg

Gaston College's softball made a dramatic late-game comeback to gain a split in a doubleheader against one of the top-ranked teams in the country on Friday afternoon.

The Rhinos lost 10-1 in five innings in the opener of a doubleheader at Louisburg, then rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win 11-9 in eight innings in the nightcap.

The host Hurricanes (37-4) were ranked No. 3 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II poll. Gaston College (36-6), which has received votes in six of the last seven NJCAA Division I polls, has split both doubleheaders against Louisburg this season.

"It was definitely a crazy day and a crazy four-game series with them," said Rhinos head coach Mike Steuerwald, whose team is 5-3 against ranked opponents this season. "We kind of blew one in extras at home and then we run-ruled them (on Feb. 27), then they run-ruled us and we came back and took one from them in extras."

In Friday's split, Gaston College scored seven runs in the top of the sixth behind Grace Kealy's three-run home run, Emma Ghorley's two-run home run and Alayna Patrick's two-run home run.

"A great really and a couple of small hits got us started," said Steuerwald, whose inning opened with back-to-back singles from pinch-hitter Rebecca Clark and leadoff batter Gabrielle Porterfield.

Louisburg tied the score at 7 after six innings and Rhinos' reliever and winner Abigail Gawlinski (16-4) worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh before Gaston College forged a game-winning four-run rally in the top of the eighth.

Kendall Bradshaw opened the inning by being placed on second base. After Emma Ghorley walked, Skye Harrington hit an RBI single, Patrick walked and three runs scored on Logan Lilly's single to center field and subsuquent Louisburg fielding error.

Gawlinski went four innings with three strikeouts while yielding six hits, three runs (one earned) and four walks.

"We know we're capable of playing with anybody in the country," Steuerwald said. "We just need to show up with a little more of an edge. We didn't have that in the first game.
"From a program standpoint, this shows what we're capable of when we're locked in and performing. And we'll need to keep that up with this challenging stretch of games."

Gaston College next plays its home finale of the 2024 season with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park. Before the first game, Gracie Brown, Tessa Hunt, Kinsey Johnson, Lilly, Grace Manning, Porterfield and Gawlinski will be honored with "Sophomore Day" ceremonies.

Next week begins a stretch of four challenging road doubleheaders - Tuesday at 1 p.m. against Patrick & Henry Community College, April 19 at 1 p.m. against Florence-Darlington Tech, April 22 at 3 p.m. at Surry Community College and April 24 at 3 p.m. at Caldwell Tech.

Patrick & Henry is currently No. 4 in the NJCAA Division III poll, Florence-Darlington Tech (24-9, 9-2) is a half-game behind Gaston College in the Region 10 Division I standings, Surry Community College is No. 2 in the NJCAA Division III poll and Caldwell Tech is No. 3 in the NJCAA Division III poll.