Gaston College loses in late innings at Region 10 Division I champion Florence-Darlington Tech

Gaston College got a strong start and a solid effort from its starting pitcher in its Saturday afternoon game at Region 10 Division I baseball champion Florence-Darlington Tech.

Unfortunately for the Rhinos, a late-season slump continued in a disappointing 4-3 road loss as the host Stingers scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The loss was Gaston College's third straight and dropped the No. 3-ranked team in all three National Junior College Athletic Association Division II polls to 40-8 on the season.

Florence-Darlington, which has been ranked or has receives voted in the NJCAA Division I poll all season, has already clinched its third Region 10 Division I title in four years and improved to 42-11.

"We haven't struggled like this all season long," said Rhinos coach Shohn Doty, who has guided the first-year program to a Region 10 Division II West title and the school's first national ranking in any sport. "That falls on the head coach to figure out how to turn this around."

Gaston College scored twice in the first inning and added a run in the seventh to take a 3-1 advantage into the late innings behind Trenton Snyder's three hits, Chandler Riley's two hits and six innings of three-hit, eight-strikeout pitching from J.D. Everett.

"I thought was J.D. Everett was really good today," Doty said. "He gave us a chance to win."

An error and Pierson Gunnell's RBI single gave Gaston College the early 2-0 lead and Snyder's solo home run made it 3-1 in the seventh.

"Hopefully, we can figure it out tomorrow, play better on 'Sophomore Day' and finish the season the way we're supposed to," said Doty, whose team hosts Florence-Darlington Tech at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Ten players will be honored for their part as Gaston College program pioneers on Sunday - third baseman Chandler Riley, first baseman Ahmir Cournier, catcher Patrick Hogan, infielder Logan Rose and pitchers Christian Baker, Alex Hall, Gus Hughes, Marlowe Iorio, Hayden Myrick and Zach Zedalis.

The Rhinos then host USC Sumter at 3 p.m. Tuesday in their season finale.