Gaston College baseball has six sign four-year scholarships

When Gaston College baseball coach Shohn Doty and his assistant coaches Jacob Rand and K.J. McAllister began building the Rhinos' baseball program in the summer of 2021, a big part of their plan was to develop a program that would produce senior college players.

After Gaston College's inaugural season produced a 41-9 overall record, a national ranking and a conference championship, seven of those players moved on to play at four-year schools.

On Monday, the Rhinos added six more four-year college players as shortstop Enrique Wood signed with North Carolina A&T, outfielder Wade Kelly and first baseman Preston Hall with Gardner-Webb, pitcher Nolan Straniero with Elon, pitcher Jaxson Mangum with Lenoir-Rhyne and pitcher J.D. Everett with UNC-Wilmington.

The official signings came during a Monday ceremony at Gaston College's Morris Library.

"It says a lot about where our program is and the caliber of players we're recruiting," Doty said. "To have six guys in the early signing period is really impressive."

Wood, Kelly and Everett were members of last year's team while Hall (College of Charleston), Straniero (Charlotte) and Mangum (Brunswick Community College) transferred in this fall.

Wood, from Charlotte, hit .244 with three home runs and 27 RBIs last season.

Kelly, from Massapequa, N.Y., hit .331 with four home runs, 37 RBIs and 35 stolen bases last season.

And Everett, from Hickory, had a 7-1 pitching record and 4.22 ERA in 13 appearances (12 starts) last season.

Gaston College will resume baseball practice in early January as their 2023 season-opener is Jan. 29 - and the Rhinos may have more college signees this spring.

"I think this team legitimately could have some Division I other college signees in the spring," Doty said. "I think we'll probably end up with 12 or 13 guys signing, which is a tribute to how hard the kids are working in our program to develop their games."