Gaston College wins ninth straight on Sunday in the Rhinos Classic

Gaston College extended its winning streak to nine and improved its record to 13-1 with a 6-1 victory over Catawba Valley Community College in Sunday's finale of the five-game Rhinos Classic at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.

The Rhinos trailed 1-0 after the top of the first inning, then scored twice in the second inning and four in the sixth to ensure the victory.

It marked the eighth time this season Gaston College has yielded zero or one run - and came two days after the Rhinos has beaten CVCC 15-5 in eight innings by the 10-run mercy rule.

"They've got a lot of pride and have a great program," Gaston College coach Shohn Doty said of CVCC. "What they've done over the years speaks for itself. I expected a hard-fought game."

The visiting Red Hawks took advantage of two walks, a hit batter and single to take their early 1-0 lead.

But Gaston College starter Kyle McKernan improved to 3-0 by finishing up his 5-inning stint with hitless pitching in the final four innings; The right-hander struck out 10 and yielded two walks, two hit batters and one single.

"Kyle was a little wild at the start but he bounced back and was dominant the rest of his outing," Doty said. "And the bullpen continues to be great for us."

Sawyer Sutton and Derek Vartanian went one inning apiece in relief of McKernan to close out the win.

The Rhinos' offense used patience against each of the four Red Hawks' pitchers, scoring on a fielder's choice grounder and Wade Kelly's RBI single in the second and scoring their four sixth-inning runs on a throwing error and three bases-loaded hit batters.

Kelly (2 hits, 1 RBI), Adam Quintero (2 hits, 1 RBI), Matthew Dobson (2 walks, 1 hit batter, 1 RBI) and Enrique Wood (double) led Gaston College's 5-hit offense that drew nine walks and the three back-to-back-to-back hit batters in the sixth.

"We continue to get production up and down the lineup," Doty said. "When the week started, we talked about how it would be to go 4-0 this week. Now we need to keep our strong start in February going."

Gaston College beat nationally-ranked Caldwell Tech on Wednesday before knocking off CVCC on Friday and Sunday and USC Sumter on Saturday in the Rhinos Classic.

Next week, the Rhinos host Guilford Tech at 3 p.m. on Wednesday before playing a three-game series at Lenoir Community College on Saturday (noon doubleheader) and next Sunday (noon).