Gaston College takes Region 10 sweep in rain-delayed doubleheader doubleheader

Gaston College extended its winning streak to nine games on after a long Saturday highlighted by a pair of 5-0 wins in a doubleheader sweep at Region 10 rival USC Salkehatchie.

The Rhinos survived a three-hour delay after torrential rain postponed the first game after Gaston College had scored twice in the top of the first inning of the opener.

"It's been a long day," said Rhinos coach Shohn Doty, whose team improved to 29-3 overall and 7-1 in Region 10. "At the end of the day, we came in here to win a series. We've got a chance to do that tomorrow. We're just excited that we got to play today."

With rain again in the forecast, Sunday's doubleheader has been pushed back from a 1 p.m. to a 2 p.m. start.

On Saturday, Gaston College's nationally-ranked team - No. 12 in the National Junior College Athletic Association poll and No. 7 in thejbb.net poll and No. 9 in the Dream Big Athletics and PBR Juco polls - lost its ace pitcher due to the long rain delay.

Left-hander J.D. Everett, who signed with UNC Wilmington last fall, entered with a 5-1 overall record but was replaced after he warmed up for his ninth start after rain hit the USC Salkehatchie field before the start of the bottom of the first inning.

"We had warmed (Everett) up and he had actually gotten on the mound and threw his warmup pitches and then it was just a deluge," Doty said. "And then it took three hours just to get the field ready.
"So we just went with Nolan (Straniero) and he obviously was dialed in and had really good command of his fastball. He was just really, really good on the mound."

Straniero, who signed with Elon last fall, pitched a 2-hitter with 11 strikeouts to improve his seasonal record to 8-1.

He was supported by early support as the Rhinos scored twice in the first innings and one run in the second and third innings.

J.D. Yakubinis (1 hit, 2 RBIs), Andrew Muraco (double) and Wade Kelly (RBI) led an offense that had 3 hits and took advantage of 6 walks and 3 USC Salkehatchie fielding errors.

In the nightcap, Kelly hit two home runs, including one of the 5th pitch of the game, and Kyle McKernan threw a 3-hit shutout with seven strikeouts in a contest called after five innings due to darkness.

McKernan improved to 5-0 on the season and threw the Rhinos' ninth shutout in 32 games this year.

"Kyle came out and really set the tone early," Doty said. "He just kind of cruised through his five innings with three hits. His slider was good and his command of his fastball was good, too."

Kelly added another solo home run in a 3-run third inning and Adam Quintero (double, RBI), Muraco (double, RBI) and Miller St. John led a 7-hit offensive attack.