Gaston College two-year standout commits to East Tennessee State

When J.D. Yakubinis came to Gaston College, an elbow injury limited him to only hitting and kept him from catching.

Now, almost two years later, Yakubinis has thrived as a hitter for a pair of nationally-ranked Rhinos teams, has had his elbow surgically-repaired and is heading back to NCAA Division I baseball after committing last week to sign with East Tennessee State of the Southern Conference.

"ETSU called about 2 1/2 weeks ago and they wanted me to come in for a visit because they wanted to take a shot on me," said Yakubinis, a sophomore catcher-first baseman. "When I went, it felt like home. I'm just really excited to go up there and looking forward to pursuing a SoCon championship."

It makes Yakubinis the 10th player on Gaston College's second straight nationally-ranked team to sign or commit to playing for a four-year college or university; Last fall, pitcher J.D. Everett (UNC Wilmington), first baseman Preston Hall (Gardner-Webb), outfielder Wade Kelly (Gardner-Webb), pitcher Jaxson Mangum (Lenoir-Rhyne), pitcher Nolan Straniero (Elon) and shortstop Enrique Wood (North Carolina A&T) signed with four-year schools and this spring, David Sande (Radford), Konni Durschlag (High Point), Derek Vartanian (Campbell) and Yakubinis have made commitments.

A 2019 graduate of Charlotte's Providence High School, Yakubinis has been a key performer for the Rhinos after transferring to play for the start-up program from Appalachian State.

In 2022, he hit .341 with six home runs and 63 RBIs to earn All-Region 10 honors as Gaston College finished 41-9 overall, won the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 10 Division II's Western title and were ranked as high as No. 5 in one of the final polls while being ineligible for national postseason play as a first-year team.

This season, the Rhinos moved up to Region 10 Division I and visit Florence-Darlington Tech this weekend in a 4-games series between nationally-ranked teams that will determine the region's regular season champion.

Yakubinis has again been a key part of that success as he'll enter the weekend series with a .279 batting average, .403 on-base percentage and six home runs and 41 RBIs in 37 games for the 39-5 Rhinos.

After surgery on his elbow last May, Yakubinis wasn't allowed to fully participate in practice drills until late January.

"It's been mentally challenging," Yakubinis said. "But my guys on the team have been behind me the whole time and have supported me."

Yakubinis chose East Tennessee State after also visiting a pair of longtime NCAA Division II powers - Lander in Greenwood, S.C., and Lynn in Boca Raton, Fla. At ETSU, Yakubinis says he's been told he'll play both catcher and first base.