Gaston College one win away from Region 10 title - and hosting NJCAA Eastern District in Gastonia

Gaston College is one win away from a Region 10 championship and hosting duties for next weekend's National Junior College Athletic Association Eastern District tournament that sends its winner to the World Series.

The Rhinos improved to 3-0 in the Region 10 baseball championship on Sunday with a 9-6 victory over USC Lancaster on Sunday afternoon at Lexington County Stadium in Lexington, S.C.

Gaston College will play at 4 p.m. in the championship game against the the winner of a loser's bracket game that starts at 11 a.m.on Monday morning. Even if the Rhinos lose at 4 p.m. on Monday, they would play again at 11 a.m. on Tuesday against the same opponent for the chance to win the Region 10 title.

And that region championship this year comes with the right to host the 4-team district tournament from May 12 to 14. Region 10 regular season champion Florence Darlington Tech has already clinched one berth in that event and the tournament champions of the Region 10, Region 15 and Region 20 round out the field.

"I think our guys are in a good place," Gaston College coach Shohn Doty said. "It was the goal when we started in August. We're one win away from hosting the Eastern District championship, which is what we've talked about for nine months.
"It's satisfying. But we've got to finish the job."

The winner of NJCAA Eastern District tournament advances to the May 27-June 3 NJCAA World Series at Sam Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Col.

The Rhinos are ranked No. 16 in the NJCAA poll and No. 11 in thejbb.net poll.

In Sunday's winner's bracket final, Gaston College improved to 44-9 on the season by starting and finishing strong.

Facing the No. 5 seed Lancers who had previously knocked off No. 4 seed Spartanburg Methodist and No. 1 seed Florence Darlington Tech in the tournament, the Rhinos went ahead 3-0 after two innings, 5-1 after two and then scored once in the seventh and twice in the eighth after USC Lancaster had closed within 6-5 after 6 1/2 innings.

Adam Quintero, named Region 10 player of the year a few days earlier, had two hits including a double to lead an 8-hit offense. Andrew Muraco (2-run home run), Preston Hall (2-run single, 3 total RBIs), Enrique Wood (2-out RBI single) and Konni Durschlag (2-out 2-run double) were other big contributors.

Wade Kelly had a one-out single and stole both second and third base before scoring the game's first run on Hall's RBI grouder. Muraco's 2-run home run in the second inning in the second made it 3-0. Quintero singled, Truitt walked and Hall's 2-run single made it 5-1 in the third. Trey Truitt walked and scored on Wood's 2-out RBI single to make it 6-4 in the fifth. Quintero doubled and scored on Truitt's RBI grounder to make it 7-5 in the seventh. And after Miller St. John and Seth Christmas drew back-to-back 2-out walks, Durschlag's 2-out, 2-strike RBI doubles made it 9-5 in the eighth.

"It was absolutely a dogfight," Doty said. "And I knew it would be. Lancaster's playing really well right now. Every time we would score, they would have a response.
"Konni gave us a big hit in the bottom of the eighth that gave us a lit bit of a cushion and I thought our guys were really resilient all day offensively and on the mound."

Starter and winner Kyle McKernan and relievers David Sande and Landon Carr combined on the 9-hitter for the Gaston College pitching staff. McKernan struck out five in five innings, Sande had three strikeout in two innings and Carr two strikeouts in two innings that closed out the win for a save.

Here are the full results and schedule for the Region 10 tournament being played at Lexington County Stadium in Lexington, S.C.:

(Friday, May 5)
Game 1: No. 3 USC Sumter (32-14, 13-7) vs. No. 6 USC Union (19-26, 7-17) - USC Sumter 8-3
Game 2: No. 2 Gaston College (41-9, 16-6) vs. No. 7 Louisburg (25-24-1, 5-13-1) - Gaston College 11-3 in 7
Game 3: No. 4 Spartanburg Methodist (27-19-1, 13-9-1) vs. No. 5 USC Lancaster (28-18, 10-15) - USC Lancaster 5-4 in 11
Game 4: No. 1 Florence Darlington Tech (47-9, 20-3) vs. No. 8 USC Salkehatchie (4-41, 3-18) - Florence Darlington Tech 12-2 in 5
(Saturday, May 6)
Game 5: USC Union vs. Louisburg - USC Union 8-6 (Louisburg eliminated)
Game 6: Spartanburg Methodist vs. USC Salkehatchie - Spartanburg Methodist 10-0 in 6 (USC Salkehatchie eliminated)
Game 7: USC Sumter vs. Gaston College - Gaston College 8-0 in 7
Game 8: USC Lancaster vs. Florence Darlington Tech - USC Lancaster 8-5
(Sunday, May 7)
Game 9: Florence Darlington Tech vs. USC Union - USC Union 15-12
Game 10: USC Sumter vs. Spartanburg Methodist - Spartanburg Methodist 9-7
Game 11: Gaston College vs. USC Lancaster - Gaston Colleg 9-6
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7:30 p.m.
(Monday, May 8)
Game 13: USC Lancaster vs. Game 12 winner, Noon

Game 14: Gaston College vs. Game 13 winner, 4 p.m.
(Tuesday, May 9)
Game 15 (if necessary): If Game 11 winner loses in Game 14, 11 a.m.