Reviewing Gaston College's 2023 baseball season
It's not often that a coach sets the highest of goals on the first day of practice and actually reaches them.
Yet, in the case of the 2023 Gaston College Rhinos' baseball team, that was true - and then some.
Coming off a 41-9 season in 2022 when the school gained its first-ever national rankings, Rhinos head coach Shohn Doty opened fall drills with talk of advancing to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I World Series in Colorado Springs, Col.
Sophomore outfielder Trey Truitt, who would eventually become one of 18 Gaston College baseball players to commit to play at four-year schools, was a newcomer to a team he knew had talent.
Even he was surprised at the extraordinary expectations.
"It was amazing," said Truitt, who hit .324 with 16 home runs and 66 RBIs. "It's the first day and the Day One goal was well established. Doty told us two things in that first meeting. He said, 'We're going to play hard and we're going to win district and go to the World Series.' Then he said, 'If we host the districts, we're going to the World Series.'
"And that's exactly what happened."
Along the way, the Rhinos set history and created a lasting legacy.
In truth, Gaston College set so much history this season that Doty was so focused on pursuing World Series success that the Rhinos' last win that gave them 50 victories caught him off guard.
"I really didn't realize we'd gotten to 50 until I saw it on the scoreboard there at Suplizio Field," Doty said of a message that showed on the scoreboard at the stadium that has hosted the NJCAA World Series since 1958. "I looked at (assistant coach) Jacob (Rand) and said, 'Wow, we've got 50 wins!'"
That milestone made Gaston College only the eighth team in Region 10 history to reach 50 wins. The Rhinos were the first in all of Region 10 since 2009 and only the third N.C. Region 10 team in history; Louisburg went 51-11 in 2002 and Lenoir Community College went 54-12 in 2008.
By advancing to the World Series, Gaston College became the first N.C. team to play in the Division I World Series since Pitt Community College in 2010 while also increasing the school's streak of league titles to six years; Gaston College was N.C. Community College Conference champions each year from 1969 to 1972 then after restarting athletics in the 2021-22 school year won the Region 10 Division II Western Division regular season title in 2022 and the Region 10 tournament title this season.
Doty's team was led by a talented roster of two All-Americans, seven All-Region 10 honorees and 18 players who have committed or signed to play next season at four-year schools.
Outfielder Adam Quintero was named NJCAA honorable mention All-American and pitcher David Sande was named www.thejbb.net second team All-American.
Quintero also was named Region 10 player of the year, Truitt and sophomore pitcher Derek Vartanian were first team All-Region 10, sophomore outfielder Wade Kelly, sophomore pitcher Nolan Straniero and sophomore pitcher Kyle McKernan were second team All-Region 10 and sophomore shortstop Enrique Wood was named to the Region 10 all-defensive team.
Wood (North Carolina A&T), Kelly (Gardner-Webb), Truitt (UNC Greensboro), Quintero (Appalachian State), Vartanian (Campbell), Straniero (Elon), sophomore catcher-first baseman J.D. Yakubinis (East Tennessee State), sophomore infielder Miller St. John (Lenoir-Rhyne), sophomore outfielder Konni Durschlag (High Point), sophomore pitcher Hunter Shew (Lynn, Fla.), sophomore pitcher J.D. Everett (UNC Wilmington), sophomore pitcher Tyler Parks (Lenoir-Rhyne), sophomore catcher Trenton Snyder (Rollins), freshman first baseman Preston Hall (Gardner-Webb), sophomore pitcher Darrell Johnson (Memphis), sophomore pitcher Jaxson Mangum (Lenoir-Rhyne) and freshman pitcher Evan Lewis (Delaware) are the college commitments.
After finishing fifth in the 10-team World Series, Doty had the highest praise for the 12 two-year players whose careers came to a close after 91 victories in two seasons.
"For lack of an original term, the 'Original 12' really were important," Doty said. "And I told those guys after our last game that they deserved a lot of credit. They came here when were literally selling what we thought we were going to be able to do rather than what we knew we were going to be able to do.
"They bought into everything we were hoping to do at a time when Sims didn't look like it does now. We didn't even know what our mascot was, what our colors would be or how many kids we were going to recruit. So for those kids to come in and commit to what we were trying to do and have the success that we've had is really special."
The 12 two-year players who were honored at the school's April 29 "Sophomore Day" were Yakubinis, St. John, Wood, Sande, Kelly, Durschlag, Shew, Everett, Parks, outfielder Hayden Brandon, catcher Pierson Gunnell and infielder Matthew Dobson.