Gaston College completes weekend sweep of series with Morton College

With a challenging week ahead, the Gaston College Rhinos gathered some needed momentum Saturday with their second doubleheader sweep of Morton College of Illinois.

The Rhinos won the opener 10-2 and took the second game 6-2 at CaroMont Health Park to finish 4-0 for the weekend and 8-2 overall.

"It was good to bounce back from Tuesday with wins yesterday and today," Rhinos coach Michael Steuerwald said, referencing a midweek doubleheader loss to Catawba Valley Community College at home. "A lot of people did some real good things this weekend, both offensively and in the circle. We executed our game plans and our approaches off pitchers."

One of those players who sparkled Saturday was Brantleigh Parrott. The freshman from Concord had a big game at the plate in the opener, going 3-4 with three RBIs, including a home run.

In the second game, Parrott was superlative in the pitching circle, flirting with a no-hitter before finishing the game with a two-hitter and 18 strikeouts.

"She was good for the entire game," Steuerwald said of Parrott. "She found a way to shut their offense down, and she spotted her screw ball."

In the first game Saturday, South Point High product Asheton Queen belted two doubles and went 3-4 with two RBIs for the Rhinos, who put the game away with two runs in the fifth inning and three in the sixth.

Tessa Hunt, a freshman from North Lincoln High, picked up the pitching win, allowing two runs while giving up five hits and striking out four batters.

Game two was tight until the bottom of the sixth, when Logan Lilly and Gabrielle Porterfield produced RBI hits to power a big four-run outburst. Lilly's line drive double brought home two of the runs.

Queen went yard in the third inning to break a scoreless tie. Parrott (3-3 with a double and triple) and Logan Lilly (2-3 with a double and triple) led a nine-hit Gaston College attack.

Kennedi Meinecke was the losing pitcher for Morton College, surrendering six runs on nine hits over six innings, striking out four.

The weekend doubleheaders marked the first action of the season for Morton College, which is based in Chicago and coached by Aaron Moore, a friend of Steuerwald's from their time together in pro softball.

The Panthers (0-4) wrap up their road trip Sunday with a 10 a.m. game at Caldwell Tech.

Meanwhile, the Rhinos continue their home stand Wednesday with a doubleheader against rival Cleveland Community College (3 p.m. and 5 p.m.) at CaroMont Health Park.