Gaston College enters Region 10 championship tournament after historic regular season success

Gaston College's pursuit of a another National Junior College Athletic Association softball World Series appearance begins anew on Thursday when the Rhinos are the top-seeded team in the Region 10 championship tournament at Tyger Park in Spartanburg, S.C.

Coach Mike Steuerwald's team enters with a No. 12 national ranking and as a prohibitive favorite after a record-setting season of dominance that's unprecedented in Region 10.

Gaston College's 55-3 record entering the Region 10 tournament marks the most wins in school history for any sport, is tied with Spartanburg Methodist in Region 10 Division I history and the Rhinos' 22-0 Region 10 Division I record marks the first unbeaten finish since 2016 (Spartanburg Methodist).

What sets this year's team apart from others is the extraordinary margin of its victories.

Gaston College has outscored its 22 league opponents 287 to eight with 19 shutouts.

"For us to have 19 out of 22 shutouts is pretty incredible," Steuerwald said. "And we scored almost 300 runs in those 22 games."

Sarah Johnson (.497 average, 32 extra base hits, 6 home runs, 82 RBIs), Kendall Bradshaw (.489 average, 37 extra base hits, 10 home runs, 72 RBIs), Savanna Mullins (.443 average, 12 extra base hits, 4 home runs, 29 RBIs), Mary Hinson (.437 average, 15 extra base hits, 51 RBIs), Alayna Patrick (.429 average, 33 extra base hits, 6 home runs, 72 RBIs), Grace Kealy (.426 average, 33 extra base hits, 16 home runs, 79 RBIs), Skye Harrington (.412 average, 34 extra base hits, 15 home runs, 76 RBIs), Arissa Duff (.385 average, 10 extra hits, 27 RBIs), Katelyn Brandon (.382 average, 21 extra base hits, 10 home runs, 54 RBIs) and Savanna Price (.314 average, 11 extra base hits, 3 home runs, 38 RBIs) lead a powerful offense has a collective .421 batting average and averages 11.9 runs per game.

In the circle, Kristyn Ezzo (19-0 record, 4 saves, 1.25 ERA), Mullins (16-2 record, 2.68 ERA) and Abigail Brewton (16-1 record, 3.00 ERA) lead a pitching staff with a collective 2.24 ERA while yielding just 252 hits in 358 innings. And Ezzo was 10-0 with one save in Region 10 Division I play and yielded only one run in 53 1/3 innings with 9 shutouts in 10 starts after her 48 2/3 scoreless streak in league play was snapped in Sunday's 15-1 victory.

Historically, only Region 10 Division II power Louisburg is even remotely close to having this type of success in league play.

The Hurricanes are currently No. 6 in the Division II national poll and split a pair of doubleheaders with the Rhinos this season for two of Gaston College's three losses. And Louisburg won a record 15 Region 10 Division I titles from 1990 to 2018 before choosing Division II where it has won five more Region 10 titles.

Since 2020, the Hurricanes are 146-2 in Region 10 Division II action highlighted by a 92-game league winning streak from 2020 to 2024. And Louisburg's most dominant year came in 2023 when it outscored its 38 league opponents 442 to 52 with 19 shutouts.

"This group has done a really good job on staying locked in," Steuerwald said of his Rhinos. "It's human nature to get complacent when you're having a amount of wins and the margin of victory like we've had.
"They know I'm going to push them to keep doing the right things in every game regardless of what the score is.
"But our goal isn't to just to go unbeaten in the conference this year. We want to play for and compete for a national championship this year."

Here's this week's Region 10 Division I tournament schedule of games to be played at Tyger Park in Spartanburg, S.C.:

(Thursday, May 1)
Game 1 at 11 a.m.: #4 Seed (Florence Darlington Tech) vs. #5 Seed (USC Sumter)
Game 2 at 11 a.m.: #3 Seed (Monroe, N.Y.) vs. #6 Seed (USC Salkehatchie)
Game 3 at 1:30 p.m.: #1 Seed (Gaston College) vs. Winner Game 1
Game 4 at 1:30 p.m.: #2 Seed (USC Union) vs. Winner Game 2

(Friday, May 2)
Game 5 at 11:00 a.m.: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 6 at 11:00 a.m.: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3
Game 7 at 1:30 p.m.: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4
Game 8 at 1:30 p.m.: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6

(Saturday, May 3)
Game 9 at 11:00 a.m.: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8
Game 10 at 1:30 p.m.: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9
(If Necessary) Game 11 at 4:00 p.m.: if Winner Game 7 loses Game 10