No. 10 Gaston College softball heading back to NJCAA World Series

Gaston College's softball team is headed to the National Junior College World Series again.

The No. 10-ranked Rhinos completed a two-game sweep of a best-of-three series over Georgia Military on Thursday afternoon at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park and next plays in the Division I World Series May 19-24 in Yuma, Ariz.

"I'm just really proud of this group," said Gaston College coach Mike Steuerwald, whose team improved its overall record to 60-3 with a win that set a school record for all sports with a 27th straight victory. "They really gutted it out. (Starting pitcher Kristyn) Ezzo gave us everything she had."

In Thursday's clincher, Ezzo threw a three-hitter and Sarah Johnson and Skye Harrington hit back-to-back two-out RBI doubles in the fifth inning to snap a scoreless tie in an 8-1 victory. Ezzo had thrown a three-hitter in Wednesday's 9-0 win in the best-of-three Mid-Atlantic district series opener.

"Ezzo said this morning that she felt good and because of her pitch count (72 on Wednesday) being so low, she was in a good spot to go out there again," Steuerwald said. "She gave us a great start and I'm super proud of her."

Gaston College advanced to the World Series in its first full season of softball in 2023 when it went 43-10 overall in a year in which it won the Region 10 and Mid-Atlantic district titles before finishing 13th in the World Series held in Oxford, Ala.

Last year, the Rhinos received votes in the national poll late in a 49-9 season that ended with them finishing as Region 10 runner-up.

This year, Gaston College has earned its first national rankings in school history - it's currently a school-best No. 10 - and set school and Region 10 Division I records for overall wins. The 22-0 Region 10 Division I league record was the first since 2016.

"This is a group that has showed up every day and worked hard and done what I've asked them to do and what the assistant coaches have asked them to do," Steuerwald said. "They've bought in to everything we've been working on."

With visiting Georgia Military (31-17) the designated home team on Thursday, the two squads were scoreless for the first four innings before Savanna Mullins' infield hit opened a rally that proved decisive when Johnson and Harrington hit the back-to-back two-out RBI doubles.

In the next two innings, the Rhinos tacked on five more runs powered by home runs from Alayna Patrick, Grace Kealy and pinch-hitter McKenna Jones and Mary Hinson's two-out RBI double.

Johnson (2 hits, 2 doubles, 1 RBI), Mullins (2 hits, double) and Hinson (2 hits, double, 1 RBI) led the Rhinos' 10-hit offense.

Official World Series pairings won't be announced until after all of the NJCAA district tournaments from all over the country are completed.