Monday's historic victory gives Gaston College a day off - sort of

After becoming the first team in Gaston College history to win its National Junior College Athletic Association national championship tournament opener, what did the Rhinos' softball team to celebrate?

They got a day off - sort of.

As one of 20 teams in the NJCAA Division I softball national championship tournament, No. 7 seeded Gaston College was set to get an off day win or lose entering Monday night's contest against Trinity Valley, Tex.

But their 6-2 win gives them reason to celebrate even if the time away from competition doesn't mean they're taking any meaningful time away from their craft.

"I think we'll all ready to go," Rhinos coach Mike Steuerwald said. "But it's hot and from a pitching standpoint, it's going to help us. Plus, we get to watch the two teams that we may face.
"So we're excited about that opportunity that'll give us a chance to get ready for Wednesday's game. We're going to go get a workout in. We've got a couple of cages set up and we'll go get a light workout in. We're going to try to get them off their feet as much as possible and try to save as much energy as we can."

After a 1,778-mile flight to Phoenix, Ariz., 185-mile bus ride to Yuma and enduring a high temperature of 92 degrees on Monday, Steuerwald has a point.

Of course, the weather is calling for it be hotter in Yuma as the extended outlook for the upcoming 15 days has temperatures surpassing 100 degrees each day.

Steuerwald said he and his staff discussed the possibility to such suffocating heat prior to No. 7 seed Gaston College's victory to improve upon the school's record for wins (61) and winning streak (28) on Monday.

Next up on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. EDT will be a game against the winner of Tuesday's 4:15 p.m. matchup between No. 2 seed McLennan, Tex., and No. 18 seed Rose State, Okla., that Steuerwald, his staff and team will observe from a scouting perspective.

The Rhinos, ranked No. 10 in the final NJCAA regular season poll, had a four-run fourth and two-run fifth in their win over the No. 8 Cardinals for their first win in World Series competition after going 0-2 in their debut in 2023.

By winning the opener, they beat the previous school record set by the 2023 baseball team that won its second World Series contest; The Rhinos' beach volleyball team won its third national championship tournament match in 2023 and its fourth match in 2024.

"We've talked about the past so much this year because this group has made history over and over throughout the season," Steurwald said. "This adds another piece to it and is really special for this group."