Wade Kelly, shown here at a recent Gaston College fall baseball practice session, returns to the Rhinos are he earned All-Region 10 honors in the spring.

Posted: Sep 12, 2022

All-conference outfielder excited about Gaston College's chances for success in second year

When Wade Kelly joined the Gaston College baseball program in January, he heard all sort of stories about the Rhinos' successes in the fall of 2021.

But knowing the school wasn't eligible for national competition as a first-year program and wanting to see his new teammates perform in person, Kelly admitted he was somewhat skeptical.

"Coming in, I honestly had no clue about anything here," said Kelly, who left Coastal Carolina to join the Gaston College program as an outfielder. "My thing was playing. When they started describing all the players they had, I started thinking we had a chance to be really good for a first-year program.
"Coming into the first meeting, the coach (Shohn Doty) was talking about winning 40 games, being ranked in the top 10 and hanging a banner and I'm sitting here going, 'I'm not sure but I'm on board with that.'"

Then, Kelly saw his new team practice in preparation for the inaugural season.

"Seeing the energy that they had, you could see that all the talk from the fall wasn't for show," Kelly said. "They backed it up."

Did they ever.

Gaston College finished with a 41-9 overall record that included 30-6 to win the Region 10 West Division regular season title and a national ranking that climbed as high as No. 2.

A speedy centerfielder, Kelly played a key role in the Rhinos' first-year success.

That's why he's determined to help Gaston College have even more now that it is eligible to pursue National Junior College Athletic Association postseason titles.

The Rhinos began 2022 fall drills on Aug. 30.

"The goal is World Series or bust," Kelly said of the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Col. "We thought we could've done that in our first season. To go 41-9 is unheard of for a first-year team. So, with the core of returners and new players that we've got, we feel really good about what we can do this season."

Kelly returns to Gaston College after hitting .289 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 31 games this summer for the Forest City Owls of the Coastal Plain League.

Given that he hit .331 with four home runs and 37 RBIs with 35 steals (in 38 attempts) last season in 48 games to earn All-Region 10 honors, Kelly will be counted on to be an offensive leader this season.

"I want to do my part and I know we're all excited about the opportunities ahead of us," Kelly said.