Another pitching gem keeps Gaston College unbeaten in Region 10 tournament

Gaston College's baseball team advanced to the winner's bracket of the Region 10 championship on Saturday with another impressive performance.

One day after Rhinos defeated Louisburg 11-3 by the 8-run mercy rule in 7 innings, right-hander Nolan Straniero pitched a 1-hit shutout with six strikeouts in an 8-0 win over USC Sumter that was again shortened by the mercy rule.

Straniero had a no-hitter into the top of the seventh inning before USC Sumter got its only hit with a leadoff single.

"What can you say about the two pitching performances that we've had," said Gaston College coach Shohn Doty, who got a 5-hit complete game from Derek Vartanian on Friday. "There's a reason both of those guys were all-conference performers. And it showed the last two days. It's good to see them be rewarded for all the hard work they've put in."

Adam Quintero, named earlier this week as Region 10 player of the year, had two hits for Gaston College's 9-hit offense and Andrew Muraco also had two hits - both home runs - and four RBIs for the Rhinos.

"Rock was big," Doty said of Muraco. "He had a couple of fastballs that he right on the barrel and got great results."

Preston Hall added a double and Enrique Wood had a RBI single for Gaston College.

The Rhinos, who improved to 43-9, advances to meet USC Lancaster at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Lexington County Stadium in Lexington, S.C. USC Lancaster (30-18), the No. 5 seed, has upset No. 4 Spartanburg Methodist 5-4 in 11 innings on Friday and No. 1 Florence Darlington Tech 8-5 on Saturday.

Sunday's winner advances to the Region 10 championship game.

"Lancaster is playing really, really well right now," Doty said. "They knocked off SMC yesterday and FloDar today and we'll have our work cut out for us."

The winner of the 8-team, double-elimination tournament hosts the 4-team National Junior College Athletic Association Eastern District tournament from May 12 to 14. Region 10 regular season champion Florence Darlington Tech has already clinched one berth in that event and the tournament champions of the Region 10, Region 15 and Region 20 round out the field. (If Florence Darlington Tech wins the Region 10 tounament, the tournament runner-up will gain the Region 10's second district playoff berth.)

"I'm excited for our guys and excited for the opportunity," said Doty, is ranked No. 16 in the NJCAA poll and No. 11 in thejbb.net poll. "We expected to be here and we're excited about being here so let's take advantage of it."

Here are the full results and schedule for the Region 10 tournament being played at Lexington County Stadium in Lexington, S.C.:

(Friday, May 5)
Game 1: No. 3 USC Sumter (32-14, 13-7) vs. No. 6 USC Union (19-26, 7-17) - USC Sumter 8-3
Game 2: No. 2 Gaston College (41-9, 16-6) vs. No. 7 Louisburg (25-24-1, 5-13-1) - Gaston College 11-3 in 7
Game 3: No. 4 Spartanburg Methodist (27-19-1, 13-9-1) vs. No. 5 USC Lancaster (28-18, 10-15) - USC Lancaster 5-4 in 11
Game 4: No. 1 Florence Darlington Tech (47-9, 20-3) vs. No. 8 USC Salkehatchie (4-41, 3-18) - Florence Darlington Tech 12-2 in 5
(Saturday, May 6)
Game 5: USC Union vs. Louisburg - USC Union 8-6 (Louisburg eliminated)
Game 6: Spartanburg Methodist vs. USC Salkehatchie - Spartanburg Methodist 10-0 in 6 (USC Salkehatchie eliminated)
Game 7: USC Sumter vs. Gaston College - Gaston College 8-0 in 7
Game 8: USC Lancaster vs. Florence Darlington Tech - USC Lancaster 8-5
(Sunday, May 7)
Game 9: Florence Darlington Tech vs. USC Union, 12:30 p.m.
Game 10: USC Sumter vs. Spartanburg Methodist, 9 a.m.
Game 11: Gaston College vs. USC Lancaster, 4 p.m.
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7:30 p.m.
(Monday, May 8)
Game 13: Game 11 loser vs. Game 12 winner, noon
Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 4 p.m.
(Tuesday, May 9)
Game 15 (if necessary): If Game 11 winner loses in Game 14, 11 a.m.