Gaston College baseball gets pairing for its first World Series appearance
Gaston College's baseball team learned who it will play in its historic National Junior College Athletic Association Division I World Series appearance in Grand Junction, Col., this week.
The NJCAA announced on Tuesday the Rhinos (49-11) will make their World Series debut on Sunday at noon ET against Blinn, Tex. (44-13). Gaston College is seeded 5th of the 10 teams in the tournament.
Coach Shohn Doty's Rhinos are the Region 10 and NJCAA East District champion and are in their first year of eligibility for NJCAA postseason competition after winning the Western Division title of Region 10's Division II in 2022 with a 41-9 overall record.
The top-seeded team, Central Florida (51-6), was ranked No. 1 in the final NJCAA rankings on May 15. Other ranked teams in the field are Wabash Valley, Ill. (3), Johnson County, Kansas (4), Weatherford, Tex. (5), Blinn, Tex. (8), Gaston College (10) and Delgado, La. (11). Salt Lake, Utah and Shelton State, Ala., received votes in the poll.
The full NJCAA Division I World Series pairings (with seeding, district title won followed by team and record):
(Saturday, May 27)
Game 1: No. 4 Southwest- Weatherford, Tex. (50-9) vs. No. 7 South Central- Delgado, La. (45-11), 11 a.m. ET
Game 2: No. 1 South Atlantic- Central Florida (51-6) vs. No. 10 Appalachian- Andrew, Ga. (34-23), 2 p.m. ET
Game 3: No. 2 Plains- Johnson County, Kansas (55-8) vs. No. 9 South- Shelton State, Ala. (31-28), 5 p.m. ET
Game 4: No. 3 Midwest- Wabash Valley, Ill. (53-11) vs. No. 8 West- Salt Lake, Utah (31-18), 9:30 p.m. ET
(Sunday, May 28)
Game 5: No. 5 Mid-South- Blinn, Tex. (44-13) vs. No. 6 East- Gaston College (49-11), noon ET
Game 6: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 4 p.m. ET
Game 7: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 9 p.m. ET
(Monday, May 29)
Game 8: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 11 a.m. ET
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 3 p.m. ET
Game 10: Game 1 winner vs. Winner 2 winner, 9 p.m. ET
(Tuesday, May 30)
Game 11: Game 5 loser vs. Game 8 loser, noon ET
Game 12: Game 10 loser vs. Game 9 winner, 4 p.m. ET
Game 13: Game 8 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 9 p.m. ET
(Wednesday, May 31)
Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 13 loser, 4 p.m. ET
Game 15: Game 10 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 9 p.m. ET
(Thursday, June 1)
Game 16: Game 14 winner vs. Game 15 loser, 5 p.m. ET
Game 17: Game 15 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 9 p.m. ET
(Friday, June 2)
Game 18: Game 17 winner vs. Game 16 winner, 9 p.m. ET
(Saturday, June 3)
Game 19 (if necessary): If Game 17 winner loses Game 18