Gaston College wraps up historic season with 5th place finish, Sportsmanship Award at NJCAA World Series

Gaston College didn't accomplish all it set out to accomplish at last week's National Junior College Athletic Association World Series in Grand Junction, Col.

But the Rhinos, who went 1-2 and finished fifth in the 10-team tournament, set a standard future teams will be shooting for in the years to come.

Not only did Gaston College win a game in its first-ever baseball World Series appearance but the Rhinos finished 50-13 overall to become the eighth Region 10 baseball team in history to win 50 games in a season - and first since 2009.

Gaston College lost twice to Blinn, Tex. - 9-3 in the opening round and 15-0 in 5 innings in an elimination game - sandwiched around its historic 13-6 victory over Shelton State, Ala., in an elimination game.

"It was an unbelieveable experience and something our kids will never forget and something I'll never forget," head coach Shohn Doty said. "I think it'll just continue to springboard us forward."

After the tournament, the Rhinos were honored for their spirit and fair play on and off the diamond as Doty was given the "Tilman M. 'Tillie' Bishop Sportmanship Award.

Bishop, who died in 2019 at 86, served 28 years in the Colorado legislature from 1971 to 1998 before he term limited as the fourth-longest legislator in Colorado history. He later served a 6-year term for the University of Colorado Board of Regents, served one term as a Mesa County commissioner and ended his career as a trustee at Colorado Mesa University.

"Hopefully that means we were good representatives for Region 10, tried to do things right on the field, played the right way and conducted ourselves the right way," Doty said. "I was excited about that. I was humbled that they thought our team was a good representation as a junior college to get that award. And I do think it's a team award.
"I think our guys did a great job of interacting with the media and how we interacted with the fans. I also think it was how well our fans and our student-athletes represented themselves while we were there.
"It's just more thing that we can celebrate as a program as we put our best foot forward and build for next year."

The historic season came in Gaston College's first year of eligibility for NJCAA postseason competition. The Rhinos were ranked nationally throughout the year - and were as high as No. 4 in one poll - after finishing as Region 10 regular season runner-up, Region 10 tournament champions and NJCAA East Division tournament champions to earn a berth in the World Series.

It also capped the careers of 23 sophomores, including 12 two-year players who joined the program in its 2022 start-up season after the school had gone 50 years without athletics.

The 12 two-year players were catcher-infielder J.D. Yakubinis, infielder Miller St. John, infielder Enrique Wood, pitcher David Sande, outfielder Hayden Brandon, outfielder Wade Kelly, outfielder Konni Durschlag, pitcher Hunter Shew, pitcher J.D. Everett, pitcher Tyler Parks, catcher Pierson Gunnell and infielder Matthew Dobson.

The 11 one-year players were outfielder Trey Truitt, infielder-outfielder Adam Quintero, pitcher Derek Vartanian, pitcher Nolan Straniero, infielder Preston Hall, pitcher Darrell Johnson, pitcher Hayden Ridenhour, pitcher Alex Jankowski, pitcher Kyle McKernan, pitcher Jaxson Mangum and pitcher Evan Lewis.

"For lack of an original term, the 'Original 12' really were important," Doty said. "I told those guys after our last game that they deserved a lot of credit. They came here when we were literally selling what we thought we were going to be able to do rather than what we knew we were going to be able to do.
"They bought into everything we were hoping to do at a time when (Gastonia's) Sims (Legion Park) didn't look like it does now. We didn't even know what our mascot was, what our colors would be or how many kids we were going to recruit. So for those kids to come in and commit to what we were trying to do and have the success that we've had is really special."

In the three tournament games, top hitters were Kelly (5 hits), Truitt, Hall and St. John (4 hits), Durschlag, Quintero and Andrew Muraco (3 hits).

Complete NJCAA Division I World Series results at Grand Junction, Col. (with seeding, district won, team and record):

(Saturday, May 27)
Game 1: No. 4 Southwest- Weatherford, Tex. (50-9) vs. No. 7 South Central- Delgado, La. (45-11) - Weatherford 10-9
Game 2: No. 1 South Atlantic- Central Florida (51-6) vs. No. 10 Appalachian- Andrew, Ga. (34-23) - Central Florida 12-0 in 5
Game 3: No. 2 Plains- Johnson County, Kansas (55-8) vs. No. 9 South- Shelton State, Ala. (31-28) - Shelton State 6-5 in 10
Game 4: No. 3 Midwest- Wabash Valley, Ill. (53-11) vs. No. 8 West- Salt Lake, Utah (31-18) - Wabash Valley 9-8

(Sunday, May 28)
Game 5: No. 5 Mid-South- Blinn, Tex. (44-13) vs. No. 6 East- Gaston College (49-11) - Blinn 9-3
Game 6: Delgado, La. vs. Andrew, Ga. - Delgado 11-5 (Andrew eliminated)
Game 7: Johnson County, Kansas vs. Salt Lake, Utah - Johnson County 16-4 in 5 (Salt Lake eliminated)

(Monday, May 29)
Game 8: Shelton State, Ala. vs. Wabash Valley, Ill. - Wabash Valley 6-5
Game 9: Delgado, La. vs. Johnson County, Kansas - Delgado 14-4 in 5 (Johnson County eliminated)
Game 10: Weatherford, Tex. vs. Central Florida - Weatherford 14-6 in 7

(Tuesday, May 30)
Game 11: Gaston College vs. Shelton State, Ala. - Gaston College 13-6 (Shelton State eliminated)
Game 12: Central Florida vs. Delgado, La. - Central Florida 12-9 (Delgado eliminated)
Game 13: Wabash Valley, Ill. vs. Blinn, Tex. - Wabash Valley 16-6 in 6

(Wednesday, May 31)
Game 14: Gaston College vs. Blinn, Tex. - Blinn 15-0 in 5 (Gaston College eliminated)
Game 15: Weatherford, Tex. vs. Wabash Valley, Ill. - Wabash Valley 14-4 in 6

(Thursday, June 1)
Game 16: Blinn, Tex. vs. Weatherford, Tex. - Weatherford 12-2 in 5 (Blinn eliminated)
Game 17: Wabash Valley, Ill. vs. Central Florida - Central Florida 19-12 in 12

(Friday, June 2)
Game 18: Central Florida vs. Weatherford, Tex. - Central Florida 14-13 (Weatherford eliminated)

(Saturday, June 3)
Game 19: Wabash Valley, Ill. vs. Central Florida - Central Florida 13-6 (Wabash Valley eliminated, Central Florida is national champion)

(All-tournament team and special awards)
IF: Luke Odden, Wabash Valley (IL)
IF: Tanner Reaves, Blinn (TX)
IF: Juan Correa, Central Florida
IF: Robin Villenueve, Weatherford
IF: Bruce Jellison, Wabash Valley (IL)
OF: Nicklas Williams, Wabash Valley (IL)
OF: Jack Arthur, Weatherford (TX)
OF: Bryan Broussard, Jr., Delgado (LA)
OF: Richard Bonomolo, Jr., Wabash Valley (IL)
C: Ian Collier, Blinn (TX)
C: Kanon Sundgren, Weatherford (TX)
P: Brian Holiday, Central Florida
P: Ryne Rodriguez, Weatherford (TX)
P: Cam Schuelke, Central Florida
DH: John Marant, Central Florida
Bus Burgman Coach of the Tournament: Marty Smith, Central Florida
Robert Purkey, Jr. Memorial Outstanding Pitcher: Brian Holiday, Central Florida
Jay W. Tolman Outstanding Defensive Player: Luke Odden, Wabash Valley (IL)
Tilman M. "Tillie" Bishop Sportmanship Award: Shohn Doty, Gaston College
Most Outstanding Hitter: Nicklas Williams, Wabash Valley (IL)
Daily Sentinel Tournament MVP: Juan Correa, Central Florida