No. 14 Gaston College extends winning streak to 10 with trio of victories

Gaston College's No. 14-ranked baseball team followed up Sunday's record-setting offensive showing with a 4-2 come-from-behind over Caldwell Tech on Tuesday afternoon to increase its winning streak to 10 games.

The Rhinos (10-3-1) defeated Charlotte's Pro Stock Royals 15-4 in six innings and 22-0 in five innings on a sun-splashed and blustery Sunday afternoon at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park, then rallied from an early 1-0 deficit in Tuesday's victory.

"Credit to them. I thought they outplayed us," Gaston College coach Shohn Doty said of Caldwell Tech. "They out-hit us and they're pitchers did a good job keeping us off balance.
"Our pitching staff did a great job. We ran six guys out there and held them to two runs."

Caldwell Tech scored a run in the third inning before pinch-runner Elijah Grant tied the score at 1 when he crossed the plate after a throwing error in the sixth.

Gaston College snapped the no-hitter and broke out of its offensive funk with a three-run eighth that proved decisive as Joey Nicholson hit a leadoff home run and Trey Markham's two-out, two-run double closed out the scoring.

In the top of the ninth, the visiting Cobras scratched out a run before left-hander reliever Terry Kaler coaxed a game-ending double play grounder on his first pitch.

Rhinos starter Tucker Holland (2 innings) and relievers Travis Smith (2 innings), Jake McCoy (2 innings), Ryan Brinkley (1 1/3 innings), Alex Sobol (2/3 innings), Clayton Sherwood (1/3 inning) and Kaler (2/3 innings) combined on the six-hitter with Sobol getting the win and Kaler the save.

The 22-run margin of victory in Sunday's second game is tied for first in school history, the five home runs in the 15-4 win in the opener set a Sims Legion Park record for the school and the 22 total runs is fifth in school history.

The Rhinos banged out 26 hits in the sweep and the offense was led by David Nicks (3 hits, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs), Joey Nicholson (3 hits, 2 doubles, home run, 2 RBIs), Jackson Toberman (3 hits, home run, 1 RBI), Trey Markham (3 hits, 1 RBI), Isaac Armstrong (2 hits, home run, 5 RBIs), Daniel Parris (2 hits, home run, 4 RBIs) and Sam Dansky (2 hits, 1 RBI).

On the mound, Parris went four innings of shutout ball six strikeouts and reliever Alex Tawa went 1 2/3 innings of scoreless pitching with two strikeouts in the opener and starter Drake Purvis (3 innings, 6 strikeouts), Terry Kaler (1 inning, 2 strikeouts) and Carter Jessen (1 innings, 2 strikeouts) combined on the five-hit shutout.

The 10-game winning streak is the sixth winning streak of 10 or more games in school history as the 2024 team won 26 straight, the 1972 and 2022 teams won 22 straight and the 2023 team had winning streaks of 11 and 10 games.

Gaston College returns to action when it opens its Region 10 Division I schedule at No. 8 Florence Darlington Tech with a three-game series that begins with a Saturday doubleheader at noon and concludes with a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.