No. 11 Gaston College wins another Region 10 series

No. 11 Gaston College's baseball team won its second straight series this weekend against visiting USC Sumter.

But coach Shohn Doty's team, which improved to 20-2 overall and 4-2 in Region 10, was disappointed it didn't complete a three-game sweep.

"We played about as good as we can play in the first game," Doty said of Saturday's 13-3, 5-inning win in the opener of a doubleheader at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.
"Then I don't know whether it was a false sense of security or what in the second game, but they punched us in the mouth early and then the back end of the pen couldn't get it done."

USC Sumter took an 11-5 victory in that Saturday nightcap before Gaston College responded on Sunday with a 10-2, 8-inning victory.

"It was a little disheartening because when you get opportunities for a sweep at home, you have to take advantage of them," Doty said. "It was good to see the bounce back in the third game.
"So, overall, it was a good weekend but not great."

Nick Diehl (6 hits, 1 RBI), Koy Swanson (4 hits, 2 home runs, double, 10 RBIs), Joey Nicholson (4 hits, double, triple, 4 RBIs), Gabe Simmons (3 hits, double, 1 RBI), Kandan Zollo (3 hits, double, home runn, 5 RBIs) led the Rhinos' offense.

And on the mound, Dalton Hazlett (4-hitter, 6 strikeouts) threw a complete game in the opener and starter Brayden Hill (5 innings), reliever and winner Jack Aurelius (2 innings) and reliever Daniel Parris (1 innings) shined in Sunday's victory.

Gaston College takes to the road this week as they will meet Bryant & Stratton, Va., at Kinston's historic Grainger Stadium on Wednesday at 3 p.m., then the Rhinos play at USC Union in their first Region 10 road series - a 1 p.m. Saturday doubleheader and 1 p.m. Sunday single game.