Gaston College sweeps road doubleheader to take comfortable lead in Region 10

Gaston College's softball team now has a commanding lead in the Region 10 race after Friday's doubleader sweep at Florence-Darlington Tech.

Freshman Brantleigh Parrott was again an individual standout as she fired a 3-hit shutout in the 2-0 victory in the opener and she had three hits and she had three hits and pitched three innings for a save in the 5-3 win in the nightcap.

"That was two really good wins for us," said Gaston College head coach Mike Steuerwald, whose team improved to 32-6 overall and 9-1 in Region 10 following its ninth straight victory. "FloDar is a really good team. They gave Louisburg they're only two losses on the year and they're pitcher throws really well."

The Rhinos now have a comfortable lead on second-place USC Union (7-5) in Region 10 with six games left on their schedule starting with next Thursday's 4 p.m. home doubleheader against Florence-Darlington Tech at CaroMont Health Park when Gaston College will hold a First Reponders/Military Appreciation Day.

Parrott improved her pitching record to 16-0 with seven saves this season. She had her sixth shutout of the season with 11 strikeouts in the opener and she pitched three more scoreless innings in the nightcap.

Parrott's RBI grounder in the top of the first gave the Rhinos the lead for good in the opener and Haylee Salter's RBI double accounted for the second run in the fifth inning.

In the nightcap, Parrott's team-high three hits came in a game where Gaston College led 1-0 after one inning, was behind 2-1 after three innings before a 4-run rally in the third provided the win for starter Amiya Tomlinson.

Tomlinson improved to 7-4 on the season aided by the 4-run rally that included RBIs from Gracie Brown, Asheton Queen and Serena Yalich.

Salter joined Parrott with three hits in the doubleheader and Gracie Brown had two hits.

"We're just finding ways where everybody is contributing and helping us win games," Steuerwald said.