Parrott, Gaston College roll to opening day victory in Region 10 tournament

After being named Region 10 pitcher and player of the year earlier on Thursday, Gaston College's Brantleigh Parrott led the Rhinos to an impressive opening round tournament victory on Thursday afternoon.

Parrott pitched a 2-hitter with 10 strikeouts and had three hits and three RBIs as the Rhinos won 7-1 over Florence Darlington on the first day of the Region 10 tournament at the Pine Grove Complex in Lexington, S.C.

Gaston College scored in five of the six innings in which they batted, starting in the first inning when Asheton Queen reached on a three-base error and scored on Gabrielle Porterfield's RBI groundout.

"We came out and were pretty locked in," Rhinos coach Mike Steuerwald said. "It was just good for us to have some success early in the game because there's always some jitters in the postseason."

Another error played a role in the run in the second inning, then Parrott's RBI double drove in Porterfield in the third inning and her 2-run double and Logan Lilly's RBI groundout accounted for the runs in a 3-run fifth. Porterfield droe in the final run in the sixth inning with a RBI double.

On the mound, Parrott walked only one batter and yielded her lone run in the sixth inning on a solo home run while improving her pitching record to 20-0 for the season.

Parrott (3 hits, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs), Porterfield (2 hits, double, 2 RBIs) and Grace Manning (2 hits) led Gaston College's 9-hit offense.

The Rhinos return to action on Friday at 11 a.m. against Monroe, N.Y.; The teams split a doubleheader in Gastonia on Feb. 6 with visiting Monroe winning 7-4 in the opener and Gaston College winning 8-0 in the nightcap in Parrott's first of her eight shutouts this season.

A Gaston College win would mean the Rhinos would need to win only one game to take the 7-team, double-elimination tournament on Saturday. But a loss would mean the Rhinos would have to win three games to claim the Region 10 title and automatic berth in the May 12-13 National Junior College Athletic Association Mid-Atlantic District tournament at Central Alabama CC in Alexander City, Ala.

"Tomorrow is a pretty big game for us so we need to be ready," Steuerwald said.

Here are the full Region 10 championship pairings and results for the tournament being played at Pine Grove Complex, Lexington, S.C.:

(Thursday, May 4)
Game 1: No. 4 Spartanburg Methodist (19-23) vs. No. 5 Florence Darlington Tech (23-18) - Florence Darlington Tech 7-6
Game 2: No. 3 Harford, Md. (25-6) vs. No. 6 Monroe, N.Y. (26-22) - Monroe 4-0
Game 3: No. 2 USC Union (19-22) vs. No. 7 USC Sumter (2-26) - USC Union 20-12 in 6
Game 4: No. 1 Gaston College (38-8) vs. Florence Darlington Tech - Gaston College 7-1
Game 5: Monroe, N.Y. vs. USC Union - Monroe 6-1

(Friday, May 5)
Game 6: Harford, Md. vs. USC Sumter, 11 a.m. Field 5
Game 7: Spartanburg Methodist vs. USC Union, 1:30 p.m. Field 1
Game 8: Florence Darlington Tech vs. Game 6 winner, 1:30 p.m. Field 5
Game 9: Gaston College vs. Monroe, N.Y., 11 a.m. Field 1
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 4 p.m. Field 1

(Saturday, May 6)
Game 11: Game 9 loser vs. Game 10 winner, 11 a.m. Field 1
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 1:30 p.m. Field 1
Game 13 (if necessary): If Game 9 winner loses in Game 12, 4 p.m. Field 1