Gaston College looking to make more history as it begins NJCAA Mid-Atlantic district tournament
As Gaston College launched workouts for its fall exhibition schedule last September, infielder Asheton Queen told an interviewer that the Rhinos "are going to surprise some people."
How prophetic those words have proven to be, even to the point of shocking Queen herself.
"If you would have told me last fall that we would do all this, I might have had to laugh," Queen said Tuesday prior to a film session on the Dallas campus to break down the next tournament. "We surprised even ourselves. We're a first-year college team going down in the history books."
Yes, the Rhinos are still playing meaningful softball only one season removed from an inaugural 2022 season that saw Gaston College struggle as a club team.
After ripping off 15 straight to win the regular season Region 10 Division I title going away, Gaston College (41-8) followed with a three-game sweep in the Region 10 tournament at Pine Grove Complex last weekend in Lexington, S.C.
Now it's on the National Junior College Athletic Association Mid-Atlantic District tournament May 12-13 at Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City, Ala. A berth in the World Series awaits the winner.
In the Region 10 tournament, the Rhinos had one blowout win over Florence Darlington Tech and two tense outings against Monroe, N.Y., winning both games by 2-0 scores.
Can they do it again at a higher level?
"We need to get our bats rolling," said Region 10 pitcher and player of the year Brantleigh Parrott, who added tournament MVP to her resumes with three victories to improve her record to 22-0 on the season. "Our defense is pretty solid, so if we rally our bats, we should be fine."
First baseman Serena Yalich, one of two returning players from last year's club outfit, said the team must maintain the laser-like focus that has propelled the Rhinos to this point.
"We need to be locked in. As Coach (Michael Steuerwald) says, we need to pay attention to detail, to be all there, present, and focused on the game. If we do, we will be just fine," said Yalich, who earned second-team All-Region 10 honors during the regular season.
On several occasions this season, one player woke up the team offensively with a big hit. That scenario played out last weekend against Monroe in the tournament finale. In a scoreless game in the sixth inning, Gabrielle Porterfield hit a one-out single, stole second and scored on an infield error.
The Rhinos added another unearned run in the same inning to go up 2-0 and relied on Parrott's pitching to close out the victory.
"The sixth inning was an example of how we feed off each other," Queen said. "It only takes one person to get the bats going. Yes, we only scored two but it was enough to win the game. So, we have got to be behind that one person to get it going."
The Mid-Atlantic District tournament has a two-team field – Gaston College and the Coastal Alabama South Community College Sun Chiefs in a best-of-three series. The schedule for Friday has games at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. EDT. If the series goes to a third game, game time is Saturday at 1 p.m. EDT.
Coastal Alabama South (35-25) is coming off a runner-up finish in the NJCAA South District tournament. The Sun Chiefs lost 12-3 to No. 2 nationally-ranked Wallace State in the final.
"Coastal Alabama will be a pretty tough opponent," Steuerwald said as the Rhinos departed Wednesday for Alabama. "They have a lot of size and athleticism in their lineup and their freshman pitcher has a very good mix of pitches. For us to be successful, we are going to have to have some great at bats and hopefully stretch her a little bit early in the series."
The Rhinos will likely go against Dothan, Ala., native Shellie Littlefield, who has compiled a 26-11 record with an ERA of 3.79 and 113 strikeouts in 231 innings, according to the Sun Chiefs' website.
On defense, Steuerwald said his team must "make routine plays and not allow any big innings to happen."
Having already set school history, the Rhinos became the first program in Region 10 Division I history to win the title in its first season of postseason eligibility since the Louisburg won the inaugural event in 1983.
With two more wins, Gaston College would become the 20th Region 10 team to participate in the NJCAA Division I World Series, the last coming in 2016 when Spartanburg Methodist defeated Shelton State 2 games to 1 in that year's Mid-Atlantic district series.
Since 2017, Region 10 has gone 1-10 in Mid-Atlantic district games with Spartanburg Methodist's 2-1 home series loss last year against Snead State, Ala., marking the lone victory.
Here are the pairings for the Mid-Atlantic District tournament to be held at Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City, Ala.:
(Friday, May 12)
Game 1: Gaston College (41-8) vs. Coastal Alabama South (35-25), 2 p.m. EDT
Game 2: Gaston College vs. Coastal Alabama South, 4 p.m. EDT
(Saturday, May 13)
Game 3 (if necessary): Gaston College vs. Coastal Alabama South, 1 p.m. EDT