Gaston College's top moments from 2022-23: No. 4 Softball wins Region 10, district tournaments

Winning is always fun, but what the Gaston College softball team accomplished in the first few weeks of May made its success more memorable from a historical standpoint.

The Rhinos of Coach Mike Steuerwald swept through the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 10 and Mid-Atlantic District tournaments with a 5-0 record.

"It was an awesome experience for us to be able to win the Region and District titles in our first official year as a program," Steuerwald said. "Doing it in such a historical manner made it an even greater feat to be proud of."

In its first Region 10 tournament appearance, Gaston College went 3-0 at Pine Grove Complex in Lexington, S.C. to claim the title.

In the tournament clinching game, the Rhinos defeated Monroe (N. Y.) 2-0 behind the pitching of Region 10 player of the year Brantleigh Parrott, who won all three games in the tournament by shutout.

The win vaulted Gaston College into a May 12-13 National Junior College Athletic Association best-of-three Mid-Atlantic District tournament in Alexander City, Ala. There, the Rhinos swept Coastal Alabama-South two games to none to clinch a berth in the NJCAA World Series.

Parrott improved to 24-0 on the season with her 11th and 12th shutouts of the season. The right-hander yielded five hits and four walks while striking out 21 batters in the back-to-back wins.

In the opener, Asheton Queen hit a leadoff double and scored on Parrott's RBI single in the first inning, and Gabrielle Porterfield led off the sixth and later scored on Logan Lilly's sacrifice fly. Parrott (3 hits, double, 1 RBI) was the only Rhinos' player with more than one hit in the two games.