No. 23 Gaston College picks up weekend victories ahead of Region 10 opener

A stop-and-start weekend could've been a mental challenge for the No. 23 Gaston College softball team.

Instead, the Rhinos racked up three straight impressive victories at Raleigh's Walnut Creek Complex on Saturday - 5-0 over Louisburg, 16-1 over Howard Community College in five innings and 12-4 over Lackawanna College in 5 innings.

"It was good to see us get the offense rolling again," said Gaston College coach Michael Steuerwald, whose team improved to 22-3 overall. "We've got a couple of hitters who really had a great week."

Mary Hinson (4 hits, double, 3 RBIs), McKenna Jones (3 hits, 2 doubles, 1 RBI) and Alexa Bianchi-Rossie (3 hits, double, 1 RBI) led the offense.

And on the mound, Aidan Ledbetter (5 1/3 innings, 7 strikeouts), Charlee Kelly (3 innings) and Sophia Crist (4 2/3 total innings, 8 strikeouts) picked up victories.

"It was definitely a long weekend," said Steuerwald, whose Friday games were postponed or canceled and none of Saturday's games times remained the same. "We went to N.C. State to see (2025 standout) Sarah (Johnson) practice.
"Then when we got out to our field on Saturday and found it was unplayable, we didn't even get to play until 3:30 in the afternoon, which created a long day.
"But after the games yesterday, I told the team that I was very pleased with our energy and our dugout participation."

The Rhinos return to action on Friday in a 4 p.m. doubleheader against USC Sumter at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park in their Region 10 opening series.

"We're in a good spot right now and look forward to opening up at home against Sumter," Steuerwald said. "We know we have to show with an edge and a high energy level because we've established ourselves as a top team in our conference."