No. 2 Gaston College closes regular season at 51-3 while honoring large sophomore class

No. 2 Gaston College closed out its regular season with a 51-3 record following an 18-2, 7-inning win over Rockingham Community College Tuesday afternoon at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.

The Rhinos honored 25 sophomores and a group of family members totalling more than 100 in a pregame ceremony that also included placing the school's 2026 Region 10 regular season championship banner on the left field fence.

"It was a really good way to end the regular season and super proud of the way sophomores have performed," Gaston College coach Shohn Doty said. "They have accomplished a ton in their two years here. We went through a lean year for us last year with 41 wins. For them to come back and respond the way they have is really fun to see."

The Rhinos yielded a first inning run before scoring in its first five innings to roar to an 18-1 advantage.

Sophomores Kandan Zollo (3 hits, double, home run, 5 RBIs), Chris Hendrickson (3 hits, double, 1 RBI), Logan Ponnett (2 hits, double, 1 RBI), Gabe Simmons (2 hits, 2 RBIs), Joey Nicholson (2 hits, double, triple, 1 RBI), David Nicks (2 hits, 2 RBIs), Koy Swanson (double) and Nick Diehl (RBI single) and freshman Jack Newell (2-run RBI single) led the 17-hit offense.

And seven pitchers went one inning apiece with reliever Jake Casey (1 strikeout) getting credited for the victory.

"The biggest thing was getting a chance to celebrate these guys and the season that they've had," Doty said. "I thought we a really great showing by the parents for a Tuesday at 3 o'clock game.
"I think that says a lot about our program and the type of kids that we recruit. I think you can't have good kids without good parents and they've supported them all the way through."

Gaston College begins postseason play on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Region 10 championship tournament in Lexington, S.C.

The Rhinos will face the winner of Friday's 2 p.m. USC Union-USC Lancaster game.

"We come out to practice on Wednesday and it's a new season," Doty said. "We've been running a marathon and I think we ran it pretty well. Now we've got to run a sprint to the end for three weeks while trying to play our best baseball at the right time."