No. 2 Gaston College goes after Region 10 tournament title on Monday

For No. 2 Gaston College, it comes down to winning twice in the final day of the Region 10 tournament at Lexington County Stadium in Lexington, S.C. on Monday.

That's what it'll take for the Rhinos to win their second Region 10 championship in four years and advance to an East District matchup against Harford College of Maryland next weekend for a chance to advance to the National Junior College Athletic Association World Series in Grand Junction, Col.

After a disappointing 4-1 loss to No. 9 Florence Darlington Tech earlier Sunday in the winner's bracket final of the six-team event, Gaston College's offense erupted Sunday night for a 21-1, five-inning elimination game victory over USC Union shortened by the "mercy rule."

The Rhinos (53-4), who had their 18-game winning streak ended in the loss, will now have to beat Florence Darlington Tech at 11 a.m. Monday morning, then beat the two-time defending Region 10 champion Stingers (48-10) again at 3 p.m. in a winner-take-all final.

"It was good to see the offense get untracked and do what we know we're capable of," Gaston College coach Shohn Doty said. "At the end of the day, we're in the championship. Maybe not the way we wanted to be but we've got to put two games together tomorrow. We've got to figure out a way to play 18 innings that's better than what they do."

Gaston College got only five hits - two from Caden Davidson - in the opener before effectively ending any doubt about their advance to Monday with a 10-run bottom of the first inning against USC Union. The Rhinos kept adding on with nine runs in the third inning and two in the fourth to support the four-hit, seven-strikeout pitching from Cade Pilgrim.

"He gave us a huge boost and saved our bullpen," Doty said. "He was sharp throughout and I'm really happy for him."

Joey Nicholson led the 15-hit offense with three hits (two home runs and a double) and seven RBIs. Other standout hitters were Nick Diehl (2 hits, 4 RBIs), Chris Hendrickson (2 hits, double, 2 RBIs), David Nicks (2 hits, 1 RBI) and Tyler Cook (2 hits).

The Region 10 tournament results and schedule at Lexington County Baseball Stadium in Lexington SC:

(Friday, May 1)
Game 1- No. 4 USC Union vs. No. 5 USC Lancaster - USC Lancaster 9-3
Game 2- No. 3 USC Sumter vs. No. 6 USC Salkehatchie - USC Sumter 11-0 in 6
Game 3- No. 1 Gaston College vs. USC Lancaster - Gaston College 13-3 in 5
Game 4- No. 2 Florence Darlington Tech vs. USC Sumter - Florence Darlington Tech 6-1

(Saturday, May 2)
Game 5- USC Lancaster vs. USC Salkehatchie - USC Lancaster 12-2 in 5
Game 6- USC Union vs. USC Sumter - USC Union 7-4

(Sunday, May 3)
Game 7- Gaston College vs. Florence Darlington Tech - Florence Darlington Tech 4-1
Game 8- USC Lancaster vs. USC Union - USC Union 9-4
Game 9- USC Union vs. Gaston College - Gaston College 21-1 in 5

(Monday, May 4)
Game 10- Florence Darlington Tech vs. Gaston College, 11 a.m.
(if necessary) Game 11- 3 p.m.