Gaston College enters Region 10 championship tournament as favorite

Gaston College enters this week's May 4-6 Region 10 softball championships at Pine Grove Complex in Lexington, S.C., as the favorite after roaring through league play with a 15-1 mark to go along with the Rhinos' 38-8 overall record.

Coach Mike Steuerwald's team has been led by freshman pitcher-outfielder Brantleigh Parrott. The former Central Cabarrus High standout leads Division I in the National Junior College Athletic Association in ERA (0.34), strikeouts (244) and saves (6) as a pitcher.

She also leads Region 10 in pitching victories (19) and leads in RBIs (53) and is second in average (.470) as a hitter.

Other Rhinos' standouts have been Serena Yalich (.324 average, 2nd in Region 10 with 47 RBIs), Gabrielle Porterfield (.304 average, 1st in Region 10 with 34 stolen bases), Asheton Queen (.380 average, 2nd in Region 10 with 28 stolen bases), Haylee Salter (.339 average), Logan Lilly (.338 average), Gracie Brown (.269 average), Tessa Hunt (.258 average, 9-4 pitching record) and Amiya Tomlinson (9-4 pitching record).

"We're as healthy as you're going to be this time of year," Steuerwald said. "Our issue is having played so few games in the month of April. We need to see if we can stay sharp."

After playing its first 38 games from Feb. 8 to March 31, the Rhinos have played only eight games since April 6.

Gaston College has played all but one team in the tournament field as Harford Community College of Maryland enters as the lone Region 15 team.

The Rhinos split a Feb. 26 home doubleheader against Monroe, N.Y., the lone Region 20 team, in addition to going 15-1 against their Region 10 rivals.

The winner of the Region 10 tournament advances to the May 12-13 best-of-3 Mid-Atlantic district championship tournament at Central Alabama CC in Alexander City, Ala. And that district winner advances to the May 23-27 NJCAA World Series at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.

Here are the full Region 10 championship pairings for a tournament that will be played at Pine Grove Complex, Lexington, S.C.:

(Thursday, May 4)
Game 1: No. 4 Spartanburg Methodist (19-23) vs. No. 5 Florence Darlington Tech (23-18), noon Field 1
Game 2: No. 3 Harford, Md. (25-6) vs. No. 6 Monroe, N.Y. (26-22), 1:30 p.m. Field 5
Game 3: No. 2 USC Union (19-22) vs. No. 7 USC Sumter (2-26), noon Field 5
Game 4: No. 1 Gaston College (38-8) vs. Game 1 winner, 3 p.m. Field 1
Game 5: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 4 p.m. Field 5

(Friday, May 5)
Game 6: Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 11 a.m. Field 5
Game 7: Game 1 loser vs. Game 5 loser, 1:30 p.m. Field 1
Game 8: Game 4 loser vs. Game 6 winner, 1:30 p.m. Field 5
Game 9: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11 a.m. Field 1
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 4 p.m. Field 1

(Saturday, May 6)
Game 11: Game 9 loser vs. Game 10 winner, 11 a.m. Field 1
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 1:30 p.m. Field 1
Game 13 (if necessary): If Game 9 winner loses in Game 12, 4 p.m. Field 1