No. 16 Gaston College softball clinches Region 10 regular season title

No. 16 Gaston College is a perfect four-for-four in pursuing Region 10 regular season titles.

The Rhinos (53-4, 21-1) clinched at least a share of their fourth straight championship this weekend with road doubleheader sweeps of USC Sumter on Friday and Saturday.

"It's really special for our program," Gaston College coach Michael Steuerwald said, who has guided the program since it started in 2021. "And it's very special for our sophomores who are 116-9 right now in two seasons.
"From a program standpoint, it means a lot to win a conference championship every year you've had a team."

On Friday, the Rhinos won 14-1 in six innings as pitchers Savanna Mullins and Aidan Ledbetter combined on a three-hitter in the opener and took a 10-1 win in five innings on a no-hitter by freshman pitcher Charlee Kelly in the nightcap.

On Saturday, Miranda Wall's fifth-inning grand slam snapped a 1-all tie in a 5-1 victory in the opener and Mary Hinson won her first pitching start of the season in an 11-0, five-inning win in the nightcap.

Two fielding errors and a walk allowed USC Sumter to score in the first inning of Kelly's no-hitter, which is the 10th in school history. Kelly yielded the unearned run and two walks while striking out six.

"She was really special from the third inning on," Steuerwald of Kelly's Friday effort. "It was the best velocity we've seen from her this year."

Offensively, Hinson (6 hits, triple, 3 RBIs), Jalyn Kopp (6 hits, double, 3 RBIs), Katelyn Brandon (5 hits, 4 doubles, 3 RBIs), Adah Bruining (5 hits, 3 doubles, home run, 6 RBIs), Miranda Wall (5 hits, double, triple, home run, 8 RBIs), Arissa Duff (3 hits, double, 1 RBI) and Mallie Courson (3 hits, 2 RBIs) led the Rhinos in the four-game sweep.

"It's been fun to see the team get as far as it has from where we were in the fall," Steuerwald said. "I'm happy to see our team build together and have people emerge, especially from that freshman class.
"We knew what we had from our sophomores but you're always going to need freshmen to step up."

Gaston College concludes its regular season schedule at Florence Darlington Tech with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday before advancing to the April 30 through May 3 Region 10 championship tournament Tyger River Park in Duncan, S.C.