Gastonia, NC- Gaston College took charge in the third inning and used strong pitching to down Potomac State, 5-3 on Friday in its opening round game of the National Junior College Athletic Association Eastern District tournament at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.
The victory advances the Rhinos (46-10) into the winner's bracket final of the 4-team, double-elimination tournament against Region 10 rival Florence Darlington Tech (49-11) at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. The winner advances to Sunday needing whomever it faces to beat them twice.
The Stingers had to rally from a 5-3 deficit after five innings to tie Harford, Md., at 5 before Florence Darlington won 6-5 in 11 innings.
Gaston College fell behind 1-0 after one inning on an RBI single from Morgan Little. The Rhinos then struck for three runs in the second inning and two in the third to take control of the game.
Potomac State scored twice in the fifth on a two-run double from Jimmy Sadler.
"I thought their starter (Alexander Meckley) was really, really good," Gaston Head Coach Shohn Doty said. "There was traffic every inning and we were able to get him out of the game" after five innings.
Meckley took the loss, in five innings of work the sophomore struck out six.
Caleb Goodwin worked the final four innings for PSC and did not allow a run.
Kyle McKernan started and went six innings before relievers David Sande (2 innings) and Landon Carr (1 inning) closed out the victory.
Enrique Wood led off the second inning rally with an infield hit and advanced to second and third on ground outs before scoring on Miller St. John's RBI single tied the score at 1.
After St. John advanced to third on a wild pickoff throw, Konni Durschlag hit a RBI single and Wade Kelly followed with a RBI triple for a 3-1 lead.
In the third, Preston Hall scored after singling, advancing to third on a throwing error and scoring on a wild pitch. Wood, who reached on a fielder's choice, stole second, advanced to third and scored on Seth Christmas' RBI single.
Here's the full schedule for the 2020 NJCAA Eastern District tournament at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park:
(Friday, May 12)
Game 1: No. 2 Harford, Md. (34-16-1) vs. No. 3 Florence Darlington Tech (48-11) - Florence Darlington Tech 6-5 in 11
Game 2: No. 1 Gaston College (45-10) vs. No. 4 Potomac State, W.Va. (30-16) - Gaston College 5-3
(Saturday, May 13)
Game 3: Florence Darlington Tech vs. Gaston College, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Harford, Md. vs. Potomac State, W.Va., 2:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 5 p.m.
(Sunday, May 14)
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 7 (if necessary): Game 6 winner if it is the Game 5 winner, 45 minutes after Game 6 ends