Walkoff winner for No. 23 Gaston College in non-league matchup

No. 23-ranked Gaston College needed a late rally to knock off nationally-ranked Cleveland Community College 4-3 on Wednesday at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.

Chris Hendrickson's one-out RBI single to right drove in Holden Cooper with the winning run and was the first walkoff winning hit of the season for the Rhinos (22-7-1).

"We found a way to win," Gaston College coach Shohn Doty said. "At the end of the day, that's important."

The visiting Yetis (22-6) are ranked No. 23 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II poll.

Doty said his team needs to show improvement offensively and defensively as it continues its long homestand that began on Tuesday.

"Some of that is us pressing to do the right thing but we've got to be better," Doty said. "They've got a good club. This is the best team that they've had. So for us to come out and find a way late is huge. Hopefully, it'll carry over."

Hendrickson and Koy Swanson had two hits apiece to lead the eight-hit Rhinos' offense that also got contributions from Brandon Crabtree (double), Nick Lundquist (single) and Isaac Armstrong (single).

On the mound, Gaston College used six pitchers - Jake Young (3 innings), Drake Purvis (2 innings), Clayton Sherwood (2/3 innings), Cross Clayton (1 1/3 innings), Tucker Holland (1 inning) and Nick Diehl (1 inning) - with Diehl picking up the victory.

"The pitching was really, really good," Doty said. "Jake came out and gave us a good start and every other guy that came in gave us some good stuff. We've got to have all of those guys."

Gaston College returns to action in Region 10 Division I action for a three-game series against USC Lancaster that starts with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and a 1 p.m. single game on Sunday.

"We've got a huge weekend coming up and we're at home for the next 12 games," Doty said.