Gaston College Rhinos putting together remarkable first baseball season

A year ago, Gaston College did not have a baseball team.

As of April 14, the Gaston Rhinos sported a record of 33-4.

A year ago, few even realized that Gaston College was preparing to rekindle its long-dormant inter-collegiate athletic programs.

Today, the Gaston Rhinos are nationally ranked, thanks to that sterling record.

A year ago, historic Sims Legion Park, which had hosted both professional and college league baseball in the past, was home only to local American Legion games.

Today, the park has been renovated, an artificial playing surface has been installed, and the stadium proclaims itself as "The Home of the Rhinos."

So how did all this happen in a single year?

I turned to Rhinos head baseball coach Shohn Doty for answers, meeting him in his glass-enclosed office in the Meyers Center on a warm and humid mid-April morning.

"The biggest thing is we have a school president who is willing to go the extra mile to do things right," said Doty of Gaston College President John Hauser.

"And by 'do things right,' I mean hiring people with experience at the collegiate level," Doty continued. "He definitely has a vision of what he wants this program to be and of what it can be."

Doty, 52, certainly fits the bill of having experience — experience that includes 33 years of college baseball coaching, including 18 years at NCAA Division I schools.

An Arkansas native and a graduate of Arkansas Tech University, Doty coached at several schools, including Old Dominion in Virginia, UNC Wilmington, and UNC Charlotte before accepting the new job at Gaston College.

"They were looking for somebody good enough, arrogant enough, and maybe dumb enough to get a new program off the ground," Doty said with a laugh.

Doty said the position intrigued him because, "It gave me the opportunity to create something from nothing. I had never launched a program before, and here, I had my hand in everything. It has given me the opportunity to put my stamp on something."

Helping Doty place that personal stamp on the program are two experienced assistant coaches — Jacob Rand and K.J. McAllister.

Rand spent six years as an assistant at Wingate University and helped recruit the players who led the Bulldogs to the 2021 NCAA Division II World Series championship.

McAllister had spent two seasons as an assistant at North Carolina Central University in Durham and had previously coached high school baseball in Topsail and Jacksonville.

So, how did Doty and his assistants sell Gaston College and its new baseball program to the 33 young men who make up the team's roster?

"I sold them on the opportunity to create something with me," Doty responded. "I told them this would not be a 'first-year program.' Why? Because we can do better than that. We can set a higher standard. And we have."

A junior college like Gaston, Doty said, "is all about development. Developing athletically. Developing academically. And saving money for that next step up to a four-year institution."

A junior college athlete is basically saying to his coach, according to Doty, "I am not a finished product. Make me the best player I can be."

Five-tool baseball players, those who can hit, hit with power, run, field, and throw, are not likely to turn up in a junior college program, Doty said, "but we can help those kids with three or four tools develop those and maybe add that fourth or fifth tool."

In recruiting players, Doty said he never makes promises of playing time or being in the starting line-up. Instead, he says, "I give them one promise only. If you come here for two years and do what you're supposed to do, we will get you to the highest possible next level of play."

Some 65 college players coached by Doty have gone on to the professional ranks but the one who stands out is future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, former American League Rookie of the Year, former American League MVP, and two-time Cy Young Award winner.

Doty was Verlander's pitching coach at Old Dominion.

"He was a once-in-a-lifetime guy," said Doty of coaching the young phenom back in the early 2000s. "Those are some memories I will always cherish."

So is Doty surprised that the 2022 Rhinos have performed so well?

"I knew we had some talented kids," he responded. "I knew we had some excellent athletes. The focus was getting them all on the same page, all moving in the same direction."

I had told Doty that I would not take up more than 30 minutes of his time, but how can a good conversation about baseball end that quickly? It didn't.

In a little more than 60 minutes, I learned that he is a lifelong fan of the Dallas Cowboys and the Kansas City Royals, that he has no hobbies, that he neither hunts nor fishes.

His passion, very obviously, is baseball.

As I prepared to leave, however, the coach said, "I'm going to make a prediction that may get me in trouble. Our team next year will be more talented that the group we have this year."

Having seen what Doty has accomplished this year, this old baseball fan is certainly not going to bet against him.

Bill Poteat, who saw the New York Yankees play the North Carolina Tar Heels at Boshamer Stadium back in April of 1977, may be reached at 828-448-0195 or bpoteat@gastongazette.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston College Rhinos have remarkable first baseball season