CONYERS - The Newton County Tigers a 12 and under AAA travel baseball team won their first tournament of the 2008 season during the King of the Diamond USSSA World Series Qualifier on Sunday at Johnson Park.

Coached by Sonny Jones and Scott Walker, the Tigers include team members Trey Rampy, Blake Pike, M.J. Boykin, Alex Anderson, Drew Buckhault, Hank Steele, Cody Walker, Austin Hegwood, Jake Jones, Dalton Reagin and Dylan Davis. Team statistician is Miles Steele.

After finishing second, losing to the USSSA points system No. 1 ranked Lawrenceville Outlaws earlier in the month at the Spring Training Bash, 5-4, the Tigers were too hot to handle this past weekend.

Becoming the eventual tournament champions by beating the Outlaws in the tourney finale, 5-1, the Tigers scored one run in the first inning to get an early lead.

The Tigers added four more runs in the third, with the Outlaws scoring one in the sixth to fall short in the end.

Walker pitched a complete game, allowing just four hits along the way. He led the pitching staff with six innings of work and an overall 1.00 earned run average.

The Tigers dominated their opponents by a 32-6 run margin in three games out of a field of seven teams.

They defeated the Gresham Park White Sox, 8-0, in their first game of pool play only to repeat the same score against the White Sox in their first game of elimination.

In the second game of elimination Newton County beat the Redan Tigers, 11-5, which put them into the championship game.

It was Reagin who had the hot bat in the tournament, averaging .714 overall. He also contributed with three and two-thirds innings on the mound.

Jones hit .375, while Walker batting a solid .333.

Other hurlers included Pike and Rampy, who contributed three innings apiece. Jones pitched two innings while Buckhault recorded one and one-third innings.

According to the USSSA baseball rankings, the Newton County Tigers are fourth in the points system, second in the power rating and 12th in the state coaches poll.