In their inaugural tournament last weekend, the Newton Knights competed in the first Wooden Bat Classic at Criswell Park in Monroe.

The Knights, an 11 and under travel baseball team that has just formed out of Covington, made it all the way to the championship game. However, they lost their first and only game of the tournament to the Lizella Lizards, 8-1.

Lizella's Ethan Edwards pitched a complete game, with the Knights' only hit coming from Jalen Martin.

The Knights beat the Elite Attack in the first game of pool play Saturday, 8-7. Following that, they defeated the Thomaston Warriors, 6-2.

By being the only undefeated team in play, the Knights earned the first seed in Sunday's play by beating the Elite Attack for the second time, 7-1.

J.L. Banks led the team with a tournament batting average of .375, which included a pair of doubles. Ross Kirkpatrick batted .333 with a triple, Hunter Clark averaged .333 and A.J. Howard hit .286 with a double and a triple.

The pitching staff was led by Hunter Clark with nine strong innings. Hunter Ballard, Ben Moses and Yorel James rounded out the rotation.

The Knights are coached by Leroy James, Terry Ballard and Mark Clark, all of which were very excited about how the boys played in their first tournament.

For more information about the Knights, visit the Web site at http://eteamz.active.com/NewtonKnights or send e-mail newtonknights@yahoo.com.