Monday was a great day for prep baseball in Newton County.

In addition to Eastside sweeping Salem in its home-opening doubleheader at the Eagle’s Nest, Alcovy and Newton both also opened their respective region slates with victories.

The Tigers welcomed Evans to town looking to put an end to a four-game losing skid. They found themselves trailing 4-0 in the third inning before senior Chris Burney belted a three-run blast to left field — his third of the season — to ignite a spark for the club.

Alcovy claimed the lead in the fifth inning thanks to a pair of bunt singles from senior Jacob Golden and sophomore Mekhi Phelps, the latter of which induced a throwing error that plated a run. Junior Lamar Williams and senior Trace Payne followed with RBI knocks before Burney’s RBI double scored Payne to cap off a five-run frame.

The Tigers would hold on for an 8-5 victory to move to 5-6 on the year and 1-0 in Region 3-AAAAAA play.

Meanwhile, Newton went on the road to square off against Region 8-AAAAAAA rival Rockdale County in the first of three meetings this week.

Coming off a doubleheader sweep of Alcovy that saw them plate 33 runs in two games, the Rams continued to showcase their potent offense in a 19-4 thrashing of the Bulldogs. Senior Israel Dixon led the effort at the plate with a four-hit performance, finishing a home run shy of completing the cycle.

Newton is now 4-4 this season and 1-0 against region competition.