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Eastside weathers Hurricanes for fourth straight
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Bryan Fazio
Published: Mar 24, 2012, 10:31 PM

The Eastside baseball team has put itself in good position for the second half of its Region 4-AAA schedule after winning its fourth straight Friday.

The Eagles (12-3, 6-1) beat Monroe Area 7-3 for their 10th win in their last 11 games.

Drew Buckhault threw a little over four innings, allowing three runs on four hits.

Buckhault gave up two runs on two hits in the top of the third inning as Monroe Area (2-8, 1-4 8-AAA) got on the scoreboard first.

The first batter of the inning walked for the Hurricanes, followed by a single, and a run-scoring double by the next two batters. Monroe Area scored its second run on an error by Eastside second baseman Hank Steele.

The Hurricane's lead was short lived however, as Eastside responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Matt Hitchcock drew a leadoff walk, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Buckhault. A batter later, with one out, Cody Walker doubled to score Hithcock.

Joey Mitchell followed with a hit to move Walker to third. Walker and Mitchell later scored on an error by Monroe Area's third baseman.

The Eagles kept Monroe Area off the scoreboard in the top of the fourth before Jason Briem started the fourth inning off for Eastside with a hit. He moved to second on a walk to Jerold Sumner and scored on Hitchcock's ground out to third to give the Eagles a 5-2 lead.

The Eagles gave up their last run of the game thanks to two walks and a hit in the top of the fifth.

Eastside then responded with two more in the bottom of the fifth.

Walker led off with a single, and Mitchell reached on an error by the shortstop. Keith Buckhault followed with a double scoring Mitchell. Keith Buckhault finished Eastside's scoring on Jake Wright's ground out to second.

Walker set the table for Eastside, connecting on two hits, including a double, scoring one run and driving in another. Briem also had two hits and scored a run, while Mitchell scored twice for Eastside.

Hitchcock and Tyler Bailey combined for a shutout in a little over two innings to close it.

Eastside currently sits second in the region three games ahead of Jackson, where the Eagles will play Monday.

Spalding is in first place, having not lost a region game in six contests. Eastside travels to Spalding on April 9.
Jakai Newton enters transfer portal after two years at Indiana
Newton was a standout player at Newton High School
Jakai Newton
Jakai Newton (0) during his time at Newton High School. - photo by Covington News/File Photo
Evan Newton
Updated: Apr 1, 2025, 9:32 PM
Published: Apr 1, 2025, 9:29 PM

Former Newton Ram standout Jakai Newton will officially be searching for a new home.

Newton formally declared his intent to transfer from Indiana University on March 24 after entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Newton has struggled with injuries throughout his basketball career, which has kept him off the floor. 

The 2023 Newton Ram graduate suffered a knee injury during his senior year of high school. The same injury cost him his first season at Indiana.

After receiving a medical redshirt from the NCAA, Newton would only play four games in the 2024-25 season due to numerous lower body injuries. In those four appearances, he averaged 1.5 PPG and 0.8 RPG at 4.5 MPG.

However, when on the court, Newton was efficient. In just his sophomore season at Newton High School, Newton shot 34 percent from three-point range and was an efficient contributor to several Newton teams alongside players like Stephon Castle, Jabez Jenkins and Marcus Whitlock, among others.