COVINGTON, Ga. — Eastside couldn’t have asked for a better start to region play.

The Eagles opened their Region 8-AAAAA slate with a two-game sweep of Jackson County, punctuated by a 5-4 win over the visiting Panthers at the Eagle’s Nest on Thursday. After stumbling out to a 1-8 start, the club has turned tides around in head coach Brandon Davis’ first season by winning four of its last five.

“Anytime you pull out a region win, you’re ecstatic,” Davis said. “But [Thursday] was hard-fought. They went out there and battled. That’s just Eastside team baseball right there.”

Deadlocked at four runs apiece in the sixth inning, Eastside sophomore Colton Fincher led off the home half of the frame by lining a double to left field. Junior Josh Bates, who pinch-ran for Fincher, advanced to third base on an out. He later came around to score when senior Caleb Williams ripped a two-out single back up the middle.

Williams’ RBI knock proved to be the game-winner. 

The Eagles handed the ball to Williams on the mound Thursday. He battled through five innings, doing his part both on the bump and at the plate to keep Eastside in the game. He was relieved in the sixth by junior Brady Marbut, who silenced the Wildcat bats while the Eagle offense roared back to life.

“You almost can’t put into words what Brady did,” Davis said. “He went out there and put the team on his back and shut the door.”

​​Eastside drew first blood in the second inning on an RBI single from Fincher. Jackson County tied it up in the top of the third inning, but the Eagles responded with RBI singles off the bats of senior Bryce Burgess and junior Jackson Allen to take a 3-1 lead.

In the fourth, a leadoff double that squeaked inside the left-field line set Jackson County up for business. The Wildcats proceeded to plate a pair of runs, evening the score entering the fifth inning.

After Eastside surrendered the go-ahead run in the top of the fifth, Allen played the role of hero for the Eagles in the bottom half. He stepped to the plate with two outs and dropped a bloop RBI single into shallow right field, scoring a run from second base to tie the game at 4.

With its first league series victory under its belt, Eastside (5-9, 2-0) plans to continue coming into its own as the region gauntlet unfolds.

“We have preached the whole year: the outcomes will come. Stay the course, keep going, and the breaks are going to start falling your way,” Davis said. “Early in the year, it seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. But, you know, that’s the law of averages.

“They’re starting to become more of a team. You saw that [Thursday.]”