COVINGTON, Ga. — In a cross-town rivalry matchup, the Eastside Eagles pulled away from the Newton Rams late to come out on top with a 10-1 victory on Wednesday, March 9 at home.
After the win, Eastside head coach Brandon Davis was happy with his team’s performance.
“I’m more pleased that we’re starting to play Eastside baseball,” Davis said. “We’ve had a rough start, but the kids are starting to believe in themselves more. That’s what we’ve been telling them all year. ‘It’s going to come. Stay in there, keep battling and you’re going to see the fruits of your labor.’”
Newton head coach Derwin McNealy acknowledged Eastside’s outing while also expressing pride in his team’s effort on Wednesday night.
“They’ve been one of the best programs in the county for a long time,” McNealy said. “Our guys went out and played hard. I think we could’ve gone out and did some things differently, but right now I give [Eastside] the credit. They played a good ball game.”
Though Wednesday’s game ended in a nine-run victory for Eastside, the game was much closer early on.
After being able to generate numerous base runners, the Eagles’ lead stood at 1-0 after two innings. In the top of the third inning, Newton drove in a run to tie the game 1-1.
Then, in the bottom of the third, Eastside provided itself with some cushion with a three-run inning to extend the lead 4-1.
Eastside tacked on a run in the fourth and another in the fifth to make their lead 6-1.
More cushion came in the Eagles’ last turn at bat where Eastside brought four more runs across home plate to solidify its nine-run win.
Newton had opportunities to get back in the ball game, though.
Particularly, in the top half of the fifth inning, the Rams had bases loaded with just one out against them. Newton was unable to generate any runs in the situation and that seemed to be the difference as the contest waned on.
With the loss, the Rams drop back to .500 at 5-5 overall. They were scheduled to travel to Alcovy High School on Friday, March 11, weather permitting.
Region play begins next Monday, March 14 for the Rams, too, with a road matchup against South Gwinnett. The region series will conclude with a doubleheader on Wednesday at home.
For McNealy, Wednesday’s game served as a great reminder of what his team needs to improve on the most heading into region action.
“Trying to continue to get the kids mentally prepared for in-game adversity,” McNealy said. “We had some wins early then we took a couple of losses. We just have to continue to prepare mentally for the ups and downs that come with playing a good team.”
On the other side, Eastside improves to 3-8 overall and gives the Eagles their first winning streak of 2022. Eastside’s non-region schedule will conclude on Friday, March 11 with a road matchup against Norcross.
It, too, will begin region play on Monday, March 14 at Jackson County. The Eagles will face Jackson County again at home on Wednesday, March 16.
Davis hopes Wednesday’s result will help spark the Eagles as they enter their Region 8-AAAAA schedule next week.
“You want to get hot,” Davis said. “Especially right before the region schedule begins. So, hopefully, this will get us on a good streak more than anything.”
