COVINGTON, Ga. — With county supremacy on the line, the Eastside Eagles opened up the 2024 Newton Cup with a 8-6 win over the Newton Rams on Saturday.

The Eagles and the Rams were the first of three matchups that took place for the Newton Cup, held at Newton High School.

Ultimately, Eastside’s victory came in extra innings.

In the top of the eighth inning, Blake Hughes lined an opposite field RBI double down the right field line, which drove in Chase Jordan.

On the next at-bat, Isaih Biggers’ ground ball was mishandled by the shortstop for an error. The error scored an additional run to extend the Eagles’ lead to 8-6.

In the bottom half of the frame, Newton seemed to have a rally brewing when Jay Ford reached on a walk with two outs.

Four pitches later, Kendall Turner hit a hard line drive to first base, where it was caught on a leaping grab from Hughes to end the game.

After delivering the go-ahead hit followed by the game-ending catch, Hughes received a lot of praise from Eagles head coach Cody Walker.

Walker expressed how the plays Hughes made were a direct result of his work ethic.

“Last year, Blake would not have made that hit,” Walker said. “It is the work he has put in during the offseason that allows him to go oppo. Last year, he was a dead-pull hitter. It just shows the work he puts in during the offseason.

Even though the Eagles had to pull the win out in extra innings, they began the game with a sizable lead.

Eastside plated four runs in the first inning.

Dawson Petree, Brayson Osborn, Brandon Ellis and Payton Shaw each had an RBI knock in the frame that gave the Eagles an early advantage.

In the bottom of the first frame, the Rams got a run of their own on an RBI double from Caden Brown.

Newton added on two more runs on an RBI double from Turner to reduce the Eastside lead to 4-3 in the following innings. 

The two teams traded runs in the third inning on a pair of groundouts, making the score 5-4 in favor of Eastside.

Eastside added an additional run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Osborn.

When Newton went to bat in the bottom of the frame, it delivered the runs to tie it with Brown and Lucas Ballard.

Brown roped a triple down the right field line to score a run. On the next at-bat, Ballard drove in Brown with an RBI single to tie the game at 6-6.

After back-to-back scoreless frames from both squads, the Eagles capitalized in extra innings to win.

Following the game, the Eagles stayed on the diamond for game two against the Alcovy Tigers.

Eastside's next matchup will be on the road against Morgan County on Monday, Feb. 19.