COVINGTON, Ga. — The Newton Lady Rams removed a huge weight off their shoulders by earning the team’s first win on the young season during the Diamond Day against Eastside and Alcovy. Newton had to wait until the second game to get the win. 

The Lady Rams lost to Alcovy 6-5 in extra innings, but ended the day with a 3-1 victory over Eastside. 

There is one big takeaway head coach Virginia Waters wanted  her players to grasp based on Saturday’s win. “We need to realize that we can hit with anybody and we can play with anybody,” Waters said. “This time around [in game three versus Eastside] I felt like we adjusted earlier and were able to put the ball in play a little bit more. And, to get a win against Eastside is a nice way to get our first win.” 

Numerous Lady Rams contributed on offense. Kyla Stroud went 2-for-3 with two RBIs that came off a 2-run home run in the third inning. J. Anderson, Aaliyah Wilcox and Z. Smith each batted a run in. 

Elle Standard was a workhorse for Newton in both games. In game one, Standard went eight innings allowing 10 hits, one earned run while striking out eightl Game two featured Standard pitching another seven innings, while surrendering seven hits and one earned run. 

After being tied 1-1 in game two, though, through the fifth inning, Newton put together a 2-run sixth to provided adequate separation for the victory. 

Now, Newton will look to ride that momentum it gained in its win over Eastside back into region play this week. It hit the road to Grayson on Tuesday but returns home to face Parkview Thursday. 

Moving forward, Waters wants to see more of what happened in game two against Eastside on Saturday. 

“Anytime you play somebody where the girls know all the other girls, they always play at the next level,” Waters said. 

“I like playing Eastside and/or Alcovy just because what the girls show us out here is what we know they’re absolutely capable of for the rest of the season.”