The Newton County Lady Rams were in for a battle all night and had to rally to win in the end.
The Rockdale County Lady Bulldogs kept their dugout rowdy before the game and through the start of the first inning, while the Lady Rams were seeming to warm-up to the game. Sophomore Britney Ellis was the pitcher on the mound for the Lady Rams, and the rough start foreshadowed a long night for her.
The first batter for the Lady Bulldogs singled, followed by a triple and a run scored. Off of an error, another runner steals home to score. The Lady Bulldogs singled twice more before a runner was thrown out at second, and a pop out ended the top of the first.
With the score already 2-0 Lady Bulldogs, the pressure was on to get the bats hot for the Lady Rams. Senior Ciara Bryan started off the top of the order with a single and two stolen bases, putting a runner in scoring position for the Lady Rams’ junior Katy Ammons. Ammons tripled, scoring Bryan on a well hit ball to left field.
Next batter, sophomore Ashley Weesner, hit an RBI singles making it 2-2 with only one out. Senior Ashton McKinnon joined in on the hot-bat streak with a RBI triple making it 3-2, Newton. Ellis hits an RBI single with two outs making the score 4-2 before a ground out ended the inning.
The top of the second seemed like it would never be over, and the Lady Bulldogs enjoyed it. Ellis versus the first batter, singles, followed by another single that scored a runner from first. One more single puts a runner on third, followed by a triple that scored the runner making it 4-4.
After a walk and two more singles with runners scoring on each, the Lady Rams seemed distraught defensively. They gave up two runs on the same play on two errors made in the outfield as well as the infield.
The top of the second ended with a ground out and the crowd cheered loud in support of the Lady Rams. With the score 8-4, Lady Rams’ freshman Sapphire Ortega singles to start the bottom of the second inning. Bryan hits a dart into center field scoring a run on the RBI triple.
Junior Markayla Price hits a sacrifice ground out scoring Bryan making the score 8-6. After a walk, the Lady Bulldogs ground out the final two batters to end the second.
The third inning was more settling for the Lady Rams, as they started with a second pitch ground out. Ellis got into a little trouble again, walking a batter and allowing a single. She got her first strikeout of the night to make it two outs before an error throwing to bases allowed a runner to score.
The top of the inning ended on a pop fly. The Lady Rams would match that run in the bottom of the third inning. At the plate with two outs, junior Tatyana Wimby singled and Ortega followed her up with a double, putting runners on second and third with Bryan on deck.
Bryan wastes no time keeping her bat hot with another RBI, this time it being a single. The Lady Rams couldn’t keep the momentum going though as they ended their side with a pop out. Two runners were left stranded.
The top of the fourth started with a single for the Lady Bulldogs followed by a pop out. They would single and have a runner thrown out while the hitter was safe at second for an RBI double. Ellis, gets out of a jam with a ground play to the shortstop for an easy out.
The bottom of the fourth was the quickest so far in the game for the Lady Rams. A ground out and a pop fly out started the inning. It was followed by a single and a walk before another ground out ended the inning leaving two stranded.
The top of the fifth was the best inning defensively for the Lady Rams. They stopped the Lady Bulldogs with two ground outs before a pop fly ended the inning. The bottom of the fifth for the Lady Rams wasn’t much offensively. With 2 outs, Bryan singles and steals second again making it three stolen bases on the night. Her efforts left her stranded on second after a pop fly out ended the inning.
The sixth inning started with two singles for the Lady Bulldogs before a runner was thrown out at second. After another single and a RBI double the Lady Rams took a 11-7 lead. They made it 12-7 off of another RBI double before a pop fly out ended their inning.
The bottom of the sixth was discouraging for the Lady Rams. They did get singles by Weesner and sophomore Madison Kinard before a ground out ended the inning. The top of the seventh inning was the last chance for the Lady Bulldogs to add more to a five-run lead.
They got a single before a ground out, a strikeout by Ellis, and a double play. Bottom seventh, last chance for the Lady Rams to rally, and their bats got hot at the right time.
Wimby singles into left field followed by an RBI double by Ortega making the score 12-8. Bryan used her hot bat and base-to-base speed in the last inning rally by hitting a two-RBI in the park homerun making the game more interesting at 12-10.
Price was walked afterwards, and Ammons singled before Weesner hit a two-RBI double tying the score at 12-12. McKinnon grounds out leaving the game-winning run on second. With only one out, Kinard singles into left field scoring Weesner from second, and the Lady Rams win in comeback fashion 13-12.
This win marks the Lady Rams at 7-9 (7-2 Region 2-AAAAAA). This was a makeup regional game and a home win for the Lady Rams leaving their home record at 4-4. Newton will travel to face Rockdale to end the season series on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
