COVINGTON, Ga. – The Newton Rams picked up another important region victory on Wednesday in the first of a three-game series against the Rockdale County Bulldogs.
At 8-6, Newton entered Wednesday’s contest as the heavy favorites over the 4-11 Bulldogs. But a slow start in the first two innings instilled some doubts if the Rams were going to come on top.
Those doubts were soon cleared at a five-run performance in the bottom of the fourth inning with hits from Caden Cox, Kendall Turner, Chris Guillory, Devontae Hardeman and Robert “38” Jackson.
Once the bats got going, they never stopped, leading the way for a Rams 12-2 victory after six innings.
“The team came out and competed,” said head coach Delvin Jordan. “The second inning, the light switch turned on and we got the win today.”
Senior Jayce Yearwood got the start on the mound, but his surrounding cast wasn’t helping him in the early going. Two pitches led to two errors, allowing Rockdale to build some early momentum. A ground out from Hairston Scott ended the Bulldogs’ hope of scoring the first run.
Instead, Newton struck first with an RBI double from Guillory for a 1-0 lead to end the first inning.
Rockdale wasn’t deterred, as freshman Mitchell Murray nailed a line drive to center field for an RBI triple to tie the game. Two batters later, Caleb Ellison nailed an RBI single to give the Bulldogs their only lead of the night.
“The guys just kinda came out flat like ‘ah it’s Rockdale,’” Jordan said. “You can’t do that because at the end of the day, Rockdale is a competitive team. They beat us last year. You can’t come out here being selfish and thinking you’re just going to come out and roll over and beat this team.”
While Newton’s defense struggled in the early going, the pitching from Rockdale County was the Achilees’ heel throughout the course of the contest. With the bases loaded, pitcher Donovon Davis walked Turner to tie the game at 2-2.
Guillory nabbed his second RBI of the evening on the next play to reclaim the lead, but not without a double play from Rockdale County that faltered the frame.
With a chance to answer, Rockdale County couldn’t get past the arm of Yearwood, who nailed two strikeouts.
After a couple of scoreless frames, the Rams officially took over the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Rockdale allowed five consecutive hits that shot the score up to 7-2. After Jackson stole home on a wild pitch, the Rams took an 8-2 lead.
Yearwood continued to impress in the fifth and sixth innings, nailing four strikeouts that stalled the Bulldogs’ offense.
In the end, Yearwood finished with a total of eight strikeouts.
“Jayce was rusty, he hadn’t thrown in a couple of weeks and had a little arm trouble so he didn’t come out looking sharp,” Jordan said. “But he’s a good pitcher [ and] a good player. So when you’re a good player, things go your way.”
Rockdale looked to mimic Newton’s success with a pitching change. That didn’t work, as the Rams added onto their lead on two more occasions.
A walk with bases loaded gave the Rams a 10-run lead and effectively ended the game in six innings.
Turner continued his breakout season, going 2-2 on the plate with five RBIs and two runs scored. The junior’s performance elevated his stats for 24 hits and 18 RBIs on the season through 15 games. Guillory also added three RBIs to continue his upward trajectory before playing college baseball at Houston in 2027.
The Rams went on to score 30 runs total in the final two games of the series as the team completed the sweep over the Bulldogs with wins of 15-3 and 15-7.
Newton will begin a three-game series against the Grovetown Warriors on the road on Tuesday, March 24.
