VALDOSTA, Ga. — The bounce back season for Newton baseball ended in the first round of the Class AAAAAAA against the Lowndes VIkings. Ultimately, the Rams fell 14-4 and 14-0 in a doubleheader on Thursday, April 25.
Following a final stretch of the regular season that saw the Rams win eight of their last nine games, Newton punched its ticket to the playoffs with a fourth place finish in Region 4-AAAAAAA.
Though the Rams’ season did not end the way they intended, first-year head coach Delvin Jordan was pleased with the performance of his team when their backs were against the wall.
“The perseverance was unreal,” Jordan said. “I told the guys at the beginning of the season, ‘Winners win, and we will find a way. It may not always go your way, just have grit and just keep going and we will figure it out.’ Those guys were mentally bought in. They just kept working.”
The fourth place finish put the Rams up against Lowndes, who entered the postseason with a record of 25-5.
In game one, the Vikings jumped on Newton starter Josh Brown early.
Though the Vikings had four hits in the inning, Lowndes posted six runs with the help of a few walks and an error from Newton’s outfield.
In the next frame, the Rams put their first run on the board with a sacrifice fly from Kirk Campbell that scored Jordan Nolley.
The next inning saw Newton inch closer.
After singles from Lucas Ballard and Kendall Turner put two runners on with one out, Nolley stepped back into the box for his second turn against Lowndes pitcher Ashton Bohler.
Nolley laced a ball into center field that allowed not only both runners, but Nolley himself, to score on an inside-the-park home run.
The round-tripper from the Alabama A&M commit reduced Lowndes' lead to 6-4.
“I thought we competed, we never quit,” Jordan said. “We got down, threw some balls early. A couple big hits early then [we] made a crucial error, but we still competed. It was 6-0 at one point in the first inning. We came in and scored four runs to make it 6-4. Overall, the guys didn’t quit. We had a gameplan, [but] we didn’t execute the game plan the way we thought we could have.”
Following the strong answer from Newton, the Vikings answered with more.
Lowndes scored four additional runs in the third inning on a pair of hits from Coleman Lewis and Noah Thigpen.
With a 10-4 lead, the Vikings scored four more runs in the fifth inning to induce the mercy rule in game one with a 14-4 victory.
Just as they did in game one, the Vikings posted 14 runs in game two.
This time, the Lowndes’ pitcher Matthew Kerrigan proved too much for Newton as the Rams were held scoreless in their elimination game.
Newton ws outhit 11-2 in the contest as the Vikings added runs in all five innings.
In the fifth and final frame, Lowndes scored seven runs to force the mercy rule victory.
Newton’s two hits in game two came from Caden Brown and Arin Chevers.
Caden started the game for Newton, but was pulled after the third inning after six runs (three of which were earned) came across to score.
Offensively, Newton was led by Caden with three hits in the series. Nolley, Turner and Robert Jackson each finished the series with two hits. Nolley’s three RBIs led the team.
With a starting nine that consisted of many seniors, Jordan spoke about the impact of the class of 2024 and what they meant to this year’s team.
“I had some talented seniors,” Jordan said. “We are losing nine guys. Five of those guys pretty much played everyday. Six or seven of them played a lot, so we are losing a lot of grass time. It will hurt, but just having those guys there and having them buy into the culture for their last year and for us to get some wins over some tough opponents will leave a good taste in everyone’s mouth.”
