COVINGTON, Ga. — Brookwood got ahead early in game one and never looked back as the Broncos dealt the Newton Rams a sweep in the opening round of the Class AAAAAA playoffs.

The Broncos rode an early home run to a 7-0 victory in game one before they outlasted Newton in game two for a 9-4 win.

With the defeat in game two, Newton’s 2026 campaign came to an end with 18 wins.

Game 1: Newton 0, Brookwood 7

Newton starter Chris Guillory went 6.1 innings in what proved to be his final high school game, but the Broncos slowly added on.

On the other end, the Rams’ bats fell victim to a strong performance from Marshall Jackson, who pitched a complete game shutout with five strikeouts.

Following a scoreless first from Guillory, Newton almost struck early as the Rams’ notched a pair of singles in the opening inning. However, Jackson struck out Bryce Grant to escape the jam.

Chase Larsen led off the ensuing frame and ambushed Guillory on the first pitch. On a deep fly ball to center, the ball just went over the fence to make it a 1-0 Brookwood lead.

The Rams had base runners in all of the next three innings, but none could be cashed as Jackson continued to excel on the mound.

After a single and a hit-by-pitch with one out in the fifth, a single from Boomer Rogozinski loaded the bases for the Broncos. Guillory struck out the next batter for the second out, but Alex Reyes delivered with a two-run double.

Following an error and a walk in the top of the seventh, Rogozinski and Reyes came through again with RBI knocks that extended the lead to 6-0. Following a steal of home from Rogozinski, Brookwood took a seven-run advantage into the final frame.

Larsen plunked Michael Kurt Campbell with one out, but Newton could not put together the rally to get back into it. With a groundout from Guillory, game one concluded with Brookwood on top.

Game 2: Newton 4, Brookwood 9

After an hour to rest and regroup, the two teams returned to the field for the second game as Newton faced elimination.

Similar to the first game, an early Brookwood lead set the tone.

Joe Soto took the mound for the Broncos and retired the side on just seven pitches to begin the game. Not too long after, Brookwood loaded the bases on Newton’s Josh Brown Jr.

Brown recorded a pair of groundouts to end the frame, but a passed ball allowed Brookwood to take a 1-0 lead first.

After Soto struck out the side in the second frame, Brookwood’s offense went back to work as two men reached with one out.

Just as Larsen did in game one, Diego DeJesus ambushed a pitch from Brown and sent it over the fence. DeJesus’ three-run blast over the left field wall put Newton in a 0-4 deficit.

However, the lead was cut in half quickly due to one of Newton’s top sluggers.

With Caleb Cox on base and two outs, Kendall Turner worked a 2-1 count before he hit a two-run homer over the left field wall. Turner’s ninth long ball of the year cut the lead down to 2-4.

Just when momentum seemed to be turning, Larsen got into another one.

Larsen hit a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the third. Later in the frame, an error from Cox resulted in another Brookwood run as the lead went back up to four runs.

Newton continued to put men on bae in the ensuing frames, but a breakout did not arrive until the sixth inning.

With two outs, three Rams reached base via walk to set up Tu’Marion Flournoy in a big spot.

Flournoy drew a 2-0 count before the next pitch went awry to score Devontae Hardeman from third. Then, Flournoy drew one more ball to take a walk to load the bases one again.

Another wild pitch followed to score Newton’s fourth run, but Sam Hillis struck out Cox to escape the jam.

Brookwood added the two runs back in the bottom of the sixth before Newton had its last chance at the plate down by five.

Despite a two-out walk from Guillory, a groundout to Rogozinski at shortstop ended the game as well as Newton’s 2026 season.

Turner’s two-run homer served as the bright spot in game two for Newton as the team finished with four hits — the same number as game one.

Final Thoughts

While the season ended in a sweep on Friday, it proved to be another strong season for NEwton and third-year head coach Delvin Jordan.

The Rams finished the year 18-14 with a consecutive second place finish in Region 4-AAAAAA. 

Friday’s sweep marked the end of the line for a handful of Newton seniors that included Guillory, Brown, Campbell, Flournoy, Robert “38” Jackson, Gabe White and Jayce Yearwood.

As for 2027, the team is projected to return players such as Kendall Turner, Devontae Hardeman and Ja’Coren Weaver.