COVINGTON, Ga. — A strong showing from the Newton pitching staff paved the way for an 8-2 win over the Walnut Grove Warriors to open the new season.

The two teams started their 2026 campaigns on the Rams’ home field on Tuesday, but it was the hosts that had the control.

Houston signee Chris Guillory took the mound for Newton as the starter and went 3.1 innings of no-hit baseball as he set the tone for 1-0 start.

Guillory struck out two of the first three batters in the opening inning, and he reached base in the bottom half after he was plucked on the second pitch of the at-bat.

After a walk by Kendall Turner put two runners on, a throwing error from Walnut Grove pitcher Sean Martell allowed both players to score for a 2-0 lead.

Guillory continued to do his thing and faced the minimum in the next two innings before he added on to the lead himself.

On the fourth pitch of the sequence, Guillory homered to the opposite field to make it a 3-0 lead for Newton.

After two errors from the Newton defense in the top of the fourth, head coach Delvin Jordan turned the slab over to Josh Brown.

Brown was welcomed into the game by a third error before Brayden Kelly sent a two-run double to left field to make it a one-run game.

With two runners in scoring position, Brown escaped the jam to maintain the Rams’ lead.

Brown found himself in trouble once again the next inning when he loaded the bases with only one out.

However, Brown maneuvered around danger once again to escape the frame.

Following yet another close call, Newton gave itself cushion in the fifth inning.

Clark Atlanta commit Jayce Yearwood was hit by a pitch to leadoff the frame before Guillory reached on a single to right field.

With runners on the corners, Turner delivered with an RBI knock up the middle.

Later in the inning, Guillory scored on a steal of home to make it a 5-2 lead for Newton.

Newton still threatened after Guillory’s steal as the bases were loaded, but Walnut Grove’s Nico Culotta entered the game and struck out consecutive batters to end the frame.

JaCoren Weaver took over for Brown in the sixth and pitched around a two-out walk to put his team back at the plate.

Robert “38” Jackson stepped into the box to lead off the bottom of the sixth and wasted no time.

One pitch — gone.

Jackson hit a solo home run to right field to make it a 6-2 lead, but the Rams were not done yet.

Newton orchestrated a two-out rally to load the bases, and Turner and Devontae Hardeman stole home on back-to-back plate appearances.

With a 8-2 lead, Weaver returned to the mound in the seventh and pitched around a pair of walks to secure the final out for Newton.

Guillory was tabbed as the winning pitcher in the game as he struck out five Warriors batters.

Brown and Weaver combined to strike out six batters in 3.2 innings of work.

At the plate, Guillory and Turner led the way as the two combined for four hits, four runs and two runs batted in.

Walnut Grove’s two hits came from Kelly and Cade Riffle as the Warriors combined to strike out 11 times in the season opener.

What’s Next

Newton will get back into action Friday, Feb. 13 when it hosts the Kell Longhorns.