COVINGTON, Ga. — The Newton Rams’ mission to send its senior class out with a win at home was quashed by the Brookwood Broncos. 

Assisted by numerous Rams errors, the Broncos downed Newton 13-0 on Wednesday night. 

Brookwood’s scoring began in the top half of the first inning. Newton committed three errors, which helped surrender two runs. Then, after not batting a run in the bottom half, the Rams had three more errors in the second inning and gave up five runs to give Brookwood a 7-0 advantage. 

Newton head coach Derwin McNealy pointed to his team’s inconsistent play as its biggest Achilles heel all season. 

“We’ve been up and down,” McNealy said. “We’ve played some really good defensive games, but we’ve been inconsistent over the course of the year.” 

Brookwood batted six more runs across the final three innings of action and solidified its region win. 

Nevertheless, McNealy, who is in his first season at the helm of the program, said he’s excited about the future of Newton baseball. 

“We have an inexperienced ball team, but I see a lot of bright spots,” McNealy said. “We’re just going to keep putting the work in.” 

Even with the loss and one more game left in its regular season, Newton will compete in this year’s Class 7A playoffs. At the time of this publication, the Rams had a 8-16 overall record and a 3-8 record in Region 4-AAAAAAA. 

Their region record places them fourth in the region standings. 

McNealy pointed to his team’s competitive nature to help fuel their preparation leading up to the playoffs beginning next week. 

“Pitching, defense and putting the ball in play,” McNealy said. “The guys are playing hard. I believe they’re giving it their absolute best effort. I think, over time, we’ll get there.”