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PREP BASEBALL: Rams fall, Eagles triumph in Monday matchups
Newton Baseball
No. 3 Grayson skated past Newton, 20-0, in three innings Monday evening. - Mason Wittner | The Covington News

LOGANVILLE, Ga. — Newton’s unblemished Region 4-AAAAAAA record was scuffed up Monday evening when the Rams hit the road against No. 3 Grayson.

Despite recording two outs in the first three at-bats of the first inning, Newton allowed Grayson to rally for eight runs. Grayson carried the fireworks into the second, rounding the bases a dozen more times before collecting a 20-0 victory in just three innings.

“We had an instance last year against Lakeside-Evans where we came out flat and underestimated our opponent. We came out confident and they really put it to us. That was the same thing Grayson did to us [Monday,]” Newton head coach Darrell Helm said.

The loss dropped the Rams to 9-8 on the year, but they remain in good position at 3-1 in region play thanks to a three-game sweep of South Gwinnett two weeks ago. They were scheduled to get another crack at Grayson on their home diamond Tuesday night before returning to Loganville to close out the three-game series this Friday.

“We know the adjustments we’ve got to make and we know the intensity we have to play with,” Helm said. “We’ve got to match these guys intensity for intensity and hit for hit. We know what we’ve got to do, and we’ve got to be ready for them.”

Eastside (15-5, 5-2 Region 8-AAAAA) was also in action Monday night. The Eagles hosted region foe Apalachee and found themselves engaged in a pitching duel.

Locked in a scoreless tie in the sixth inning, Eastside applied pressure when Hunter Denney was hit by a pitch and Bryce Burgess drew a four-pitch walk. Denney worked his way to the other corner of the diamond on a wild pitch and groundout, respectively, before Joshua Johnson lifted a sacrifice fly that allowed him to come home and score the game’s lone run.

Eastside held on for the 1-0 victory, pushing its current winning streak out to five games. The club is slated to take the road Wednesday for a rematch with Apalachee.

Alcovy went into Tuesday evening’s Region 3-AAAAAA contest against Rockdale County at 7-12 on the year and 2-3 in league play. The Tigers opened their region slate with a pair of victories over the Bulldogs, but have since endured a three-game slide against Grovetown and Lakeside-Evans.