COVINGTON, Ga. — With the baseball season on deck, the Eastside Eagles traveled across the county to take on the Newton Rams, who won 14-3 in a scrimmage.
Preparation was the name of the game for both teams as pitchers rotated each inning as players got live reps ahead of opening week.
The Rams found success early on and rode it all the way to the win as the hosts scored in every inning but one.
Game Action
In the early stages, the Eagles just did not have the answers for Newton’s pitching.
Chris Guillory started the game for the Rams and his velocity was on full display.
After a fly out from Eastside’s Chase Jordan on the first pitch of the scrimmage, Guillory struck out the final two batters.
Following Guillory’s lone inning, head coach Delvin Jordan turned the ball over to other pitchers for the rest of the night as the third-year coach got many different looks at his rotation depth.
For the Eagles and first-year head coach Shane Griffin, the pitching slab was turned over to Levi Pickett to begin the bottom half of the first.
Pickett picked up a strikeout over Jayce Yearwood to start the frame, but the next two batters reached to put traffic on the bases.
In the next at-bat, a groundball to shortstop from Devonate Hardeman resulted in an error that allowed both runners to score.
Newton went on to add two more runs in the second inning after Tu’Marion Flournoy and Bryce Grant reached base to open the frame.
Eastside escaped the inning with a 5-4-3 double play, but Newton extended its lead to 4-0.
The Eagles grabbed their first base hit of the game courtesy of an Eli Christian line drive in the third inning, but consecutive outs prevented Eastside from trimming the lead.
Parker Denmark took over on the mound in the bottom half, but the Rams pounced on the right-handed senior.
Three batters reached base to lead off the inning, and Kendall Turner made them pay with a RBI single to left field.
With the bases still juiced, Hardeman came through again.
This time, it was a three-run triple that cleared the bases and put Newton’s lead at 8-0.
Denmark surrendered another walk in the next at-bat, but the senior regathered himself before he struck out back-to-back Rams to close out the frame and escape the jam.
Despite a pair of walks, the Eagles could not push the runners across home as Newton escaped a jam of its own.
In the bottom of the fourth, Griffin turned the ball over to Jayden Bloodworth, who did not waste any time on the mound.
Three batters up, three strikeouts for Bloodworth.
The momentum seemed to carry over for the Eagles as Bloodworth scored Tripp Swords on an RBI double shortly thereafter.
However, Newton got the run back and more in the following inning with RBI knocks from Guillory and Turner.
Allen Mills capped a two-run inning for Eastside in the sixth with an RBI single to score Payton Shaw, but the Rams controlled the final innings.
Two walks and an RBI single from Robert “38” Jackson sealed the deal on the Rams’ 14-3 win in the scrimmage.
Final Notes and What’s Next
At the plate, no one had a better day than Turner.
In three at-bats, Turner collected three hits, two runs and two runs batted in (RBI).
Hardeman’s three RBIs led all players while Jackson and Flournoy finished with two apiece.
Eastside’s four hits in Friday’s game came from Mills, Swords, Christian and Bloodworth.
Bloodworth’s performance on the mound led the Eagles as he struck out all three batters he faced.
Newton will open its 2026 campaign with Walnut Grove on Tuesday, Feb. 10 before they take on Kell on Friday, Feb. 13.
For the Eagles, they kick off their season with a matchup against Stockbridge on Tuesday.
Eastside will then start a two-game series with Rockdale County on Thursday, Feb. 12.
