COVINGTON, Ga. — The second annual Newton Cup took place at Eastside High School this past Saturday as Alcovy, Eastside and Newton battled for county supremacy. After a split last year, the Rams took home the 2025 Newton Cup title in commanding fashion.

Eagles open up the event with big win over Alcovy

The first game of the day saw Eastside face off against Alcovy, and it only took two innings for the Eagles to jump out to a sizable lead.

After Eastside starter Patrick Denmark escaped a bases-loaded jam in the opening inning, the Eagles’ bats seemed to start off on the wrong foot with back-to-back strikeouts.

However, consecutive walks from Amond Sands and Payton Shaw led to Eastside scoring the game’s first run on an error from Tigers’ third baseman Raleigh Bolt.

Following another walk from freshman Tripp Swords, Denmark cleared the bases on an infield single that turned into another error for the Tigers that allowed three runners to score and Denmark to get to third base.

Denmark’s second inning on the mound went faster than the first as he got the three outs after allowing a leadoff walk to Isaiah Matthews.

The second inning at the plate for Eastside was much like the first, as the Eagles managed to do all their damage with two outs in the frame.

Following back-to-back outs to begin the inning, Sands laced a triple into right field, which led to an Eastside run on a RBI single from Shaw.

After a base hit from Allen Mills, Eastside converted three consecutive RBI knocks from Swords, Denmark and Eli Christian to extend the lead to 8-0.

Nolan Corvos scored on a passed ball to give the Eagles a 9-0 advantage to end the inning.

The Tigers began to threaten once again in the third frame but to no avail, as the Eagles managed to escape yet another jam. The inning did see Alcovy get its first base hits of the contest on Justin Gamble’s single and Sam Minnifield’s double.

Alcovy got out of the ensuing inning quickly as Marcus Bazelyuk entered the game and retired the side in order for the first scoreless inning for Eastside on the day.

This allowed for Alcovy to gain some momentum back with a few runs.

Following a leadoff walk from Matthews, Bolt and Evan Kenley were hit by pitches back-to-back to load the bases with only one out.

Cody Whitmer walked in the ensuing at-bat to score Alcovy’s first run of the day. Right after, a pop up on the infield was dropped, which allowed Bolt to score.

Levi Pickett hit two more Tigers with the bases loaded in the inning to bring two more runs across for Alcovy. A passed ball late in the frame allowed Alcovy to trim the lead down to 5-9 going into the bottom of the fourth.

Eastside managed to get one across in the fourth frame on a passed ball, but left the bases loaded as Bazelyuk escaped the jam.

Pickett bounced back with a one-two-three inning for the Eagles, which set up what proved to be another big inning for Eastside.

The Eagles drew three consecutive walks to leadoff the inning, which led to a two-run double from Lucas Dickson to make it a 12-5 lead.

Kalen Stapp sent an RBI single up the middle to score another before Rylan Roper’s RBI single later in the inning ended the game at 15-5 via run rule.

Denmark started the game for the Eagles and went three innings and allowed only two hits and one earned run while he struck out five Tigers. Pickett came in relief and had a strong outing as he went 1.2 innings of no-hit baseball and struck out a pair of batters.

At the plate, many Eagles got involved but Denmark's two hits  and four RBIs led the way for the Eagles.

Payne and Bazelyuk handled the pitching duties for Alcovy in game one as the two battled with walks throughout the contest. The two combined for five strikeouts.

Minnifield ended game one with a one-for-one line at the plate with an RBI and a walk.

Rams blank the Tigers in Game Two

The second game of the day was the first for the Rams as they took on the Tigers in what proved to be a dominant pitching performance from Newton sophomore Josh Brown.

Josh opened the game with a one-two-three inning that featured a pair of strikeouts looking.

In the bottom half of the opening frame, senior Caden Brown was the first Ram to get on base as he was hit by a pitch from Alcovy starter Jacob Kitchens.

Two batters later, junior Chris Guillory drove in Caden on a single to give Newton a 1-0 lead after one.

Josh struck out two more Tigers in the second inning to set up what was the biggest inning of the day for any team on Saturday.

In the second frame, Newton put up a nine-spot, and it all began with a leadoff knock from Kris Ross.

Robert Jackson followed with a single of his own to put runners on the corners for Tu’Marion Flounory, who drove in one on an RBI single.

An error from the Alcovy right fielder allowed one more run to come across. After that, a hit by pitch and a walk with the bases loaded gave Newton a 5-0 lead.

The second error of the inning, this time from Alcovy’s infield, allowed Newton to gain a 7-0 advantage.

Back-to-back wild pitches allowed two Newton runs to score as the Rams led 9-0 with only one out in the inning.

However, Kenley struck out Jonathan Andrews and Brandon Scott to strand the bases loaded.

During Alcovy’s final inning at the plate, Josh struck out two more Tigers to end his day with a three-inning no hitter.

In the bottom half of the frame, the Rams closed it out.

A leadoff walk from Nic Johnson led to a RBI single from Daer’On Adkins.

After Adkins later scored on a wild pitch, Jeremiah Francis hit a two-run single into the left-center gap to make it a 13-0 lead.

Back-to-back run-scoring singles from Caden and Johnson ended the game at 15-0 as the Rams won via run rule.

Josh struck out six batters over three innings of work as a sophomore allowed no hits and only one walk.

Multiple Rams got involved in the box score, but Guillory, Adkins and Francis came away with two RBIs apiece while Flounory led the team with a pair of hits.

Rams keep it rolling with big win over Eastside to win Newton Cup

After a dominant pitching performance from Josh in game two, the Rams sent Kennesaw State commit Guillory to the mound hoping for more of the same.

Guillory did just that and more.

Not only did the junior pitch a perfect game through four innings of work, but Guillory also went a perfect four-for-four at the plate with four RBIs.

It is only his first season in the blue and white, but Newton head coach Delvin Jordan had high praise for what Guillory has shown so far.

“Chris Guillory is a guy,” Jordan said. “He pitched four scoreless innings of no-hit baseball [and] a perfect game. If I didn’t have pitch count on him I would have had him go the full game. He did a great job and that’s just on the mound. At the plate, we have been preaching all week ‘back-side middle, staying through the zone’. He went four-for-four up the middle and the backside. He had a day. He is a guy.”

Sands handled the pitching duties for the Eagles in game three, and the Rams got to him early following back-to-back walks to leadoff the game.

Kendall Turner pushed across the first run of the game on a single to left field. In the next at-bat, Guillory scored a pair on a two-run hit.

Sands earned the strikeout to escape the inning without further damage, and the momentum carried over as the sophomore went on to strikeout two more Rams in the ensuing inning.

After a big game in the Eagles’ close loss to Social Circle earlier in the week, Eastside head coach Cody Walker spoke about what Sands has brought to the diamond this year.

“Energy, just energy. He is a pure fireball out there. He is third base, pitcher, catcher — wherever you want to put him,” Walker said. “We have guys that lead with their play, but Amond has really stepped up and been that vocal leader we really wanted to see. It is a good surprise to have out of him.”

In the third inning, Newton broke it open.

Once the first two batters reached base, Turner delivered again with a run-scoring single to right field.

Guillory followed with a two-run double to extend the lead to 6-0.

Newton scored five more runs in the ensuing five at-bats as the Eagles began to have issues with the bases loaded as multiple runs came across on a passed ball, wild pitch and a balk.

By the end of the inning, an RBI groundout from Jayce Yearwood gave Newton a 11-0 lead.

After 11 Rams went to the plate in the frame, Guillory did not give the Eagles any room to advance as the junior retired the side in order.

Newton gained another run in the fourth inning on a RBI single from Ross.

Following yet another one-two-three frame from Guillory, Newton added three more runs as Turner and Guillory drove in runs to extend the lead to 15-0.

After the two games, Walker highlighted the team’s slow starts as an area to improve on going into their next matchups.

“Our main takeaways, even with the Alcovy game, [we] struggled with walks a little bit, we just got to get ahead in the count,” Walker said. “The first inning even in the games prior to today, we are struggling in the first inning so it seems like it’s taking us a while to get going. We really need to work on coming out and getting ahead early.”

In the bottom of the fifth, Jordan turned the ball over to Caden, as the senior looked to win the Newton Cup and finish what would have been back-to-back no hitters.

After earning the first two outs in the frame, Mills singled up the middle to break up the no-hitter.

Caden forced a groundout later in the inning to secure the win for the Rams.

Jordan and the Rams fell short of winning the Newton Cup a year ago, and the second-year coach spoke with The Covington News about what the wins meant to him and the program.

“It means a lot to me, Newton County means a lot to me,” Jordan said. “They gave me a chance to be head coach and when we play the Newton Cup it just means a lot to represent the community and come out on top, because we feel like we are the best team in the county so far this year. I got a lot of respect for those guys.”

Guillory struck out three batters during his four innings of perfect baseball to go along with his four hits and four RBIs. Turner had a strong day, too, as the sophomore went three-for-four with three RBIs.

After an almost perfect day of pitching all around, Jordan spoke about the efforts of his three arms during the Newton Cup

“Any chance your guys throw strikes, you have a chance to win. We have been preaching that from day one,” Jordan said. “Our [pitching] staff is our strong suit of our team and it showed today. Solute to Josh Brown and Chris Guillory, and Caden came in and closed the last one. It feels like we are in a good spot on the mound.”

Mills delivered the lone hit for the Eagles as the team struggled to find an offensive rhythm after the win over Alcovy.

On the mound, Sands and Joe Standard combined to strike out six Rams. Mills came in relief and pitched one inning and allowed no hits.

What’s next

The Tigers dropped to 0-3 with the losses on Saturday. The team will get a few days off before heading to Monroe Area to take on the Hurricanes Thursday, Feb. 20.

Eastside fell to 1-3 on the year. The Eagles will look to avenge their 8-9 loss to Social Circle when they host the Redskins Tuesday, Feb. 18.

Newton moved to 2-0 to start their 2025 campaign. The Rams will take on Walnut Grove Tuesday, Feb. 18.

After Saturday’s wins, Jordan shared how it is just a product of them playing as a team.

“The big thing is just setting the culture, the expectation for the year that winners win,” Jordan said. “We are going to grind at-bats, have team at-bats, just everything based around our brotherhood. When they bought into that and bought into what I believe, I feel like the sky's the limit for us. I don’t think I am the best coach in America, but they believe in me and my mission and my goal. It has been paying off so far.”