The Newton County Academy baseball team opened up the 2024 season with a busy week of action.
NCA played four games last week and dropped all four. NCA opened with an 8-4 loss to East Rankin on Tuesday and then lost 6-5 in the seventh inning on Friday. NCA then played twice on Saturday, losing 5-2 to Puckett and 14-4 to Lamar School.
NCA will return to play this week as they play at Park Place on Friday. They will finish the week by hosting Kemper Academy on Saturday. They will open a two-game series on the road at Discovery Christian on Tuesday.
East Rankin 8, NCA 4
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 — R H E
NCA 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 — 4 7 0
ERA 5 1 2 0 0 0 x — 8 6 2
Hitting: Cooper Savell was 2-for-4 with an RBI while Logan Hitt was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Steven Duke and Ty Thrash also singled and scored a run while Vitaly Ferguson singled and had an RBI.
Pitching: Hitt started and pitched two innings and gave up six runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Taylor Burt pitched two innings and gave up two runs on four walks and three strikeouts. Marshall Wright pitched the last two innings and didn’t give up a run while striking out five.
Leake Academy 6, NCA 5
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 — R H E
NCA 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 — 5 7 2
Leake 2 0 0 0 0 3 1 — 6 5 1
Hitting: Jackson Bunyard, Ty Thrash and Vitaly Ferguson each singled and scored while Taylor Burt and Marshall Wright each singled and drove in a run.
Pitching: Steven Duke started on the mound and pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out four. Logan Heidelberg pitched the last two innings and gave up four runs on two hits.
Puckett 5, NCA 2
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 — R H E
Puckett 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 — 5 6 2
NCA 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 — 2 3 2
Hitting: Jackson Bunyard was 2-for-3 with a run scored while Logan Heidelberg singled and drove in a run for NCA’s other hit.
Pitching: Bunyard started on the mound and pitched three innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out five. Marshall Wright pitched two innings and gave up one run on one hit and three walks while striking out three. Taylor Burt pitched the last two innings and gave to up two runs on four walks while striking out two.
Lamar School 14, NCA 4
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 — R H E
Lamar 0 3 3 0 5 3 — 14 8 0
NCA 0 2 0 1 1 0 — 4 9 3
Hitting: Steven Duke was 2-for-3 with a doubled and two runs scored while Ty Thrash was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Marshall Wright singled and scored a run while Logan Hitt and Taylor Burt both singled and drove in a run.
Pitching: Logan Hitt started on the mound and pitched two innings, giving up six runs on two hits and five walks while striking out two. Logan Heidelberg pitched three innings, giving up five runs, with only two earned, on four hits and two walks while striking out three. Marshall Wright pitched the last inning and gave up three runs on two hits while striking out one.
