Newton County finally got its baseball season off and running, winning the season opener over defending Class 2A champion Madison St. Joseph in walk-off fashion.
The Cougars got a walk-off sacrifice fly from Hayden West to beat St. Joseph on Friday.
The Cougars followed that up on Saturday with an 11-8 loss to South Jones.
Newton County is scheduled to host Southeast Lauderdale on Tuesday and will host Union on Friday. On Saturday, County will play Stringer in Union at 4 p.m. and then Neshoba Central at 6:30 p.m.
Newton County 6,
Madison St. Joseph 5
The Cougars scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat the defending Class 2A champions to open the season.
St. Joe scored one in the first, two in the fourth and one in the top of the fifth to lead 4-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth. The Cougars answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the score at 4-4. St. Joseph took the lead back in the top of the seventh to lead 5-4 going into the bottom of the seventh. The Cougars took the win with two runs as Hayden West drove in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly.
The Cougars had six hits and drew three walks in the contest. West had a double and drove in three runs while Tyler Fitch had a double and scored a run. Tyson Wood had a solo home run while Jacob Mott had a double and scored a run. Cole Shimfessel and Rod Evans had Newton County’s other hits.
Hayden West got the start on the mound and went five innings, giving up four runs, only one earned, on five hits. He struck out seven and walked two. Jacob Hitt pitched the final two innings and gave up one run on two hits and struck out five.
South Jones 11, Newton County 8
South Jones built a 7-0 lead and had to hold off a Newton County rally in the late innings.
South scored four in the first, one in the second and two in the third to lead 7-0. Newton County scored two in the fourth and South Jones finished with three in the fifth and one in the sixth. County made it interesting with three in the sixth and seventh innings.
Newton County had 10 hits in the contest as Tyson Wood led the way, going 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Hayden West was 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBIs. David Burton had two RBIs and scored a run while Tyler Fitch and Jacob Mott each had RBI hits.
Hayze West got the start on the mound and gave up six runs, three unearned on three hits while walking two and striking out four. Gatlin Huber pitched the final four innings and gave up five runs on eight hits while striking out four.
