Newton Citizen

STONE MOUNTAIN - Newton fought back after giving up six runs in the first inning against Stephenson to beat the Jaguars 12-10 in eight innings Tuesday.

If the Rams beat Redan at home at 5:30 p.m. Friday, they will be the No. 4 seed from Region 2-AAAAA.

Newton has not made the playoffs since 2006 when it dropped a doubleheader to Houston County.

A few timely hits by Stephenson and costly errors by Newton allowed the Jaguars to take a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Newton scratched back with a run in the third to make it 6-1.

After Newton relief pitcher Chris Moss put a runner on base for Stephenson, a hanging pitch quickly gave Stephenson an 8-1 lead in the fourth.

The Rams had an explosive fifth inning, scoring six runs to close the gap to 8-7.

"We then had an altercation with the other team and a player got ejected from their side," Newton coach Ty Hensley said. "We had a 45 minute delay and then resumed once it was safe to play."

Moss kept the Rams close after shutting down Stephenson in the bottom of the fifth, allowing Newton to take a 9-8 lead in the sixth inning.

"D.J. (Hill) and Seth (Sullivan) were on, then Moss came up and knocked them in with a shot up the middle," Hensley said.

After Stephenson tied the game at 9-9 in the seventh, the Rams came out swinging and scored three runs.

Two runs came off a double by Sullivan to right field.

Stephenson put itself in position to win the game after loading the bases with one out.

"We put Nick (Hembree) in to close it and he strikes one out looking and the next guy hits a come backer to the mound to end it. Crazy game," Hensley said.