Newton Citizen

The Newton girl’s tennis team nipped Luella, 3-2 Thursday in Region 2-AAAAAA play.

The Rams lost the first two matches, but rallied to win the final three, getting wins at No. 2 singles from Brishanti Weaver, who won 8-5 over Terry Alexander; at No. 3 singles, as Irman Soriano defeated Haley Wooten, 9-8 and 7-3 in a tie-breaker; and at No. 2 doubles, where Ify Egbulem and Ashley Jean-Baptiste were 8-4 winners over Carson Powell and Taylor Robinson.

“I am extremely pleased with the way our team played today,” said Newton coach Michael Bryan. “They were down early and never lost their composure. We still have a lot of growing to do as a team, but I really enjoyed the effort today.”

Salem started 7-0 on the baseball field, but after Thursday’s blowout loss, the Seminoles are going through their first losing streak of the season. Monroe Area knocked around several Salem pitchers in a 15-7 win in non-region play.

The Seminoles (7-2) lost 3-2 to county rival Rockdale earlier in the week.

“We didn’t play well this week. But overall, we had a good non region portion of the schedule,” said Salem coach Chad Kitchens.

Adam Hood started and allowed seven earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings, while Jason Howell, Ryan Read and Tiwuan Head also gave up runs, though only Read’s run was unearned. Jordan Scott, Reed Hill and Alex Fernatt each had three hits for the Seminoles, who are still averaging nearly 12 runs per game.

Salem begins Region 8-AAAAA play on the road at defending state champion Loganville Monday at5:55 p.m.

“From here on out, all games matter in terms of determining the post season,” said Kitchens. “We will continue to work hard every day and give our best approach.”