Rams blow lead, lose on walk off

DECATUR, Ga. - What looked to be a victory turned into late-inning disappointment for the Newton baseball team Friday afternoon.

Columbia scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with a 9-8 victory in non-region play.

Columbia trailed 8-6 going to the last half of the seventh, but had the first three batters reach base against losing pitcher Mason Calloway, the last of which was an infield single by Elijah Hammonds that scored Brandon Williams to make it a one-run game.

Calloway got the lead runner at third, and the first out of the inning, on Jamari Johnson’s sacrifice attempt, then walked Quesean Lynch to load the bases. Tramane Calloway was hit by an 0-1 pitch to force home the tying run, and with the infield playing in, Marvin Lloyd blooped a single off the glove of a leaping Jaylen Marks at second base and Johnson trotted home with the game-winner.

It was an 8-3 lead for Newton before the host Eagles got to Calloway for three runs in the sixth.

Johnson was at the forefront of that rally as well, drawing a walk to open the frame. After a fly out, Charles Johnson ripped a double down the left field line and Johnson scored to pull Columbia to within 8-4. Calloway struck out Lloyd, but had no such luck with Khalil Manuel.

The Columbia third baseman crushed a 1-0 pitch over the left-center field wall for a two-run home run and it was an 8-6 game.

Newton batted around in the fourth to snap a 2-2 tie.

Tramane Calloway dropped Joshua Bostic’s fly ball - one of five Columbia errors - and Victor Medina followed with a double. Sean McGregor’s single chased home Bostic and the Rams led 3-2.

Three other players drove in runs in the inning - Buck Sullivan and Alex Johnson on singles and Auliver Astin’s fielder’s choice that gave the visitors from Covington a 6-2 advantage.

In the top of the sixth, Marks was hit by a pitch and scored on a throwing error and later, Parker Kauffman had a run-scoring single to cap the scoring for Newton and make it 8-3.

Newton left the bases loaded in the top of the first, failing to take advantage of three walks from Columbia starter Charles Johnson.

The Rams didn’t waste their chances over the next two frames.

In the second, Medina reached on a fielding error by Hammonds to start the rally, then catcher Givanni Dyer had a passed ball and Johnson un-corked a pair of wild pitches, the last allowing Medina to scoot home with the first run of the day.

Alex Johnson’s RBI-single in the third made it 2-0, but Columbia scored two of its own in the bottom half against Jamal Boykin.