The Mathews High School varsity softball season came to an end last Wednesday in the opening round of the 1A regional tournament as the Lady Devils fell to the top-seeded Chincoteague Ponies, 9-0. In spite of the final score, the Lady Devils fought hard to give the Ponies a complete, seven-inning game. Mathews was strong defensively, not committing a single error. Angel Shultz was 1-for-3 at the plate. Head coach J.J. Ashberry keeps a placard in his dugout that reads: “The measure of who we are is the accomplishments we achieve with what we have.” “There is no better description of our 2024 season,” he said. On the first day of tryouts, only seven players came out to compete. “By word of mouth we built a team and through perseverance, the determination to battle to the very end and a little luck we kept the long continuous string of regional berths alive for Mathews softball,” he said. “I was ever so proud of this group of young ladies to reach our team goal of that berth,” he said. “S...