The Mathews High School varsity baseball team dropped its season opener Tuesday to Essex, falling to the homestanding Trojans, 2-0.

The game started out well for Mathews, with Chris Davis leading off with a hit, stealing second and advancing to third on a passed ball with no outs. But that’s when the Devils’ Achilles heel came back to haunt them once again. "We couldn’t get the key hit to score when we need it," said MHS head coach Nick Naglieri.

Essex replied with two runs, both unearned, in the bottom half of the first inning. That’s the way it stayed for the rest of the game, with Mathews squandering numerous chances to get on the scoreboard.

Ryan Ewell went the distance on the mound for MHS, pitching six innings, giving up two unearned runs on only one hit with 10 strikeouts and six walks. The Blue Devils were held to five hits with Davis going 1 for 3, Daniel Mitchem 1 for 3, Josh Wilson 1 for 4, Deondre Foster 1 for 3 and Quentin Schae...