The Mathews High School varsity baseball team dropped two hard-fought games this past weekend, falling to Washington and Lee and Northumberland at the Dream Fields Invitational in Lancaster County. Mathews fell to the Eagles by a 3-1 margin, losing to the Indians, 13-2.
This annual tournament is usually held on a Friday and Saturday, but due to weather constraints, the Devils’ games were pushed back to 3:30 and 6 on Saturday night.
The first game against 2A Washington and Lee was a classic pitchers’ duel. The two starters battled back and forth throughout the opening innings until the Devils broke the tie in the bottom of the third inning on a single by Cody Tunstall, scoring senior Reginald Johnson.
The game went on, and MHS starter Brian Owens got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth with a 1-2-3 double play, firing up the Devils. However, baseball is a game that can change at the drop of a hat and two key errors in the outfield in the bottom of the sixth allowed for the Eagles to push across three runs. That proved enough for the win. Tunstall led the way for Mathews with two hits.
Game two started 15 minutes later as the heavily anticipated game of the weekend started off against regional rival Northumberland Indians. Games of this caliber are all about momentum, and in this nightcap, the Indians controlled it.
The first inning went smoothly as Devils’ starter Brandon Williams struck out two of the three batters in the inning, looking to turn the tide from the first game. Indian starter Zak Kent had the same mentality as he went out and controlled the Devil offense.
The Indian bats came to life in the second and third innings, taking a 6-1 advantage heading into the later part of the game. A late rally by the Indians allowed for them to extend their lead even more, eventually winning the game, 13-2.
The Devils look to change things around this week as they were scheduled to host Essex yesterday and will host a JV/varsity doubleheader on Friday night against Lancaster with a barbecue fundraiser during the games. JV starts at 4:30, with varsity beginning at 7.