The Mathews High School junior varsity softball team is in a rebuilding season this year and expects to be in the same place next year since there are seven graduating seniors on this year’s varsity squad, according to JV head coach J.J. Ashberry.

“We are very young and inexperienced with eight first-year team members, six eighth graders and two freshmen,” he said. “Losing another six or seven players again next season will start us all over again, but JV is the varsity’s farm club so we just have to work much longer and harder.”

In spite of the team’s youth and relative inexperience, the JV Lady Devils opened the 2017 season with a 15-0 win against Poquoson behind some strong pitching, catching, error-free defense, solid bunting and hitting.

More recently, the team fell to Northumberland and Rappahannock by scores of 17-7 and 10-0, respectively. “We just did not perform well in either of those contests,” Ashberry said.

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