CREEKSVILLE – Heath Britt and Ryan Matthews combined to pitch a two-hitter as Hertford County downed Northampton-East 15-2 in the season opener for both clubs Wednesday.

The Bears opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first frame.

Andy Thompson walked and stole second before scoring on a Michael Burton RBI-single. Burton stole second and went to third on an error before coming around to score on a wild pitch.

Hertford County led 2-0 after the first inning.

The Bears added two runs in the top of the second stanza. Josh Lane reached first on an error before Ryan Matthews got aboard via a single.

Both runners advanced on a Thompson groundout. Lane then came around to score on a wild pitch and Matthews scored on an error on the play to push the HCHS lead to 4-0.

Hertford County broke the game open when they plated five runs in the top of the third.

Ryan Simmons walked to start the rally and went to second on a wild pitch.

Simmons took third when William Barmer reached first on an error.

Courtesy runner Roger Harrison stole second before a pitch hit Joel Britt to load the bases.

Simmons scored on a Heath Britt infield single and Harrison scored on an error.

Josh Lane’s RBI-groundout scored J. Britt and sent H. Britt to third. He scored on a wild pitch.

Matthews was then hit by a pitch, stole second and went to third on an error. He scored when Thompson reached first base on an error.

East scored their first run in the bottom of the same inning on an error.

Hertford County scored an additional five runs in the top of the fourth frame.

Simmons tripled to left-centerfield to start the inning and came around to score on a Barmer RBI-single.

Harrison, J. Britt, Lane all scored during the inning to give the Bears a 14-1 advantage.

Justin Colson had an RBI-single in the bottom of the fifth to account for the Rams’ other run.

H. Britt pitched three innings for the win, allowing one run on one hit and had seven strikeouts.

Matthews pitched two innings, allowing one run on one hit with four strikeouts.

&uot;We had two strong pitching performances,&uot; first-year skipper Chris Towell said. &uot;We did a good job of taking advantage of putting the ball in play. Everybody got to play for us.&uot;

The Bears improved to 1-0 while the Rams drop to 0-1.