AHOSKIE – Andy Thompson went 4-for-4 to help power Hertford County past archrival Bertie 8-6 here Friday night.

Thompson’s day at the plate was combined with a complete game performance from Michael Burton to secure the Bears’ first Northeastern Coastal Conference win of the season.

&uot;We had a great pitching performance form Michael Burton,&uot; first-year HCHS skipper Chris Towell said. &uot;We couldn’t have asked for more.

&uot;We did a great job of moving runners and getting hits with runners in scoring position,&uot; he added. &uot;It was a big conference win for us.&uot;

The Falcons opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first frame. Lance Thomas tripled to right and scored on a Matt White RBI-single to right to give BHS a 1-0 advantage.

HCHS answered in the home half of the first, plating three runs to grab the 3-1 lead.

Thompson singled to left and stole second before moving to third on a Ryan Simmons sacrifice fly. Thompson then scored on a wild pitch.

William Barmer kept the inning alive when he reached on an infield single. Joel Britt had a bloop double to right to put runners at second and third. Barmer and Britt both scored on a Josh Lane two-run single to centerfield.

The Bears added two in the bottom of the fourth inning when Clifton Smallwood walked and went to third on a Ryan Matthews double. Smallwood scored on a Thompson RBI-single to right which also sent Matthews to third. Matthews then scored on a Burton RBI-squeeze bunt to give the Bears a 5-1 lead.

The Falcons rallied in the top of the fifth frame, scoring three runs.

Thomas reached on an error and stole second and third before scoring on a Matthew Schwab RBI-single to leftfield. Austin Lawrence singled to left and took second on an error. Schwab and Lawrence then scored on a two-run double by Brian Mizelle to cut the HCHS advantage to 5-4.

Hertford County plated their final three runs in the bottom of the sixth stanza.

Thompson singled to center and went to second on a Burton sacrifice bunt. Thompson scored on an RBI-double by Simmons, who then scored on a Barmer RBI-single.

Britt reached on a fielder’s choice before Lane walked. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch before J. Britt scored on a Heath Britt RBI-single to right. Lane was thrown out at home to end the inning with the Bears ahead 8-4.

Bertie scored their final runs in the top of the seventh stanza. White reached on an error before Schwab singled to left. Lawrence then reached safely on a fielder’s choice.

Schwab scored on a Mizelle RBI-single to right and Lawrence scored on a Dustin Jones RBI-single to trim the lead to 8-6, but the Falcons got no closer.

&uot;Hertford County wanted it more than we did,&uot; veteran Bertie coach Randy Whitaker said. &uot;They played hard. We are making critical mistakes and losing close games. Until we decide to play Bertie baseball, we will continue to struggle.&uot;

Burton went all seven innings for the Bears, allowing six runs and 13 hits while striking out three.

The Bears had 13 hits with Barmer and Lane adding two hits to Thompson’s performance.

Schwab, who was 3-for-4 at the plate, led the Falcons.

The win boosted the Bears to 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the league while dropping Bertie to 2-13 and 0-6 in conference.