WINDSOR – Their first battle was a classic.

Bertie traveled to Gates County earlier this season and the two clubs battled 14 innings with no winner, ending in a 1-all tie.

Friday afternoon saw the two clubs tangle again, but this time the Lady Falcons used a four-hit gem by Megan Cowan to grab a 7-1 non-conference win.

Cowan went the full seven innings, giving up just four hits and one earned run to lead the Lady Falcons to their fourth win on the season. She also struck out 14.

&uot;We’ve been working on our hitting in practice and it paid off today,&uot; BHS skipper Jackie Copeland said. &uot;We also got a great game from Megan on the mound.&uot;

With the scored deadlocked at 1-all after four innings, the Lady Falcons plated two in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good.

Kelly Cummings started the frame with a single to left. She came around to score when Cowand delivered an RBI-triple to the same field. Cowan scored herself on a wild pitch, giving BHS a 3-1 advantage.

The Falcons put the game away in the next inning when they scored four runs.

Carla Cooper singled to center followed by bunt singles from Courtney Dunlow and Holly Cowan to load the bases. Cooper came home when Cowan was issued a free pass to make it 4-1. Abby Parker then cleared the bases with a three-RBI base-clearing single to right field. That gave Bertie a 7-1 lead from which they never looked back.

The Lady Falcons had gotten on the board initially in the bottom of the first when they scored one run. Christie Brown tripled to centerfield and then scored on a Parker RBI-single.

Gates County tied the game in the top of the fourth inning.

Megan Askew tripled to left and then scored when Jalissa Bradley had a three-bagger to the same field. That deadlocked the score at 1-all.

Leading the way offensively for Bertie was Parker, who had two hits and four RBIs. Cooper, Dunlow and Cowand also had two hits in the contest.

Courtney Hobbs went the distance for Gates County, allowing seven runs on 12 hits. She had seven strikeouts.