WINDSOR – Bertie High School claimed their first Northeastern Coastal Conference victory of the season Monday.

The Falcons defeated Northeastern 7-5 thanks to a three-run homer by Aaron Hoggard and five strong innings on the mound from Hunter Mizelle.

Bertie opened the scoring with three runs in the home half of the first inning.

O.J. Dobbin reached on an error and went to second on a wild pitch. After P.J. Schwab drew a walk, Hoggard delivered his three-run shot to centerfield giving the Falcons a 3-0 lead.

Northeastern got their first two marks of the contest in the top of the second, but the Falcons stormed back with four in the bottom of the second.

Ethan Boller got things started with a single to center. Bo Ledford singled to left and Charlie Castelloe walked to load the bases for Bertie.

Dobbin’s RBI-single to center scored Boller before Ledford came home on a Schwab RBI-groundout. Hoggard was delivered an intentional walk to reload the bases, but Scott Hoggard made them pay when he came through with an RBI-double to left-center. Bertie led 7-2.

Northeastern scored two runs in the top of the sixth and one in the seventh to establish the 7-5 final.

Mizelle went five innings for the win, allowing four runs on eight hits and striking out eight and picking off four runners. Bowen tossed the final two innings and recorded his first save of the year. He allowed one run on one hit.

Bertie had 12 hits on the evening with Dobbin leading the team on a perfect 3-for-3 day. Aaron Hoggard was 2-for-2 for the Falcons while Boller was 2-for-3 and Williams was 2-for-4. Schwab, Ledford and Scott Hoggard had one hit each.

“We came out and jumped on them early,” Bertie baseball boss Randy Whitaker said. “Aaron hit the big first inning homer and Hunter pitched five great innings. Brent came in and got the save for us.

“We played hard,” he added. “We’ve got to keep this same attitude each game. This was a good conference win that we can build on.”