AHOSKIE – Heath Britt did a little bit of everything Friday night.

The Hertford County right-hander went six innings on the mound, picking up the victory and also drove in the go-ahead run as his Bears knocked off archrival Bertie 7-4.

The Northeastern Coastal Conference victory for Hertford County puts the Bears at 4-1 in the league while they have an overall record of 4-7.

The Bears opened the scoring with a single run in the bottom of the first frame.

Ryan Matthews walked before Michael Burton laced a single to center. Matthews advanced to third when Andre Lyles reached on a fielder’s choice.

Lyles was picked off first, but in the rundown, Matthews was able to reach home before the tag, giving HCHS an early 1-0 lead.

Bertie loaded the bases in the top of the third, but an outstanding defensive play by Matthews at shortstop ended the threat.

HCHS added two runs in the bottom of the third.

Corey Saunders was hit by a pitch and came all the way around to score on Matthews’ double down the leftfield line. Matthews then scored on a Britt RBI-double to left-center, making it 3-0.

The Falcons rallied to take the lead in the fifth inning.

Boller singled to center before P.J. Schwab had a base hit to right. Aaron Hoggard’s RBI-double scored Boller and then Scott Hoggard delivered a three-run homer to left-center to give the Falcons a 4-3 advantage.

Hertford County came right back in the bottom of the fifth.

Saunders singled on the infield and stole second before going to third when Matthews reached on an error.

As Matthews stole second, Saunders scored on a throwing error to third.

Matthews advanced to third on a Burton single to right and then scored when Britt delivered a base hit. Burton and Britt advanced to second and third on an outfield error and both scored on a Jacob Dunlow double to left.

Those four runs gave the Bears a 7-4 lead after five innings and they went on for the victory.

“This was a good conference win,” HCHS baseball boss Chris Towell said. “Heath gave us six strong innings. We are starting to come together.

“Jacob got a big hit for us in the bottom of the fifth,” he added. “Ryan was back in the lineup and sparked us by scoring three runs.”

Britt went six innings for the win for HCHS. He allowed four runs on nine hits and struck out nine. Burton pitched one running in relief, allowing no runs and no hits.

Hunter Mizelle pitched four innings for the Falcons, suffering the loss after allowing seven runs on eight hits while striking out five. Brent Bowen tossed the final two innings, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out four.

“We have been struggling at the plate,” Bertie Head Coach Randy Whitaker said. “Scott put us ahead with his three-run homer.

“We didn’t make the routine plays in the bottom of the fifth and Hertford County took advantage of it,” he added.

The Falcons managed nine hits with Boller, Schwab, Aaron Hoggard and Scott Hoggard recording two hits each. Mizelle had one hit.

Hertford County also had nine hits, with Burton, Britt and Dunlow recording two each. Matthews, Lyles and Saunders had one hit each.

The Bears will finish their first trip through the conference tonight (Tuesday) when they travel to Currituck for a 7 p.m. outing. They will return home Wednesday to host Farmville Central.

The Falcons drop to 6-8 overall and 2-4 in the Northeastern Coastal Conference. They travel to Northeastern Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest.