Bears win third straight

Published 9:12 am Thursday, April 2, 2009

AHOSKIE – All even.

Hertford County High School won their third straight here Tuesday afternoon and in the process evened their record in the Northeastern Coastal Conference.

The Bears stopped Pasquotank County High School 4-1 and improved to 5-4 overall and 2-2 in the league in the process.

“Brandon Warren pitched a great game,” said HCHS baseball boss Chris Towell. “We took advantage of their mistakes. Mitchell Godwin also got a big hit for us. We are now taking it one game at a time.”

The Bears opened the scoring with the first run in the bottom of the opening frame. Richard Burns had an infield single and went to second on a Daniel Merritt groundout. Burns scored when Edward Joyner reached first on an error.

HCHS added a run in the bottom of the third.

Travis Ellis walked and stole second. Ellis went to third on a Burns single to left. Burns then stole second. Ellis scored on a wild pitch to give the Bears a 2-0 advantage.

Pasquotank got its only run in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 2-1.

Hertford County added two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-1 edge.

Joyner singled to right and stole second. Joyner went to third on a wild pickoff throw before Warren walked. Both runners scored on a Mitchell Godwin two-run double to center.

The Panthers had runners at second and third with two out in the top of the seventh, but a pop out ended the game.

Warren went all seven innings for the Bears, giving up just one run and three hits. He struck out three in picking up his third win of the year.

The Bears had five hits and are led by Burns, who had two. Joyner, Warren and Godwin had one hit each.

Hertford County will host league rival Bertie at 7 p.m. Friday night.