AHOSKIE – Brandon Warren tossed a four-hitter here Thursday.

That pitching effort combined with a 12-hit outing by the Bears’ offense, helped Hertford County secure a 7-1 Northeastern Coastal Conference baseball win over Pasquotank County High School.

The Bears opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Daniel Merritt doubled to right-center field and scored on a Warren RBI-single to left. Warren took second on the throw home and then scored on a Tucker Warren RBI-single to left.

Tucker Warren moved to third on a Tyler Pryor single to left and scored on a Mitchell Godwin RBI-single to make it 3-0.

The Bears then added two more in the bottom of the second stanza.

Tyler Burden singled to right and moved all the way to third on a Marvin Harrell single to center. After Harrell stole second, both runners scored on a Merritt single to center giving HCHS a 5-0 advantage.

Pasquotank scored its only run in the top of the fourth frame, cutting the lead to 5-1.

The Bears, meanwhile, added a run of their own in the home half of the same inning. Burden walked, stole second and went to third on a balk. He scored on a Harrell sacrifice fly to extend the advantage to 6-1.

The final run of the game came in the home half of the sixth inning.

Godwin singled to right before giving way to courtesy runner Brandon Staton. Staton went to second on a Burden single and both runners advanced on an error. Staton scored on a Harrell infield single to make it 7-1.

Brandon Warren pitched all seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits while picking up his sixth victory of the season against a single loss. He struck out 17.

Burden, Harrell, Godwin, Merritt and B. Warren each had two hits during the contest. T. Warren and Pryor had a hit each.

Hertford County improved to 11-5 overall and 5-5 in league play with the victory.

The Bears will play First Flight High School at 4 p.m. Monday in the first round of the Bertie Easter Tournament. They will also meet South Creek at 7 p.m. in the same tournament.