WINDSOR – The Falcons did it again.

And this time against their arch rivals.

Bertie won their fourth game of the season in their final at-bat here Friday as they rallied past Hertford County 8-7 in a Northeastern Coastal Conference baseball game. It was Bertie’s fifth overall win.

&uot;I take my hat off to Hertford County,&uot; veteran Bertie baseball boss Randy Whitaker said. &uot;They kept the pressure on us all night long. They never quit.

&uot;Our guys didn’t panic when we fell behind in the seventh,&uot; he added. &uot;Charlie got the big hit. Lance threw a good game and Hunter did a fine job getting the win in relief.&uot;

Bertie led 5-2 after six innings of play, only to watch Hertford County surge ahead after scoring five runs in the top of the seventh stanza.

Travis Ellis walked and went to second when Ryan Matthews reached on an error. Ellis scored on a Michael Burton RBI-single to right. Matthews held at third, but scored on a Heath Britt infield single. Jake Dunlow then walked to load the bases.

With the bases full of Bears, Andre Lyles delivered a two-run double to right. Dunlow then scored on a Chris Mizelle RBI-groundout to give the Bears a 7-5 lead.

The Falcons responded in the home half of the seventh. Aaron Hoggard drew a free bass before Ethan Boller did the same.

With two outs, Hoggard scored on a Brent Bowen RBI-single to right. Boller and Bowen took third and second respectively on the throw home.

Charlie Castelloe then came through with a clutch game-winning single that scored both runs and gave the Falcons an 8-7 victory.

Thomas went six and one-third innings on the mound for Bertie. Hunter Mizelle pitched the final two-thirds of an inning for the win.

Chris Mizelle went the distance for HCHS, suffering the loss.

&uot;We really battled tonight,&uot; second-year Hertford County skipper Chris Towell said. &uot;This was a tough loss. We got to Lance in the seventh inning and took the lead.

&uot;Chris pitched a whale of a game,&uot; he added. &uot;He deserved to stay in the game and try to win it in the bottom of the seventh.&uot;

The game was deadlocked through four complete innings with neither team able to score.

Hertford County finally scratched in the top of the fifth.

Ryan Staton had an infield single and then went to third when Ellis reached on a two-base error. Both runners scored when Richard Burns got onboard via an error.

Burton then reached on a fielder’s choice followed by a Britt walk. On a Dunlow single to center, Bertie centerfielder O.J. Dobbin threw Burton out at home to end the inning.

Bertie then responded with three in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Bowen singled to right before Castelloe drew a walk. Both advanced on a wild pitch.

Bowen scored when Thomas reached on an error and Castelloe scored on a Matt White RBI-single to right. Thomas took third on the throw home and scored on a wild pitch to give Bertie a 3-2 advantage.

The Falcons added two in the bottom of the sixth stanza.

Kevin Jara walked, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a Jed Hughes RBI-double to left-centerfield. Hughes then scored on a Thomas single to right to give Bertie a 5- 2 lead.

Bertie improved to 5-9 on the season and 2-4 in the Northeastern Coastal Conference. They will host Northeastern at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Hertford County dropped to 0-12 and 0-4. They will host Currituck at 7 p.m. Tuesday.