Bedford Escapes Scare, Advances Behind Timely Hitting, Solid Pitching

BRISTOL, CT – There were some tense moments late in the game, but as the saying goes, "all's well that ends well."

Bedford, up 2-0 in the fifth inning of its semifinal elimination game against Wellesley South (Mass.), found itself in a precarious situation.

Manager Kevin Lavigne, in an attempt to maintain momentum, held off on making substitutions until later in the game than he typically would have preferred.

Little League rules state that each player on a 13-player roster must have at least one at-bat and one inning in the field.

Entering the bottom of the fifth inning, Peyton Murray (who had an impressive catch featured on ESPN's top plays Wednesday), had yet to swing the bat, and he was slotted to take the batters box fourth in the inning. Because Bedford was the home team in the contest, the locals would not bat in the sixth if they maintained their advantage.

Bedford needed at least one hit and to avoid a double play to get Murray to the plate, otherwise Lavigne would have been suspended for two games for the violation.

After Connor Zendzian grounded out to lead off the inning, Brennan Hughes did his part, finding a hole through the middle of the infield to reach base.

Ryan Lee then came to the plate and laid down a well-executed bunt. Massachusetts attempted to get the lead runner, but an overthrow to second base and some intelligent base running restraint by Hughes and Lee guaranteed Murray's at-bat. Bedford coaches and fans exhaled a collective sigh of relief.

"We started substituting a little later in the game just because we wanted the kids' confidence to stay high ... and that's what we were trying to do," said Lavigne. "We probably should have made a substitution a little earlier in the game, but again, we were trying to capitalize on the situation ... the pitch count was getting real deep, so we got a lot of at-bats and were able to really move things along.

"That's probably the first time all summer we had a little bit of a tense moment on the substitution pattern," he added, "but luckily it all worked out."

Grant Lavigne, who kept the ball in the strike zone the entire game, forcing Massachusetts hitters to swing keeping his pitch count low, came out in the top of the sixth and locked up the complete-game, 75-pitch, two-hit shutout.

The win not only snapped a two-game skid for Bedford's talented bunch – including a to the same Mass. all-stars – but it secured a spot in the regional championship game against Connecticut at 6 p.m. Saturday.

To get there, it took nearly-flawless defense, but also a complete offensive effort.

Joey Barrett helped put Bedford on the board in the second inning when his patience paid off with a walk. Nick Mokas then lined a pitch into left field for Bedford's first hit of the game. He was replaced by speedy Grant Taylor as a pinch runner. Tim Saltzman executed a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position, and Patrick Harrington collected the RBI.

Then, in the fourth inning, Joe Quintal entered the game and clubbed the ball over the right fielder's head then wheeled around the bases, coming to a stop with a stand-up triple before coming home on a wild pitch.

Lavigne's steady arm and Bedford's stout defense secured the victory from there.

“If you told me seven days ago that we'd be playing in the championship game for a chance to go to Williamsport, I'd say, 'That's where I expect to be,'" said Lavigne. "That's where I want to be.”

For a complete batter-by-batter recap, , and check back regularly tomorrow and Saturday as we continue to profile each of and run video interviews of Coach Lavigne, Grant Lavigne, Alec Burns and Joe Quintal.

Also, check back daily as we continously update our page we've dedictaed to Bedford's run toward Williamsport. And don't forget to follow Bedford Patch on our Facebook page , Twitter feed, and daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.

Stats:

Stats obtained from the Little League International Tournament website.