BY SAPNA PATHAK

They’re not expecting to bring home the championship trophy. In fact, they’re quite surprised they qualified for the tournament.

But that doesn’t mean every member of the Bedford Hornets U12 softball squad won’t give her best effort when she takes the field at this year’s PONY national championship.

“How we’ll do is hard to say,” said manager Bob Bonfiglio. “Because we’re so young, we’re not expecting to go out and win the whole thing, but it’ll be a great experience for everybody. They’re thrilled about making the tournament, and it’ll be the first national tournament for all of them.”

The Hornets head to Vienna, Ohio, to compete from July 21 to 26. The squad, drawing players from Neighborhood-area towns in Salem, Bedford and Auburn, earned its national-tourney bid after placing third in this year’s American Softball Association (ASA) state tournament and second at the New England regional tournament.

After tryouts in August 2006, Bonfiglio selected 11 players of the 28 who tried out. While most played against each other during the middle school season, Bedford’s Christina Bonfiglio said it was the adjustment of playing with her new teammates she enjoyed.

“We’re used to seeing each other as opponents,” said the catcher and first baseman. “We joke around with each other if one of our middle school teams beat the other and we’d see each other at Hornets practice the next day. It was fun playing against my teammates because you sort of know how the other plays so you can get on them.”

Rounding out the Hornets’ roster are Bedford’s Kelsey Kennedy, Heather Fyfe, Ashley Abad and Allie Bowe; Salem’s Nicole Gubellini; Auburn’s Sami Hennequin; and Hannah Slivinski, Kate Dawson, Lauryn Kmon and Casey Mellen.

“These kids have made a commitment pretty much year-round,” said Bob Bonfiglio. “They’ll be very competitive no matter who they’re playing. They love this game, so getting them focused isn’t that hard. They’ll certainly build off the national tournament and what they’ll learn there.”

Game notes

Taking second in the New England regional tournament, the Hornets left North Reading, Mass., with a 3-2 record. The squad’s losses were to the eventual champions, the Southern Maine Flame.

Game one featured an 11-strikeout performance from starter Gubellini against the New England Riptide. The Hornets stung early when Dawson smashed a triple with the bases loaded in the first. Fyfe’s fifth-inning solo home run put the Hornets ahead for good, 4-3.

Kennedy and Bowe drove in two runs apiece in the Hornets’ 7-5 win over the South Shore Stealers. Kmon threw two scoreless innings of relief in the win.

Gubellini threw a two-hitter against the Flame and provided the team’s only hit in the 1-0 game-three loss.

Bedford climbed back to the championship game with an 8-5 win over the Charlton Wildfire. Fyfe led off the game with a triple and scored on an Abad RBI single. Kennedy drove in Abad for a 2-0 lead before Fyfe scored Mellen in the second inning.

The championship pitted the Hornets against the Flame. A scoreless duel was broken up in the fifth inning when the Flame scored five runs. The Hornets came up with two runs, but the 5-2 edge went to the Flame.

The state tournament weekend began with a 9-1 win over the Nashua Nightmares Purple. Gubellini and Slivinski shared pitching duties. Abad delivered three hits, while Kennedy, Gubellini and Dawson added two each. Bonfiglio notched a two-run double in the win.

Day two of the tournament saw the Hornets down the Northeast Hurricanes, 7-4. Bonfiglio drove in two runs on two hits; Fyfe and Dawson each had two hits, and hurlers Gubellini and Slivinski combined for the win.

The Hornets beat the Londonderry Flames, 12-4, behind the arms of Kmon and Slivinski. Fyfe hit a two-out, bases-loaded triple to seal the win, while Hennequin drove in four runs with two hits. Mellen and Bowe each recorded two RBI.

In the losers bracket semifinal, Bedford walked away with a 9-8, extra-inning loss to the NH Lightning of Concord. The Hornets put up six runs in the top of the eighth before the Lightning answered with seven in the bottom of the frame.