BY SAPNA PATHAK
Standing alongside his teammates, watching the opposition raise the trophy instead of his squad, there was only one thing on Ben Philbrick’s mind.
“I was like, ‘Where’s the pool party going to be?’” said a smiling Philbrick. “We have parties after every game, and they were at different people’s houses, so I was kind of just thinking whose house we’d go to today. We had a good year, got to the finals, and I think the end-of-the-year party will help us see that.”
But neither Philbrick nor the rest of Bedford’s all-stars needed the post-game celebration to remind them of their accomplishments during this season’s District 1 Little League baseball 11- and 12-year-old majors tournament.
Manager Tony Spagnuolo made sure of that.
“Obviously to get this far is a reward for how hard they play and how proud I am of them,” said Spagnuolo after Bedford’s 12-3 loss to District 1 champ Manchester North. “Unfortunately we met a team equal to or even better than us. I wish we’d have put up more runs because I know we can, but that’s not to take away from the tournament we’ve had.”
Taking Brian West Field at Steven’s Park in Manchester on Saturday, July 14, Bedford looked to avenge its only loss of the tournament. Again, North used solid pitching and consistent hitting to come away with the win.
With ace Eric MacDonald playing shortstop after starting two days earlier against Salem American, Bedford relied on hurler Jimmy Heffernan to hold North’s offense in check.
Heffernan started the first inning, striking out two of the four batters he faced, but a rough second inning helped North jump to an 8-0 lead.
“I don’t know, I walked a couple of guys, and they got a couple of hits,” said Heffernan, who left the game after five complete innings. “I just wanted to keep the ball low and let my defense work for me, but they kept getting the bat on it. We thought we could beat them. There were no nerves even though they’d beat us before.”
Bedford scored in the home half of the second when Heffernan led off the frame with a double and Philbrick followed with a two-run shot over the center-field fence. The bottom of the fourth saw Heffernan reach base on a single and score on an RBI single from A.J. Spagnuolo.
“We really wanted to get back at them for beating us in the tournament before, so it felt good to hit a home run against them,” said Philbrick. “I had two strikes and knew I had to find a good pitch and just swing for it. I wish there were more guys on base so we could’ve cut the lead more.”
Reliever Brian Collins took over for Heffernan in the top of the sixth, allowing three North runs on three hits. Bedford’s offense couldn’t come up with a late-game rally, going down via a strikeout and two groundouts in the bottom of the inning.
Bedford’s all-stars included Andy Lalonde, Greg O’Brien, Trevor Fahmy, Cory Snell, James Caparell, Dylan Cowette, Nolan Villeneuve and Casey Schehl.
“Oh, I don’t know where the party will be,” said Tony Spagnuolo. “The parents have to rotate because having 13 12-year-old boys can get … well, you know, pretty rowdy. They like to have fun – they do that on and off the field.”