Holding onto the 16th and final playoff spot in their inaugural season, the Bedford High School softball team hoped to roll into Pelham and roll out with a win. The 1-13 Pythons had other plans.

Pelham jumped to a 7-0 lead and held on for its second win of the season, an 8-7 home victory on Monday, May 19.

With the loss, Bedford dropped to 5-9 on the season, and continues a heated battle with Fall Mountain and Lebanon for that last postseason berth.

“If we don’t make it, we understand that it’s OK,” said Bedford’s head coach, Mel Keeler. “If we do, it’s a great experience, and next year we will be tougher competitors.”

Bedford was without its starting catcher due to injury, and that hurt during an ugly second inning.

The first two Pythons reached on errors, and two more reached on dropped third strike calls. Pelham scored four runs in the frame thanks to three errors, and followed that up with three runs in the next inning, led by a two-run home run by right fielder Jacqui Perry.

Bedford struck back with four runs of its own in the top of the fourth inning, as Ada Furciniti and Corrine Breton notched RBI singles to pull their team within a 7-4 margin. But Pelham’s Amanda Levesque induced a groundout to shortstop to polish off her complete game victory.

“It was much needed by every side of the spectrum,” said Pelham head coach Todd Lozeau. “It’s much better than the first win. We got a little scared at the end, but we made some plays, and it was definitely the best game we have played this season.”

Keeler said Bedford needs to improve at the plate and in the field to sneak into the playoffs.

“The biggest thing we need to work on is the inconsistency we’ve had with our bats and our defense,” said Keeler. “We don’t have any subs, so we are basically struggling to keep two teams (varsity and junior varsity) alive.”