The Pelham boys tennis team doesn’t have much to pay back its Class I opponents, but the Pythons prepared for the postseason by avenging one loss from a short list of blemishes in 2009.

After losing to then undefeated Bedford earlier in the week, Pelham handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the year on Saturday, May 16, by way of a 5-4 road win.

With the victory, the Pythons concluded regularseason play at 12-2 and now await seedings for the upcoming Class I tournament.

Pelham took a 4-2 advantage after singles play when Brad Shapiro, Matt Smith, Matt Mercier and Ethan Ely knocked off their Bedford adversaries from their respective third through sixth spots on the ladder.

Mercier’s victory was particularly impressive; the junior trailed 3-0 and 6-3 against Kyle Basoukas before rallying for a 9-7 win.

Pelham’s No. 1 and 3 doubles pairs were unable to muster the lone victory needed to clinch the match, but the team decision was sealed during what went in the books as a 3-2 win for Smith and his partner, Jared Taylor.

Smith and Taylor led, 3-2, when a Bedford foe showed signs of frustration. His coach came onto the court for a conference before deciding to default the match.

With the victory, Taylor and Smith concluded a perfect season at No. 2 doubles.

PHS head coach Lisa Terwilliger said she has seen the importance of depth in several matchups this year.

“When we played ConVal, their (No.) 1 through 3 players were pretty stacked,” said Terwilliger, in her fourth season as coach. “We said on the bus heading over there that we’d have to count on our lower half of the ladder. We won 5-4 based on that, and it showed us how well-rounded we were.”

Pelham is currently seeded second in Class I, but top-ranked Bedford still has four matches to play before the tournament, meaning the Pythons could grab the No. 1 spot.

Taylor, a freshman, has anchored the ladder, losing only four times in his first year.

In addition to his blemishfree mark in doubles, Smith has lost just one singles match as the team’s No. 4 player. Terwilliger said she does not think having a fairly young rotation hurts the team entering the playoffs.

“They’ve been waiting for this all season,” she said. “They’re ready.”