Salem National’s bats went silent in its final two games, but the locals still made plenty of noise during the Little League District 1 baseball tournament.

The 11- and 12-year-olds were eliminated following an 8-3 loss in the losers’ bracket final to eventual District 1 champion Bedford on Thursday, July 16, ending a lengthy tournament run that included four victories.

While Jeremy Bagley allowed four first-inning runs, he also showed a great deal of composure, settling into a groove in the middle innings and giving his team a chance to come back.

In its previous game, a winners’ bracket final loss to Windham, Salem was blanked without managing a single base runner.

“You just can’t start the game slow,” said National manager Paul Soucy. “This is the second game in a row, and it did us in. But I was still proud of the way we fought to stay in the game.”

John Cerretani did his best to help Salem climb back within striking distance, launching two majestic solo home runs; one landed well in the woods behind Goffstown’s Villa Augustina field.

Cerretani also delivered an RBI single in the top of the first that temporarily gave his team a 1-0 edge.

“You’d love to have a few more John Cerretanis on your team,” said Soucy. “We ran into a combination of quiet bats and great pitching. We knew that’s what we were going to be in for, and good pitching beats good hitting.”

Despite his team’s elimination, Soucy said he believed this was the best performance of any Salem team in District 1 play.

Unfortunately for Salem, the game served as redemption for Bedford after National handed the champs their only loss of the tournament, 3-2, on July 9.

After knocking off Salem, Bedford conquered Windham in consecutive games to earn a match up with Portsmouth, the District 2 representative.

Twelve-year-old members from this year’s National team were Cody Soucy, Ricky Covino, Cerretani, Bagley, Jason Michalsky, Tyler Pickett, Reed Grubbs, Jake Shepley and Jacob Genest. Paul Soucy said the deep run should help the players as they move to the 90- foot diamond.

The team also featured three 11-year-olds – Kenny Calabrese, Dominic Palermo and Zach Martineau. Soucy added these ballplayers, all eligible for all-star play in 2010, gain an obvious edge.

“We had some kids who were new to this level of baseball. For the kids staying at this level, the experience is second to none, and this season was a great way for the 12-yearolds to end their Little League careers,” said Soucy. “This was just a tremendous group of boys to coach.”