Military appreciation ceremonies are scheduled to unfold simultaneously at Bedford High School home baseball and softball games Saturday at 11 a.m.
Bedford baseball hosts Concord-Carlisle, and the softball team plays a few hundred yards down Railroad Avenue against Acton-Boxborough.
At the softball game, Maj. Gen. Michael J. Schmidt, program executive officer for command, control, communication, intelligence, and networks, Hanscom Air Force Base, is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first ball
Softball Head Coach Dennis Walsh noted a special military connection on his roster: senior catcher Bella Fernald has been accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy.
The 10-2 softball team will be running a gauntlet en route to the MIAA Division 2 post-season tournament. And Walsh says that’s good for the Buccaneers.
Monday and Tuesday afternoons the team travels to Burlington and Shawsheen Tech, respectively, and Walsh expects consecutive tough contests. The Shawsheen game is a make-up from early in the season.
Then Thursday the Bucs entertain Newton South in a mini-tournament involving the top four teams in the Dual County League. Westford will play Lincoln-Sudbury in the other opener, followed Friday by a winners’ and losers’ bracket to close the regular season.
“Last year we didn’t face very hard pitching for the last couple of weeks,” Walsh noted, and the girls were at a disadvantage against Danvers, losing in the sectional quarterfinals.
Next week’s agenda should prepare his team for the top opponents it will need to beat to advance in the post-season. He expects Coco Steele to see some action on the mound during the week; Kaylee Grace has been the starter most of the year.
The coach hopes that the Bucs will finish in the top half of the state MIAA Division 2 power rankings, which will guarantee at least one tournament game at Miss G Field. Friday Bedford was ranked 12th.
After a loss vs. Lexington, the Bedford team on Wednesday was stifled by Concord-Carlisle for almost the entire game.
Then came one of those once-in-a-lifetime comebacks. But it wasn’t miraculous – they went out and scored six runs with disciplined and timely hitting.
Trailing 4-1 with two outs and no one on base in the top of the seventh inning, the Bucs stayed on life support when the number eight hitter, Maggie Carluccio, drew a walk. Lulu Steele followed with a single, and that brought up the top of the order.
Ellie Mitchell’s line drive into the gap plated both runners. Cassidy Schuman beat out an infield hit, and Fernald doubled in the tying run. Junior Laney Mead then sealed the comeback with a three-run homer. The stunned Patriots went down one-two-three in the bottom of the inning, and the Bucs had a satisfying 7-4 win.
“We were down to our last strike three times,” Walsh related. “On this day, they believed. I was amazed”
The following day the Bucs again found themselves behind 4-1, but it was only inning five and final core wasn’t close, 12-4.
“Our seniors all deserve recognition, Walsh said, citing center fielder Schuman, shortstop Mitchell, Fernald and first-year varsity player Amber Hurley, as well as Ani Zildjian, team manager.
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