LONDONDERRY — Laying down consecutive two-strike bunts on tough curveball offerings settled a pitchers’ duel, earning Londonderry a 2-1 walk-off win over Goffstown on Senior Day in an inter-divisional battle between two powerhouse programs.

The win secured the eighth seed for Londonderry (11-8) and the chance to host a first-round Division I tourney game next Thursday. The loss snapped Goffstown’s seven-game win streak. Still, the 14-3 Grizzlies own the No. 4 seed in Division II.

Lancers junior ace Ryan Moloney and his sophomore counterpart, Chris Hood, took turns handcuffing hitters with spellbinding curveballs. Each hurler consistently threw the deuce for strikes and kept hitters off balance by offering it on standard fastball counts.

Each hurler allowed just six hits. Moloney (5-3) struck out four. His low sinking curve induced eight groundouts. Hood’s (2-1) deuce danced, creating 10 flyouts. He whiffed two.

When Mike Ryan and Austin Marino opened the bottom of the seventh inning with singles, Londonderry coach Brent Demas opted to bunt them into scoring position.

Vinnie Parilla failed to get the bunt down on the first two strikes and tried not to look surprised when seeing Demas signal for him to try again. Fouling a two-strike bunt is ruled a strikeout. And, to top it off, Hood threw an inside curve.

“I’m thinking, ‘It’s a curve.’ The only way I could get it down was toward third,” said Parilla. Goffstown catcher Adam Routhier immediately pounced on the fair ball and fired a bullet toward third.

The base umpire signaled safe, a controversial call that wasn’t overruled on an appeal. Now, with no outs and the bases loaded, Demas signaled bunt before every pitch sent to the next batter, Kelly Smith.

“We weren’t hitting anything. The ball was dying in the muggy air. It was a calculated gamble, but it paid off,” said Demas.

“I missed the first two and on the last pitch I decided to do it for the seniors and Ryan. He deserved the win,” said Kelly. Moloney had lost a 1-0 pitchers’ duel on Monday, when Merrimack tallied an unearned run.

“I’ve never seen two guys in a row bunt with two-strike counts before,” said Hood, who dropped to 2-1. “My curve was working. I threw a good one. He got it down.”

Kelly punched the high offering down the first base line. It was perfectly placed and plated the winning run.

“You don’t always get the breaks,” said Goffstown coach Eddy Coulombe. “Hopefully this serves as a good character builder for our tournament.”

Jake Welch scored Londonderry’s other run in the first inning when Goffstown came up short attempting to turn an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded. The Grizzlies tied the score in the fourth when Tucker Allard punched a two-strike curve to right, scoring Routhier.

Allard performed a similar feat in the opposite direction to load the bases in the sixth. Moloney got out of the jam, inducing an infield fly with an inside fastball on the next pitch.

“It was a nice mound for curves today,” said Moloney.