BRISTOL, Conn. — Bedford’s 11- and 12-year-old all-stars were taught an important lesson in their quest for Little League baseball’s New England Regional championship.

Giving the competition extra outs — particularly at this stage of the summer tournament season — often leads to defeat.

Bedford committed six fielding errors Tuesday at Breen Field, and the result of those defensive miscues proved costly in a 9-5 loss to Wellesley (Mass.) South. Six of the runs Bedford surrendered were unearned.

“I still have confidence in our team. It was just a rough loss,” said outfielder Brennan Hughes, whose team played in front of 528 fans and NESN’s television audience. “We didn’t play our best baseball. I know we can play much better than that.”

The team’s manager echoed those sentiments — and placed the outcome in perspective.

“Teams certainly don’t want to have those type of games, but they do happen,” said Kevin Lavigne, whose boys suffered their first loss of the summer. “I guess we can consider ourselves fortunate that it didn’t happen in Game 1 or Game 2 (of the tourney’s round-robin format).”

On the strength of those wins, Bedford (9-1 overall, 2-1 N.E.) clinched a spot in Thursday’s knockout round. The team’s semifinal status was official before Grant Lavigne fired a game-starting strike.

Video: Marc Thaler on Bedford's Tuesday loss:


Bedford’s Bay State foe, meanwhile, needed to win. It showed, too.

Billy Seidl (3-for-4, home run) staked Wellesley to a quick 1-0 lead. The No. 2 hitter’s RBI double made Bedford pay for its first error.

Seidl’s gap hit also dug Bedford its third consecutive first-inning hole of the regional. The deficit swelled to 7-0 through 2 ½ frames.

The team’s third and fourth errors contributed to a four-run rally for Wellesley (15-2, 2-1).

Joey Barrett, who threw five innings (83 pitches) in relief of Grant Lavigne (33 pitches), was charged with six runs. Just two of them were earned.

“Even after (the errors) happened,” Wellesley manager David Rosenblatt said, “we still had some timely hits to compound those errors.”

Kaeden Bentley (four innings, 85 pitches) limited Bedford to one big inning. Connor Collins, Timmy Saltzman, Grant Lavigne (2-for-3), Connor Zendzian (2-for-3), Hughes and Peyton Murray (2-for-2) belted third-inning hits that fueled a four-run rally.

But the team twice squandered golden scoring chances. Bedford left the bases loaded in the first, and stranded runners at second and third in the fourth.

What’s the game plan for today? “Just play Bedford baseball,” Hughes said. “Hit, field as well as you can.”

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Marc Thaler may be reached at mthaler@unionleader.com.