NORTH ATTLEBORO - Winning games doesn't come easily for the Attleboro High School softball team.

Twice taking a one-run lead, then almost watching it vanish in the seventh inning, the Blue Bombardiers held on to escape from North Attleboro High Tuesday afternoon with a 5-3 victory in the non-league game.

Caitlin Montella, the No. 3 batter in the order, and Heather Cheney, in the No. 9 spot, each accounted for a pair of hits as Attleboro (2-5) produced a pair of unearned runs with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to create just enough breathing room.

In the meantime, Bombardier freshman pitcher Devin Azulay retired 11 Rocketeer batters on strikes, scattered five hits and walked just two. Moreover, Azulay and the Bombardiers stranded six Rocketeer baserunners, four in scoring position.

"Devin will keep us in every game," beamed Bombardier boss Deb Carreiro of her hurler, who retired the first seven North batters that she faced, five on strikeouts and allowed Rocketeer leadoff batters to reach base in just the fourth, fifth and sixth frames. The Bombardiers used a pair of North errors in the seventh inning to plate two runs. Cheney singled into right field with one out and Ashley Sanford reached base on an infield error. Then with two outs, Montella popped a flyball to shallow center field which four Rocketeers converged upon - but no one caught the ball, dropping out of a glove, allowing the two AHS runners to cross the plate.

"It happens," sighed North coach Christine Ahern of the miscue, along with an absence of timely hitting. "We definitely didn't get our bats on the ball when we needed to. She (Azulay) definitely was the most advanced pitcher that we've seen, in terms of the variety of pitches that she threw."

AHS needed those runs too because in the bottom of the seventh, after Azulay retired the first two North batters on infield rollers, Rocketeer leadoff batter Steph Burns reached base on a booted potential game-ending grounder. Brenna Johnson followed her to the plate and hammered an RBI-double into left field. Fortunately, Azulay notched K No. 11 to end the game.

"A couple of mistakes took us out of a couple of runs too," added Carreiro as North pitcher Kali Chabot gunned down a Bombardier runner at the plate in the third inning, Burns, the third baseman, initiated a double play in the fourth inning after the first two AHS batters reached base and Sarah Brown, North's second baseman, gunned down another Bombardier at the plate in the sixth inning.

AHS took the lead in the third when Cheney stroked a leadoff single into center field and scored on a two-out triple by Montella into right center field. But North came back in the bottom of the frame to tie it when Brown beat out an infield roller and scored on a Burns single into right field.

AHS regained the lead in the fifth when Hilary Dias drew a leadoff walk, advanced on a wild pitch and a Cheney sacrifice and scored on an Ashley Sanford sacrifice flyball. The Bombardiers made it 3-1 in the sixth when Montella belted a leadoff double into left field and scored on Jen Thurman's fielder's choice. North came right back in the bottom of the frame as Nicole Hardy drew a walk, stole second base, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Amanda Beaupre's fielder's choice.

North resumes its Hockomock League schedule today against Stoughton, while AHS entertains Dartmouth Thursday in an OCL game.