GOFFSTOWN — Bedford's state championship Little Leaguers enjoyed an All-Star send-off at St. Anselm College on Thursday night, celebrating a dominant run to the New England regional tournament while looking forward to greater things ahead.

All seven of Bedford's youth teams were honored at the ceremony inside Sullivan Arena, which featured more hardware than a grand opening at Home Depot. The guests of honor were the 11- and 12-year-olds, who dominated District I and then swept Lamprey River in the best-of-three state finals last weekend. Bedford (7-0 overall) has outscored its opponents, 108-22, while mashing home runs with video game-like ease.

Grant Lavigne, a lefty masher, opened the all-star tournament by going 5-for-5 with five homers against Pelham. He homered five more times and racked up 19 hits in tournament play. Lavigne is receiving lots of attention these days — a blogger dedicated to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., is already referring to Lavigne as a “Little League version of Barry Bonds” — yet the quiet shortstop understands the true strength of the team.

“The most important thing is the name on the front of your shirt (Bedford), not the back,” Lavigne said. “We all get along great, and we hate to lose.”

Bedford clinched the state title by crushing Lamprey River, 9-2 and 14-0. The New Hampshire champions open play in the Little League New England regional tournament a week from today at Bristol, Conn. How to handle such a long wait?

Eight or nine of the all-stars, who play AAU baseball for the New Hampshire Black Flies, are heading to Cooperstown, N.Y., for a tournament and visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The kids will face competitive teams at Dreams Park and visit Doubleday Field, where Abner Doubleday is believed to have invented the game in 1839.

The five-day trip to Cooperstown should be a fun and pressure-free experience before buckling down to face the Vermont champion in next Friday's regional opener. Bedford plays Rhode Island on Monday, Massachusetts on Tuesday and Maine on Wednesday.

Bedford has enjoyed league-wide success, winning the Matty Dobens tourney in Manchester (8- to 10-year-olds) for the first time in a decade. Another team of 10- and 12-year-olds advanced to the finals of a wood bat tournament in Manchester. Yet another 10- and 11-year-old team won the District I state tournament, recently beating Portsmouth.

Bedford Little League president Joe Taylor lauded the efforts of each team during the ceremony. He said the all-stars heading to Bristol, Conn., are “well-disciplined and committed” and reaping the benefits of teamwork, talent and an off-season training program. Manager Kevin Lavigne, father of Grant, believes the Bedford squad has enough depth to continue winning at the regionals.

“That was the philosophy from the outset. I really thought the depth on our roster would make a big impact on our success,” Kevin Lavigne said. “We're getting contributions from all 13 players. Deep teams are usually successful ... I will tell you, the boys understand that it's all about team success. If a player isn't in the game, he's pulling for his teammate to make the play or drive in that run.”

Prior to Thursday night's ceremony, the all-stars had an intense practice at the Bedford Little League complex and listened to guest speakers Cary Buxton, manager of Bedford's 2005 state-championship squad, and Mike Robinson, a local volunteer umpire. Mike Skilton and Zach Husband, members of the '05 team, also were scheduled to attend the practice.

“I'll have some things to say, but the kids will really pay attention to the former players,” Buxton said.

The 2005 team also included Matthew Beaulieu, Brice Buxton, Nathan Harrington, Mark HoSang, Sam McClain, Lucas Mercer, Lucas Olen, Jordan St. Jean and Myles Utell. Joey Maher, drafted by the New York Yankees last summer, currently pitches for the Gulf Coast League Yankees.

“It was quite a group of athletes,” Cary Buxton said. “Ten of the kids are in college. Three earned academic scholarships and seven are playing on college teams, including football and tennis.”

Eric Emmerling contributed to this story.