Nashua, NH – It was a storybook ending for the Nashua Silver Knights as they closed out their season on a high note with an extra-innings walk-off win, 2-1. The victory was the result of a gritty, hard-fought night that ended dramatically.
Clutch pitching down the stretch from Brandon Metivier, paired with timely hitting and strong defense from the rest of the Knights, proved to be the difference. Nashua battled the Vermont Lake Monsters inning by inning, and when the moment came, they delivered — sending the home crowd into celebration one final time this summer.
This was a game filled with pitching and defense, and every baserunner mattered as rallies were hard to come by. Nashua would start a reliever in this game as Kyan Bagshaw got the nod. The lefty from Endicott has been a high-leverage arm for the Knights all year, so they were hoping to get a good outing from him. He would throw well to start as he was able to get Vermont down in order in the first inning. In the second, he would run into some trouble as the Lake Monsters would strike for their first and only run of the ballgame. Leandro Guevara would smack a double to drive in Hunter Kingsbury, who reached after getting hit by a pitch. Bagshaw would finish the inning without any more damage as he closed out his start, going 2 IP while giving up 1 ER.
Nashua would toss two more arms out of the bullpen before they were able to score a run as Nigel Cross and Jake Boudreau combined for five innings of shutout baseball to keep the Vermont lead at just one. Notably, in those innings, the two combined only allowed one runner aboard for the Lake Monsters on a hit in the 4th inning.
The bats would come alive for the Knights in the 7th as Jayden Hamilton would double to start the inning. Following back-to-back outs after the leadoff double, it looked like the run would not come in to score; however, due to key Vermont errors, this was not the case. The Lake Monsters pitcher Alvin Gomez would throw two wild pitches that advanced Hamilton to third on the first and the second that would allow him to score Nashua’s first run of the game.
Manager Nick Guarino then turned to Hunter Wrad with a tie game, and he was able to shut down the Vermont order, providing much-needed relief on the Nashua offense. In the bottom half of the 8th, the Knights would rally as they were able to get the bases loaded with just one out. This would be the highlight of the inning for Nahsua as Vermont was able to escape the jam by turning a double play to keep the score tied. In the 9th, Brandon Metiver came on to provide a veteran’s presence on the mound as he proved the big moment was not too much. Metivier would escape the frame without giving up a run and give the Knights a chance to walk it off in the 9th.
Vermont had other ideas in the bottom half of the 9th rather than allowing a Nashua rally as Aaron LaRose came on and was able to shut down the Knights one, two, three. Heading into extras, the Knights would stick with their high-leverage arm. This inning would be another grind; however, Metivier made some timely pitching in big spots to not allow a run to cross for the Lake Monsters, even with a runner starting on second. Jake Haarde would also make a highlight reel catch in the inning as he fully extended to essentially save the game for his team.
The Knights in the bottom half were looking to make magic happen, and they would take one step towards that as Chase Roberts would move James Benestad over to get the runner to third with one out. Then, with Cole Patterson up to bat, he would slap a ball right up the middle that would allow Bensetsad to cross home before the throw, winning the game for the Knights in extras.
Summer Knights the song was played after Cole Patterson delivered his moment in the 10th inning, and it was a good sound to say the least, as the Knights before today were on a dry spell. The team left it all out on the field and provided their fans with one last highlight finish to end the season. After the game, Guarino said, “You never know with the twenty-five silver knights, but the feeling was in the air from the fourth, fifth inning, and we tied the game up in the 7th, and this game is either gonna be a classic finish or derby win. It was a great way to end it, and most fans are gonna remember this game, 60 wins and not the ones that we lost”. As a Manager finishing his first season, he also mentioned that he will always take a win, and he was glad that his guys came out and played, and he was glad his guys were rewarded with a win like this.
