Knights

Friday, June 30, 2023

By: Dan Allison | Silver Knights media relations

A comfortable win against Norwich on Thursday put the Silver Knights back in the win column, a place Nashua has not been in their six games prior. Set back on the road on Friday, the Knights looked to check the box of another stat they haven’t done in a while: Win in Brockton.

With their last win in eastern Massachusetts coming back on May 25th, the Knights looked for back-to-back wins in their seventh meeting against the Rox this season. Brockton, still bitter after a Knights walk-off victory in their last matchup, had a change of plans for Nashua and returned the favor with a walk-off win of their own 6-5 in 10 innings.

While the Rox scored the headline for this ballgame, it was the Silver Knights who filled most of the story. Once down 4-1, Nashua came storming back with back-to-back runs in the seventh and eighth to tie the game at five and eventually force extras.

Amherst’s Jack McDermott and Eastern Nazarene’s Shane McNamara did the heavy lifting for Nashua, combining for four RBIs and five of the Knights’ eight hits. McDermott now has two three-hit games in his last four, along with three straight games with an RBI. McNamara’s two RBI night gives him back-to-back games with RBIs, posting three doubles in his last six at-bats.

Following a tough start from Colby’s Thomas Rioux, Nashua’s pitching staff did wonders in order to stop the bleeding on the scoreboard. After Brockton plated four runs in the first three frames, Nashua would only give up one until extras. 

Assumption’s Alex Meesig and Endicott’s Kyan Bagshaw both pitched well in the middle frames, combining for three innings with only one earned run on one hit. Southern New Hampshire’s George Welch would take over in the seventh, doing his job and forcing extra baseball.

Nashua’s great pitching would set the table for a Knight comeback. Sitting at 5-3 for most of the game, the Knights would get one back in the seventh with Luca Giallongo working his way around the bases after a leadoff hit by pitch. After taking second and advancing to third, Luca would come home on a ground ball from McDermott to make it 5-4. 

In the eighth with time running out for Nashua, the Knights would get some lucky bounce with two crucial Brockton errors allowing McNamara to come around to score and tie the ballgame.

Both teams were unable to push across a run in the ninth, forcing extra baseball at Campanelli Stadium. After three shutdown innings, Welch would run into some trouble in the tenth with runners on a first and one out.

Nashua would turn to Brown’s Stiles Begnaud to try and force a derby tiebreaker. However, in his first at-bat, a bunt in front of the plate by Johnson and Wales’s Jack Obert would cause Stiles to scramble to field it as he sailed Cam Kozeal’s glove at first and allowed the winning run to score from second.

Following the tough loss to Brockton, Nashua will return home for a doubleheader matchup with Westfield. Game one of the two-game Saturday is set for a 3:00 PM first pitch, with game two set for 6:00 PM at Historic Holman Stadium.