Dave Yorke and the Nashua Silver Knights couldn’t keep their momentum going, falling 9–6 to the Westfield Starfires tonight. Coming into the matchup, Nashua sat comfortably in third place in the Futures League standings, while Westfield remained at the bottom—making the loss a tough one to swallow.
The Knights would not be able to take care of business on the road, as they showcased solid pitching and timely hitting however it was not enough in the end. Yorke set the tone for Nashua as he drove in three in the Nashua losing effort, the Starfires would pick up a big win as the regular season inches closer to its final stretch.
For Nashua, this was a tough loss and a hard pill to swallow. The starting pitcher struggled early which put the Knights in a hole that the bullpen was forced to try to dig them out of. Offensively, the long ball played a major role in the game — the Starfires launched three home runs, while the visiting Knights managed just one. Despite some bright moments for the Knights, it wasn’t enough to close the gap, and they walked away empty-handed.
The Starfires got on Knights starter Andrew Chenevert early as Evan Menzel would homer in the 1st and his teammate Griffin Mills would do the same following him as they took an early 2-0 lead at home. Chenevert would try and bounce back in the second however the Starfires offense would not back down. In the bottom half of the inning, they would score two more runs as they pushed out to a big 4-0 lead to start this game.
This would mark the end of the day for Chenevert as he got roughed up. Josh Florence would come into the game for the Knights and all started shaky as they let up another run to the Westfield offense. Following that run, however, Florence dialed in on the mound as he would get some help from the Knights’ offense in a big way.
The top of the 4th marked a turning point in this game as the Nashua offense exploded. Joey Current and Dylan Littlefield would single to start the inning giving the Knights as few runners on base. Then with both on Dave Yorke brought the hammer as he launched the ball over the wall for a three-run homer instantly putting Nashua back in this game. The Knights would also tack on two more in the inning as they would tie the game up. Jack Balcer would be responsible for their fourth run of the game and then he would come around on a Patrick Shrake single to tie the game 5-5.
Offensively Nashua continued their ways in the 5th inning as they looked to take the lead after being down by five to start the game. Current would draw aboard via the walk and he would eventually score on a Will Shaheen single to give the Knights their first lead of the game.
The offense came for Nashua and the hope was that the pitching would follow suit and it did until the 7th. In the bottom half of the inning, the home side’s bat would awaken again. With two outs Jonathan Chatfield would get aboard and the very next batter would change this game in just one swing. Anthony Ruggeiro would launch a ball over the fence for a two-run homer as the Starfires retook the lead with their third long ball of the game.
Westfield would tack on two more insurance runs in the 8th as they pushed their lead to three heading into the 9th. This was enough to seal the deal as Nashua could not provide a comeback effort late on the road. We will see the Knights back at Holman Stadium tomorrow as they look to get back into the win column.
