Knights

(Nashua, NH): The extraordinary heat wave in Nashua on Sunday was a precursor to what would follow on the baseball diamond, as 33 runs were scored in an 18-15 Silver Knights victory at Holman Stadium. Nashua set a franchise record for hits (23), which broke the previous mark of 22 that had been set by the 2017 FCBL Champion Knights. 

The scoring would open early, with North shore going up 4-0 in the second inning. Ben Malgeri (Northeastern) lead off the game with a single. He would score on a double by Alex Brickman (Dayton). Brickman would score when Cam Climo (UMass-Lowell) hit a double off Nashua starter Hunter Owen (Vanderbilt). Cody Morissette (Boston College) would double and score two in the second. Nashua would answer with 7 in the bottom of the inning off Navs starter Nate Espelin (Dayton). John Mead (Franklin Pierce) wasted no time, leading off with a single. Lucas Stalman (Boston College) then took a 2-2 pitch over the wall for the first of six home runs that would be hit in the game. Max Viera (Northeastern) would single and score after a Jack Arend (Nichols) double. Nick Perkins (Endicott) took his turn and collected a double to score Arend. Later in the inning, Jared Dupere (Northeastern) would walk. Dominic Keegan (Vanderbilt) would get into the action with a double of his own, scoring Perkins and Dupere. The Knights would hit around, as Mead collected an RBI single to finish the inning. 

In the fourth, the Navs put up the biggest score of the game, pushing across 8 runs on 8 hits to regain the lead, sending 13 batters to the plate. Their half inning was highlighted by RBI doubles from Logan Bravo (Harvard), Ryan Turenne (Maine), Ryan Cervone (Northeastern), and RBI singles from Jake McElroy (Holy Cross) and Jonathan Luders (Seton Hall). However, Nashua would answer with 7 of their own, and take the lead back for good at 14-12. Ben Rounds (Harvard) and Jared Dupere opened the inning with back-to-back home runs. Mead and Keegan would single, and Keegan would score on a hit by Viera. Arend would walk, loading the bases for Nick Shumski (Merrimack), who unleashed a grand slam to put the Knights ahead. Nashua finished off by scoring three in the sixth, courtesy of RBI doubles from Keegan and Mead, and one in the eighth, Dupere’s second home run of the night. 

Dupere continues to lead the FCBL in average (.442) and home runs (5). He is also second in RBI (15) through 15 games. Shaun Cormier (NEC) picked up the win for Nashua on Sunday, going just a third of an inning, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. Parker Browne (Suffolk) took the loss for the Navs. Browne gave up 2 runs on 2 hits in 0.2 innings. Chris Chaney (Maryland) picked up the 4-out save, going 1.1 innings, giving up 1 run on 2 hits and collecting 3K. As much as pitching seems a non-factor from the box score, there were some solid performances on the mound. Stephen McLendon (Babson) pitched 2 scoreless innings for the Knights, giving up only 3 hits. 

The win moves the Knights to 8-7 and into third place in the FCBL standings. After an off day, they are back on the road Tuesday with a visit to Leominster to face the Worcester Bravehearts (9-4), where they will try to close the 1.5 game separation from the league leaders. Nashua returns home Wednesday, where they will again host the Navigators in a 6PM start. subscribe to the FCBL Network to catch Silver Knights game action with Broadcaster Dan Byford, or to catch all games throughout the league, at FCBLNetwork.com.