Knights

Photo: Kit Cleghorn/Nashua Silver Knights

Returning home after a brutal four game road trip, the Silver Knights looked to end a four-game losing streak with a win against New Britain. Salve Regina’s Brayden Clark got the start for Nashua while Fordham’s Ryan Egan opposed him. In a roller coaster of a game, Nashua couldn’t pull it out late innings with New Britain sneaking out with the victory 7-6.

After a scoreless first inning, New Britain opened the scoring for the ballgame with Quinnipiac’s Keegan O’Connor nuking a home run over the center field batter's eye that might have landed in Canada. O’Connor’s blast with a runner on gave the Bees the early 2-0 lead.

After the two run second, New Britain kept their foot on the gas with three more runs coming in the third. UMass Boston’s Craig Corliss doubled to left to bring home one run as Keegan O’Connor continued his tear with a two RBI single following Corliss. O’Connor had his fingerprints all over this ballgame and wasted no time doing so, tallying four RBIs in the first three innings.

Down 5-0, things looked bleak for the Knights chances. Looking to chip away at the deficit, Wake Forest’s Chris Katz stepped up to the plate. Katz, in his first game with the Silver Knights, wasted no time getting his first homer of the season with a solo blast that snuck over the left center field wall. Avoiding the shutout, the gap now sat at 5-1.

In the top of the fourth, University of Rhode Island’s Anthony Depino extended the Bees lead back to five with an RBI double to left field. Back at a five-run deficit, Salve Regina’s Matt D’Amato responded with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth to get the Knights back within four.

After two scoreless frames, Nashua found themselves running out of time in the bottom of the seventh. Siena College’s Richie Paltridge walked his way aboard but was called out trying to steal second on a bang bang play that left Silver Knight fans up in arms. After Paltridge’s out on the base paths, Vanderbilt’s Ray Velazquez reignited the crowd with a solo shot that bounced off a left field billboard. After seven, the Knights were now down 6-3.

After New Britain added another run in the top of the ninth, Nashua only had three outs to go with a four-run deficit staring them in the face. After a leadoff out, Paltridge walked his way on base again with Velazquez following him up with a single. After a groundout to move the runners over, Anna Maria’s James P-P-P-Powers grabbed a bat off the bench and pinch hit for the Knights. Looking to ignite a spark, Powers roped a line drive to the left field gap to bring home the two runners aboard.

With fans starting to get intrigued, Nashua sent another pinch hitter to the plate with Boston College’s Kyle Wolff. In a lengthy at bat, Wolff swung at strike three but a passed ball by the catcher allowed Wolff to sprint to first and Powers to run home. After some luck on the dropped third strike, the Knights now were only down one.

A long, hard at-bat for Niagara's Brady Desjardins included a hard grounder that almost slipped by the shortstop. Unfortunately, the fielder flipped it to second for the force out and the Knights ninth inning magic was stopped a run short.

Nashua and New Britain will meet up again tomorrow night, with the two teams facing off down in Connecticut. With a 6:35 PM first pitch, the Knights will look to bounce back against the Bees after a hard fought, tough loss.