Knights

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

By: Dan Allison | Silver Knights media relations

Following a rainy loss in Vermont, three straight losses for the Silver Knights have now left a bitter taste in the mouth of Nashua. Anxious to get back in the win column, the Knights looked to take their frustrations out on the road in Worcester for the second time this season. In an early morning 10:30 first pitch, Nashua couldn’t get back at the Bravehearts for their home opening loss and fell to the first-place squad 5-4.

While the result may have stayed the same, a new-look Knights team took the field on Wednesday. After almost a week of struggling offense, Nashua posted 13 hits on the day in their best offensive output of the season. Nashua’s offense also showed no quit, turning a 5-2 deficit into only a 5-4 hole as they came up just short of completing the rally.

Eastern Nazarene’s Shane McNamara got the party started with an RBI single in the top of the first, with Delaware’s Parker Redden following suit with an RBI single of his own. After just a half inning of play, it was 2-0 Nashua.

Despite the newly ignited offense at the plate, the Knights quickly ran into a recurring issue of theirs: quality pitching in the middle innings. Stevens’s Erik Sibbach got the start for Nashua and much like Metivier the night prior, all was going well until he reached the halfway frames.

Sibbach would throw three scoreless before getting into a jam in the fourth. An RBI single from Northeastern’s Jack Thorbahn and a sacrifice fly from Wheaton’s Kevin Matos tied the ballgame up at two.

Nashua kept the hits coming but would strand base runners to avoid breaking the 2-2 tie. Worcester on the other hand, would keep applying pressure. Bryant’s Greg Gorman would blast a solo shot in the fifth to give the Bravehearts the lead and end Sibbach’s day.

New England’s Corey O’Day came in relief, looking to carry the momentum from his last outing where he recorded a save against Brockton. Unfortunately for O’Day and the Knights, the Hearts had other plans. 

Drury’s Tyler Bastunas broke the game open with a two-RBI single in the seventh to give Worcester the 5-2 lead.

After several games of going out quietly, the Knights fought back in this one. Nashua’s rally started with a bang from Mount St. Marys’s Shane Wockley smoking a ball out of Hanover Insurance Field for an eighth-inning solo shot. 

Nashua would threaten in the ninth with runners on the corners and one out, thanks to a double from Clark’s Ryan Caulfield. Amherst’s Jack McDermott, the 2022 championship hero, made his first contribution of 2023 with a sacrifice fly to bring Caulfield in to make the score 5-4.

With runners on first and second and two away, Nashua’s ideal man for the job in McNamara stepped to the plate. Looking to complete the comeback and prolong this ballgame, McNamara hit a fly ball that did not have enough under it to get the job done.

Back-to-back tough losses for the Knights will now send them down to New Britain for their last game of the road trip. Nashua is set for a 6:35 PM first pitch with the Bees on Thursday.