It was Red, White, and Blue Day at Holman Stadium as the Nashua Silver Knights hosted the New Britain Bees in a condensed seven-inning matchup due to time constraints on America’s birthday. With the crowd energized and the Knights donning USA-themed jerseys, the game had a special buzz in the air. In a tightly contested battle, it was Will Burns who delivered the fireworks, ripping a walk-off single to lift Nashua to a thrilling 2–1 victory.
The important piece of the game was the Knights’ pitching as they would start lefty Matt Fitzgibbon. He would breeze through his first four innings as he held the Bees in check not allowing a hit.
The Knights’ offense would start their scoring in the third inning as Jack Balcer would double deep into the gap to get a runner on board. From there, Jake Haarde would move him over and Joey Current would double into the gap to drive him in and give the Knights a crucial 1-0 lead early.
The Bees who were held silent for the first four innings, would gain momentum in the fifth as they used their speed. They would turn a walk by Fitzgibbon into a run to tie the ballgame at one. Following this Fitzgibbons’ day was over as he went 5.1 IP on 0 H and 9 K.
Lucas Rondeau would also come in for the Knights as he got his final outing for the team this season. He would toss a crucial 6th and 7th where he held the Bees scoreless to give Nashua a chance to win the ballgame. Burns also made a huge play in the 7th as he would throw out the go-ahead run at third for the Bees.
Following the top half of the inning the Knights looked to get runners on base to score the winning run. Cole Patterson would provide a runner as he walked to get aboard. From there Jack Balcer would move Patrick Shrake over to second after he grounded into a fielder’s choice. Then the magic happened as Will Burns lined one into left field that got down to score the game-winning run to seal the victory.
The Knights closed off a memorable day with a huge win that puts them back over the .500 mark on the season. After the game manager Nick Guarino said that the win and the walkoff “ felt great to do it in front of a good crowd after the week that we have had and it’s nice to get back on track before heading up to Vermont”. He also noted that his team is a resilient group and they have been coming back to win games which is a good sign of this team’s potential. The Silver Knights are now 17-16 on the year and will look to go two games above .500 tomorrow at Vermont.
