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King | A few ifs, ands, with plenty of butts

By Staff | Aug 10, 2015

It was the best moment of the summer at Holman Stadium.

Usually in the ninth inning of a Nashua Silver Knights game, at least half the crowd will be gone, as games can tend to stretch out a bit.

But not on a Friday, because of the post-game fireworks. So there was a lot of noise to be heard when Erik Ostberg delivered his walk off game-winning two-run single in the bottom of the 10th.

The atmosphere and cel­ebration were fantastic. The team had clinched a playoff spot, but what made that mo­ment so noteworthy was the fact it was the first of its kind at Holman all summer for the franchise. And that was a tough reminder.

It’s been a couple of different seasons for the Knights. One was off the field, where it sure looks like the dollars have been brought in and, according to team president Tim Bawmann, the goal of 1,000 "butts in the seats" per night was reached with a figure of 1,022, an increase of 164 per game. Announced paid attendance average (tickets sold, including those unused) was down over 100 per game to 1,231, but Bawmann is more of a "butts in the seats guy" because they are actual people, not numbers, who spend money while in the ballpark.

But off the field? The Silver Knights had their worst regular season. It wasn’t a disaster, but bad enough that unless the team makes the FCBL Finals – not out of the ques­tion because it "just" needs to win two games, it will have gone two seasons without a home playoff game. The last one was a loss to Martha’s Vineyard in Game 1 of the 2013 FCBL Finals.

Last season, the team lost its last regular season game at Holman against a Worcester team that had noth­ing to play for as it had a first-round bye, and thus the Bravehearts used a whacky, makeshift lineup.

They still won.

That loss forced Nashua to have to play on the road at Torrington in a single elimi­nation game and the Silver Knights lost in 11 painful innings.

You have to think management isn’t too thrilled about the possibility of a second straight season without a Holman post season game. One, another home date could bring in extra dough. Two, it would be a nice boost for the fandom that showed up in good numbers the last three home games of the regular season and lined up to get team photos signed by the players on Saturday.

"We would like to (get a home game)," Ostberg said. "We were talking in the locker room when we got here, how awesome it would be to win here, play (playoff) games here in front of a packed house. We were just fantasizing about it. I think that would be pretty fun."

The Silver Knights hope it’s more than just a fantasy.

Now, playoff games don’t necessarily mean a packed house because they’re on such short notice on the pro minor league and summer collegiate league level. But it would still be fun. Remember, the first two rounds are single elimina­tion before the best-of-three finals.

While starting pitching has been a weakness much of the season, the Silver Knights have a foursome of lefty Tom Hudon and righties Mike Geannelis, Ryan Moloney and Matt Messier that can keep them in games.

"With this playoff setup, anything can happen," Silver Knights general manager Ronnie Wallace said. "We could get a home playoff game and hopefully if we did, we could pack the place.

"I hope we get one for the fans, it would really be deserving for them to have a very meaningful game."

It sure would.

"People care, and we want to give them what we want," Ostberg said.

Ostberg said he’s seen photos of that wild 2012 on-field celebration.

"We’ve envisioned our­selves holding the trophy up with our jerseys on," he said. "I think it could easily happen, it all depends on who shows up to play.

"This could be a great couple of days for us."

It could, but the odds are against it. The FCBL is a much more balanced, competitive league than it was the first two or three years.

But it’s still baseball. Here’s hoping for one more game at Holman in the Summer of 2015.

Tom King can be reached at 594-6468, tking@nashuatelegraph. com., or @Telegraph_TomK.

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