You can argue that the 2020 Nashua Silver Knights pandemic season, no matter what happens in the FCBL Finals vs. Worcester, will be most remembered for one thing:

Dom’s Bombs.

Oh, they will miss slugger Dominic Keegan and his moon shots later this week. We hadn’t seen anything like that kind of power display in a while at Holman Stadium. Keegan, the Methuen, Mass. native, played his last Silver Knights game Saturday in a tough 4-3 loss at the hands of the North Shore Navigators.

His spot in the lineup Sunday was taken by Kyle Bouchard – who perhaps could do the same things as he homered in Sunday’s playoff clinching win at Brockton. Keegan, like a few other Silver Knights, had to leave for Vanderbilt University, where he’ll be a junior. Obviously, the timing couldn’t have been worse for Keegan and a handful of his teammates – Luke Beckstein, Brady Day, Steve Miller, and Kyle Skidmore – to have to leave. But that’s what always happens in the Futures League, which goes into August but this year is going as late as it ever has after the delayed July start due to the coronavirus.

But Keegan made everyone forget their troubles when you watched him go yard, including a night recently when he sent a ball over the Holman center field wall.

You could feel that anticipation every time he came up at Holman, one of just two spots in the FCBL where fans were allowed.

“It’s been a fun summer,” Keegan said. “Coming out here and playing in front of these fans every night. It’s been great.”

Keegan played two summers ago in Lynn with the North Shore Navigators, but he enjoyed the Holman atmosphere.

“It’s nice stadium, and the people are great,” he said. “It’s been nice.”

And oh, so entertaining.

“He plays the game the right way,” Silver Knights manager Kyle Jackson said. “He shows up, he wants to catch, wants to play first, great team player, clubhouse guy, on and off the field. … I can’t say enough about this team. Everyone is, they’re great teammates. I think there a lot of friendships made here.”

Keegan is not about Keegan. He’s a pretty soft spoken player, who obviously let his bat (.317, 8 homers, 38 RBIs) do the talking. He and teammate Jared Dupere are two of the finalists for the FCBL’s MVP award.

And as Jackson said, he’s popular with his teammates, as after the game he was having his picture taken with a few.

How about that power? Where did it come from?

“Oh I don’t know, just a lot of practice, lot of swings, lot of work,” he said.

“The whole league is good,” Jackson said. “I think everyone stepped up their game.”

A few nights ago, he said it was going to be tough to leave. It’s been a close team this season.

“It’s going to be hard,” he said. “I’ve had my routine for two months now, coming here every day, being with these guys. Yeah, it’s going to be a little bit sad.”

Ah, but just think of the joy Dom’s Bombs brought local fans this summer.

And boy, did we need something like that.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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