It felt strange.

Not only did the Nashua Silver Knights surrender Game 1 of the FCBL Finals – otherwise known in this space as the Creedon Cup – to the Worcester Bravehearts 3-2 on Thursday night, they surrendered their stadium.

Well, sort of.

Worcester was the home team, going into the best-of-three affair as the top seed, by a mere half game. The Bravehearts hadn’t been able to play at their regular home, Hanover Insurance Park at Holy Cross, thanks to the pandemic. And it was getting edgy as to whether they’d able to play at their temporary home at Doyle Field in Leominster, Mass.

So, with John Creedon, Jr. owning both teams, why not play the whole sheeebang at Holman Stadium. That way Worcester fans could attend. Have to admit, it did make sense.

“I’m rooting for three games,” said Creedon, adding that the ring manufacturer called him when he pulled into the park, because no matter who wins he has to order them. The owner also gave a great speech to the crowd of 708 before the game.

“I love Worcester fans,” Silver Knights manager Kyle Jackson said before the series started. “You put Worcester and Nashua (together), this is my third time. They don’t like it because we’re 4-0 against them.

“But for them to come out to be able to support their team like they want to, and have their side, I think it’s great for this league. As much as other teams don’t want it to be Nashua-Worcester every year, at the end of the day, the kids are the ones who do it.

“But the fans are going to take hold of this stadium. … Just imagine if there wasn’t COVID.”

Well, then last night’s game would have been in Worcester with a smattering of Nashua fans and a crowd of over 3,000. And tonight for Game 2 Holman might have had close to 2,000. The place was never more alive than in 2017’s Game 2 on an August Saturday night when the Knights clinched.

It was fairly alive on Thursday, for certain, but Silver Knights fans were fairly quiet until big bopper Kyle Bouchard’s two-run homer tied it.

Yet it was weird to see Nashua bat in the top half of innings in their red road uniforms. Worcester’s mascot, Jake the Lion, was bouncing around. Worcester fans on the third base side were loud. It was strange to hear the Bravehearts regular PA announcer announce his team’s players for their at-bats.

And you could tell Nashua fans didn’t like the Bravehearts honoring their host families on the field in between one of the early innings. No one on the first base side cheered, that’s for sure.

“I was saying to Joe (FCBL commissioner Paolucci), the goal is to make it a bubble game,” Silver Knights general manager Cam Cook said. “As long as it’s 50-50.”

Worcester manager Alex Dion chuckled when asked how he liked his team’s home away from home.

“It’s all right,” he said. “They treat us well here.”

That has to stop. The Silver Knights fans need to be louder, make Jake the Lion stick his tail between his legs.

And their team, which lost its first Finals game to the Bravehearts in three series, has to figure out a way to hit tough Worcester starter Angelo Baez while their own lefty Nick Guarino bedazzles the visitors.

It’s the city’s stadium, the Silver Knights’ home. Let ’em know it tonight.

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

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