Tom KIng

Holman Stadium has been quiet in the last week, other than a scheduled Coffey Post American Legion tryout this past Monday.

And that’s a shame.

For the first time ever, the Nashua Silver Knights have been left out of the Futures Collegiate League’s postseason party. They made it 10 straight times, and sure, three times were one-and-done’s on the road and another season they won a road play-in game then lost in a one-game semi. The rest? Finals, and last year they captured their fifth championship in an abbreviated but later-held season that ended a year ago this weekend.

But that team was loaded with college upperclassmen eager to play after losing most if not all of their spring seasons. Yes, there were a few incoming freshmen (high school grads) who didn’t play all spring as well.

But that 2020 pandemic season team, perhaps the second best squad in franchise history, was not like this year’s Kid Club.

And that leaves yours truly to implore the Futures League for the umpteenth time to make one big change, puh-leeeeeeeeze:

Limit the number of incoming freshmen allowed on rosters.

“There really is no limit,” Nashua general manager Cam Cook said, as he admitted the succession of some of the newbies to the college level has not only surprised him but changed his mind on getting a few on the roster.

The rule allowing high school grads who have spots waiting for them on college teams that fall was instituted in the second year of the league because the FCBL hierarchy wanted to get a stud, power hitting first baseman from Lexington, Mass., Chris Shaw, into the league. Shaw ended up with the Silver Knights and was headed to Boston College, but almost certainly would be drafted. He was, by the Mets, but too low to sign. He wisely waited until the San Francisco Giants plucked him in the first round of the 2015 draft and eventually made it briefly to the Majors.

But the door was opened. Other top flight high school grad prospects entered the league, and Nashua has had a steady stream of them over the years.

But there was always a limit. First two, then four and now? Now it seems unlimited as Nashua had a whopping 10 freshmen on its roster this season, and it basically cost your Silver Knights a playoff berth, as the youngsters took a while to make the adjustment.

Now, players like Jackson Linn, Sam McNulty and Brandon Fish were excellent by season’s end (actually, Fish was better earlier), but the time it took them to develop was painstaking. Linn sat out half the season to prep for the draft – a 20th round pick by the Astros certainly has him headed to Tulane – and you can see his progress.

McNulty, headed to Boston College, was hitting below .200 but ditched his so-called launch angle swing and finished at .271, leading the team in RBIs. Fish, from Londonderry and bound for UMass-Lowell, was poised throughout, even though the pitching caught up with him.

There were others. Northeastern-bound Jack Beauchesne was a solid starting pitcher until his arm tired late in the season.

But here’s the deal: The Futures League, if it wants to be taken more seriously and more on par with the NECBL with college coaches, needs to take a firm stance against an overflow of recent high school grads. FCBL finalist Pittsfield had four. That should be the limit.

It killed Nashua this season, to be honest. Yes, there’s a fine line here with the goal to make the players better ballplayers for their schools with the experience they gained; but you also want to win for those die hard season ticket holders who anchor your franchise. Many of them live and die with the Knights during the summer.

Take the words of John Mead, a veteran from last year’s title team who returned at mid season this year to find a team lacking experience and aggression.

“Honestly I kind of felt like the Dad of the team when I came in,” he said. “I was definitely the oldest guy. When I came in, the guys were feeding off my energy, I was making them laugh. I could tell they were a little scared when they were playing.”

There you go. The best way to avoid the oversaturation is to institute a limit rule, and stand firm with the college coaches, who, when they want to give your GM an incoming, also hold fast for a junior regular. It’s really the only way, otherwise the league will remain a very young players league. Manager Kyle Jackson and Cook admit lack of experience was the big reason for the lack of consistent success.

It’s great that some have been successful. But that also at times means that the upper class talent may need an upgrade. That success should be the exception, not the rule.

McNulty, who admitted “It was just a big adjustment going from high school to this” was asked if he had any advice for high school grads, like him, entering the FCBL the summer prior to their freshman year.

“I would say just learn every day,” he said. “Today’s a new day, don’t focus on your average, or the stats. Learn something new every day and try to apply it to your game. I definitely tried to do that, and it helped me a lot.”

It’s the Futures Collegiate League. The FCBL leadership needs to remind the college coaches of that – and their own teams as well.

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

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