Here’s a few tids and bits as we seemingly have survived a stretch of April in June:

While they celebrates a second straight Division II baseball title at Hollis Brookline, once again, for what is the sixth straight year, there was no Nashua high school team – be it North, South or Bishop Guertin – able to take advantage of the fact that they could be playing at home sweet Holman in the Division I baseball semis this spring. But this year took things a step further: Holman didn’t get a prelim game or a quarterfinal, as South, BG and North were all on the road, finishing Nos. 9, 10 and 11 in the seedings/standings. All ended up being eliminated right away, South having the closest game in a 3-1 loss to Bedford.

It’s a shame. South looked like it would be a Final Four team a year ago, but got derailed by Exeter in a non-competitive quarterfinal that at least was at Holman. In the 2021 regional setup, Keene made three trips to Holman in a week and beat South, North and BG en route to the semis. Two years earlier the Cards were beaten in a close game by Bedford, one of their valuable hitters taking off his uniform and refusing to play when he realized he wasn’t going to be the starting catcher but rather a DH.

Nashua teams have had to sit by and watch the Londonderrys, Winnacunnets, Portsmouths, Bedfords, Goffstowns, Pinkertons, Concords and Exeters become the dominant teams in Division I. Nashua North won the title in 2011, Bishop Guertin made the title game as a lower seed in 2016 and was bludgeoned by Bedford, which then dropped the next three title games. Nashua North has been fighting the rebuild battle the last few years while still staying competitive, finishing the regular season at .500 for the first time in the Zach Harris coaching tenure.

But this spring, in not only these eyes but the eyes of others, the sport of baseball was butchered at an alarming rate on the field not just in Nashua but all over at the high school level. Fly balls and even pop ups were adventures. Throwing strikes was almost the exception rather then the rule. Baseball in this often lousy weather/climate can certainly be a challenge, but teams have the ability to work in the off-season more than they ever have, thanks to the “open gyms” that are allowed by rule.

Kids are playing in the summer. But Nashua’s Coffey Post under Tim Lunn has been successful, but the number of actual Nashua players on the team isn’t nearly as high as one might think. That’s a tryout and talent thing. Thousands of dollars are spent with kids playing in AAU programs.

But here’s the deal: While still very competitive at the high school level, baseball in Nashua in terms of title contention and quality of play is in a slump. Heck, it’s not even good with the Silver Knights, either.

—- Still on high school, can the NHIAA take a look at using the 70 percent rule for the sport of tennis? Ditch it, and go back to keeping the tournaments in every division at just eight teams – quarters, semis, finals, done. This does two things: Cuts time and cost.

But here’s why: You had teams playing in the first round with the regular season score between the two 9-0 or 8-1. That doesn’t change. Team tennis matches are won individually, adding up to the team tally. Those results just don’t change in a matter of weeks.

Here’s a perfect example. In Division II boys tennis, Hollis Brookline and Kennett had to play a No. 8 vs. No. 9 play-in to satisfy the 70 percent rule. Between the two, they had lost a combined 13 straight matches. Neither would have a chance at beating top seed Lebanon. It just seemed like a waste of time and, in Kennett’s case, transportation cost.

That week before Memorial Day, you can have the quarters on Tuesday, semis on Thursday, finals on Saturday of the holiday weekend. Weather permitting it’s bing, bang, boom, done. Rather than extending everything into a second week and, for example, playing the boys semis on Memorial Day the way they have the last couple of years.

—- What a shame Mother Nature didn’t accommodate the Nashua Silver Knights for the night of their Championship Ring Ceremony. They had the window to hold the event in between rain storms a week ago, but the weather kept the fans away, the game with New Britain was suspended after an inning. It could have been a big night, big crowd, especially with postgame fireworks scheduled.

Now, on the flip side, the Knights hit the jackpot on their other big day, Education Day, with a record crowd of 4,000-plus. It was probably the most fans in the ballpark since the Atlantic League All-Star Game was held at Holman some 20 years earlier. The last two Education Day games – that’s when the schools send busloads of kids for a morning game as a field trip – have drawn nearly a combined 7,500 fans. Wow.

— Could anyone have imagined what happened to the Celtics and the Bruins in the postseason? Imagine the irony of losing to the No. 8 seeds, both from South Florida, and both in Game 7s at home. Ouch.

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

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