Telegraph photo by TOM KING Nashua Silver Knights Mike La Rocca is one of five high school grads to be on the Knights roster, and may be the most impressive.

NASHUA – College orientation is underway at Holman Stadium University.

Yes, most of the Fab Five – the five high school graduates (freshmen-to-be) allowed by Futures Collegiate League rule have arrived to take their spots on the Nashua Silver Knights roster.

There’s been a tweak or two to the original case, as a fifth — the FCBL maximum allowed – was recently added in hulking first baseman Mike La Rocca out of Vero Beach, Fla., who is headed to Southern New Hampshire University.

He is a welcome but surprise addition. The Penmen coaches sent Silver Kights manager B.J. Neverett a video and said, “If you have a high school spot, take a look at this guy.”

La Rocca has created an immediate buzz., going 3 for 7 in his first two games with a homer, double and an RBI, scoring four runs. At six foot-3, 210 pounds, he reminds many, including Neverett, of one of the best Silver Knights of all.

“I’m not putting any pressure on this kid, but I’ll tell you,” Neverett said. “(Monday) night in Brockton I thought I was having a flashback looking at Chris Shaw (now in the Giants organization, a 2012 Silver Knight high school grad). He hit a ball that was incredible. He looks real good. He was 3-2, fouled off five or six pitches, and then he got his pitch. He looked good in that at-bat.”

La Rocca reportedly was bound for Army but things changed and now he’ll be at SNHU.

Others are trickling in: Northeastern-bound Cam Schlittler arrived Tuesday after his Walpole, Mass.season ended.

“He’s going to go in the pen,” Neverett said. “He’s pitched a lot of innings in high school, we’re just going to throw him a couple days a week, let him get his feet wet in college ball.”

There’s outfielder Barry Walsh out of Sterling, Mass., headed for Boston College. “A good athlete,” Neverett said. Walsh had played in four games with a hit in 10 at bats.

Also in the lineup on Tuesday night was Liam Deegan, an infielder out of Richmond, Va.who is bound for the University of Virginia. He played his first game on Monday night and heading into Thursday went 2 for 9 with a double and an RBI.

“It looks like it’s going to take him a little bit of an adjustment period, hitting with wood again after the aluminum,” Neverett said. “When they come right from high school to wood – college to wood, a lot of those guys have already used wood so they pick it back up. From high school to wood, it takes a little bit of an adjustment. It’s not like swinging an aluminum bat.”

Then there’s St. John’s Prep grad Alex Lane, whose high school season ended Tuesday night when SJP lost to North Andover in the Mass. Super Eight tournament. Lane is a highly touted catcher/infielder who is headed to Bryant University in the fall.

XXXXXX

The arrival of the high schoolers has just added to what has already been a deep, deep roster.

Remember last year, when Neverett and the Knights were scuffling for players? Injuries mounted early, there were delays in arrivals, college coaches had sent some players home for fear of aggravating an existing injury, etc. The Silver Knighs had to field a sub-par, not-ready-for-prime-time lineup, and never recovered en route to their worst season, 21-33.

Right now, there are so many players, you literally can’t tell them without a scorecard. Soon you will.

“It’s still just June,” Neverett said. “Once July rolls around, we’ll settle in.

“This is a good group though,” Neverett said. “There’s a lot of depth here. There’s a lot of guys I’ve got to play. The lineups are different every night. It’s good, everyone’s playing. If you look at the stats, there’s nobody here that’s not playing a lot.”

And there’s a reason for that.

“They’ve all contributed,” Neverett said. “It’s not intramurals, we’re not doing that on purpose. But they’re all contributing and we’re finding roles for them. They’re all doing a pretty good job.

“They know they’re going to play. Once in a while a guy might not start two games in a row and then he’ll start two games in a row. You play every day, I’m not going to worried in July that we’re going to be tired at the end. I think we can manage the time.”

The key is the pitching. The Silver Knights went through arms at a rough rate a year ago as well, but now they have plenty of options to go easy early on.

“As far as pitching goes, we haven’t had to push anybody yet,” Neverett said. “We’re using relievers one inning at a time, two to three days a week, it’s not bad. The load isn’t bad because we have enough guys.”

XXXXXX

Neverett and the Silver Knights have never loved the Home Run Derby rule that decides games after the 10th inning, having gone winless in at least three, all on the road. Well, the Knights picked up their first HR Derby win in topping Brockton – again on the road – on Monday night. It took just one round as Nashua’s Billy Butler hit six home runs, topping Rox slugger Andrew Marra, who had just three.

XXXXXXXX

Frankline Pierce sophomore Danny Gracia leads the Knights starting rotation, going 2-0 2.64 in his first two starts…

The Knights have five home dates in the next two weeks: Sunday vs. Pittsfield (5:05 p.m.) Monday night vs. Bristol, next Friday night vs. Bristol, the Wednesday, July 3 doubleheader (3 p.m. start) vs. Worcester, and Saturday, July 6 vs. Brockton.

Newsletter