Telegraph photo by TOM KING Hudson's Hayden Shattuck chases down a fly ball during a workout at Bishop Guertin's Elliott Field for the Nashua entries in the NHCBL and NEIBL on Monday.

NASHUA – Local baseball’s back.

Tim Lunn threw the ball up in the air, and his bat did the rest as the ball flew out to a group of outfielders one at a time on Monday at sun-splashed Bishop Guertin High School’s Elliott Field.

It was simply baseball. Throwing, catching, hitting, running. It wasn’t a game, but the Nashua manager of the local entry in and founder of the New Hampshire COVID Baseball League provided a small group of players, following state guidelines, the opportunity to work out.

Nashua will also have a team similar to a Junior Legion squad to play in the New England Independent Baseball League (NEIBL) as well, mainly for high school freshmen, etc.

“It’s great to get out here,” said Isaac Zhang, who is finishing up his sophomore year at nearby Groton Dunstable, and is a resident of Dunstable, Mass. “I was bored. It’s a good thing to finally get out here and play some ball.”

What was Zhang doing for the last couple of months? “Sitting at home, watching YouTube and Netflix, to be honest with you. (Lunn) emailed us and it’s great to get out here.”

Lunn will have workouts at Elliott all week, mainly from 9 a.m.to 2 p.m., but with separate position groups to keep the player numbers from nine or less at a time. The group had one workout last week just to get acquainted and get the players’ feet wet.

“It’s just fun to get outside but it’s fun to be able to work with the kids again,” Lunn said. “They’re having a blast, just being able to see each other and work with each other, and have some sort of social interaction. In addition to the physical benefit and the baseball benefit, there’s also the social-emotional component that’s awesome for these kids.”

“It feels great, especially after a few months off of sports,” said Hudson’s Hayden Shattuck, who attends Pinkerton Academy. “Usually sports is something that could bring a school together. Without that it’s kind of nice to get out here to play for our city.”

For Shattuck, the get-together with other players was refreshing.

“I definitely missed the boys over the off-season,” he said, “So it’s great to get out here and get some work in.”

Ethan Smith, a junior at Hollis Brookline, said he’s been running and trying to stay in shape, hoping this opportunity will come along.

“This is a great experience, to not only to get some training on the field, but we also have a big up-and-coming summer for ball this season,” he said. “It’s great to get out here.”

Smith, when he saw that the Legion season was cancelled, was hoping for an alternative.

“Really thanks to Tim for setting this all up,” he said.

Lunn has been flexible, as players have jobs and also remote learning. Hollis Brookline senior Henri Boudreau, a pitcher, was on hand to watch the outfield workout before he’d take the field with the next group. He had been throwing during the winter and then thud. Game off.

“It kind of drops you off, when I heard the high school season wouldn’t happen,” he said. “Given we can’t face live competition, the bullpens have been a little bit different, pitching into a screen or a net. It’s just a gradual working up to get the best of what I can.”

Zhang said he was “a bit rusty” but had some some video workouts, and hit off a tee in his garage and threw a little bit to stay loose. Lunn had the group of outfielders chase down tennis balls he threw, before working with baseballs.

“I love the tennis ball drill,” Zhang said. “It helps us with the fundamentals. It just develops. Everything will get more complex. But sitting around for a couple of months you have to start with the fundamentals.”

“Tim knows how to get us started, get us moving,” Shattuck said, “and how eventually it’s going to translate into games. I think it’s definitely a good thing that we’re out here.”

As Lunn said, from a spring training type aspect, “We’re starting from ground zero. These kids have had almost two-and-a-half months off. So we’re working on the basic skills, and build up to some larger concepts. So when we can have larger practices (in the next phase) we can put some of these things together.”

Smith said he won’t have problems recovering from these early workouts despite not playing in a while.

“I don’t think it’s going to be too hard,” he said. “I’ve been trying to stay active for awhile. Hopefully we get out here and it all comes back like it did last summer.”

Shattuck has been working out with his father, Jay, a Pinkerton baseball alum, and some trainers. But nothing beats live action on a diamond.

“It definitely takes some getting used to out here,” he said. “But give it a couple of weeks, we’ll be in top shape and be out here competing.”

Shattuck said patience is the key as only 10 people on a field are allowed at a time according to the state guidelines.

“We all kind of appreciate it for what it is right now,” Shattuck said. “It’s great to be out here, even doing as little as we can with our friends.”

One step, one phase at a time. As Smith said, the games “are where the fun is.”

“We’ve got to start small,” he said. “Get back to our roots, playing in practice, and hopefully we can work up and get to our game.”

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