Courtesy photo Former Souhegan standout Daniel Trzepacz is looking to have a solid summer for the Nashua entry in the NHCBL.

NASHUA – Small town kid, big time player.

That may be the best way to describe the pride of Mont Vernon, recent Souhegan High School graduate Daniel Trzepacz, who two years ago was the Telegraph All-Star Baseball Player of the Year.

He’s headed to the University of Delaware on a partial baseball scholarship in the fall, but he has some unfinished business he hopes to take care of playing for the Nashua entry in the New Hampshire COVID Baseball League (NHCBL) that hopes to begin play the end of this month.

Trzepacz has to be extremely hungry to re-establish himself as one of not just the area’s, but among the state’s best players. He was a freshman on a team of stars in 2017, then in 2018 broke out as a sophomore to hit .455 with seven homers, 21 RBIs, slugging 1.023 with an OPS of 1.599. Yes, Telegraph Player of the Year numbers.

“Things were just clicking,” Trzepacz said. “I can’t really explain it, the ball was just carrying. I was really surprised.”

That prior off-season he put on 20 pounds of muscle. However, at the start of his junior season, an illness caused Trzepacz to lose almost 40 pounds. He was still, however, able to hit .396 and drive n 13 runs in a limited season. As expected, the power from the year before wasn’t there.

So now, Trzepacz says he’s back to his original weight of 205 and set to go. Anxious to go.

“It’s great to have him,” Nashua manager Tim Lunn said. “Great defensive first baseman, a baseball IQ guy, great swing, has a very good idea of what he’s doing at the plate. Just a very good all-around baseball player and a really good kid.”

Souhegan coach Tom Walker says Nashua is getting a confident, comfortable, matter-of-fact player.

“He’s comfortable in himself and his abilities,” Walker said, “and he maximizes what talents he has. He’s just a very, very steady player. He lets his bat and glove do the talking, and it’s one of his best attributes.”

Walker said he and his coaching staff really wanted to sit Trzepacz down his junior year with his illness, but he would have none of it. Was there a silver lining to that diminished year? Trzepacz may have learned how to become a better hitter.

“I was kind of a fly ball hitter after my sophomore year,” he said. “I was lighter my junior year and they were just deep fly outs. So I adjusted my swing, hit the actual back of the ball with line drives.

“Now I’m back to my actual weight again, and I’m hitting those same line drives but they’re just rockets. … I think I’m a way better contact hitter. I think I’ll strike out less, hit more doubles and hopefully the same amount of home runs, we’ll see. I’d like to square more balls up, though.”

“I think,” Walker said, “it will be a big rebound summer for him. He’s made adjustments. … I think he’s a much more rounded baseball player today.”

Trzepacz is anxious to see, not having faced live pitching in a year. Like all the senior athletes, Trzepacz was robbed of a spring season by the pandemic.

“I was really looking forward to this last season,” Trzepacz said, “particularly because I’m far stronger and more well rounded as an athlete than in prior years.

“It’s tough to lose your high school season, but now it doesn’t matter as I’m out here doing stuff on the field, working in the weight room. So it hasn’t been too bad of a change but it is tough to lose your high school season when it’s your senior year.”

What did he do instead? He has nearly a full weight room in his Mont Vernon basement, and even a small batting cage where he can hit a ball off a tee.

“There’s not much else you can really can do,” he said. “Even BP is way different from the cage crap. I’m just really eager to play the game again.”

“He just works really hard at his craft,” Lunn said. “Watching him take BP in the last couple of weeks, you can just tell, he has a clue of what he’s doing. He’s really refined that swing and it’s gotten even better over the last year from what I’ve seen.”

Trzepacz played the game well enough to get noticed by the University of Delaware, which as of now will welcome him on campus Aug. 28, where he’ll still do remote learning as of now with hopefully fall workouts.

A few yeas ago former Souhegan coach Bill Dod let Delaware scouts know that while his top upperclassmen were taken, he had a freshman they should keep an eye on. Trzepacz visited Delaware as a sophomore, and despite other offers, “I loved the look and feel of Delaware.” He’ll study finance there, but Trzepacz, who plays first base, may need to play in the outfield next year because the Blue Hens have a top 2021 draft prospect in first baseman Joe Carpenter.

He knows a college player needs to consistently prove himself.

“You’re absolutely expendable, no matter what,” he said. “They’re just trying to win games (in college).”

Still, the idea that baseball is helping him out financially already is eye-opening.

“I was 16 years old thinking about getting thousands of dollars just to play baseball,” he said, “almost my entire school (tuition) just because I can hit a ball well.”

Trzepacz played AAU ball last summer but this year, “I wanted to stay local for my last year.”

And hopes a small town kid can do big things on a big stage.

“Maybe, we’ll see,” he said with a chuckle. “It’d be a good story.”