Telegraph file photo by TOM KING Bishop Guertin alum Brett Anderson is set to prepare for the next chapter in his baseball career this summer with the Nashua Silver Knights, as a lead-in for the competition at the University of Hartford.

NASHUA – Brett Anderson has learned to take the good with the bad this June.

The bad: A second knee surgery (arthroscopic) at the beginning of the month to clear out some loose cartilage.

The good: The long awaited Nashua Silver Knights season is almost here, and the former Bishop Guertin High School standout can get back on the field and compete before he becomes a freshman at the University of Hartford.

In fact, workouts are underway at Holman Stadium.

“It feels great to get back out here,” said Milford’s Anderson, last spring’s New Hampshire Gatorade Player and Telegraph Player of the Year. “All these months quarantined, just to get back on the field with the guys, it’s great. Can’t beat it. Didn’t have my high school season, I’m just antsy to play.”

The surgery has delayed Anderson’s chance to play right away for the Silver Knights, but he’s expected to get medical clearance in two to three weeks for games. He was able to work out lightly on Tuesday.

“It’s a quicker recovery than last time,” said Anderson, who first had knee surgery almost two years ago, causing him to give up football at BG. “I can’t wait to play.”

Anderson was itching to get back out on the field for BG to try to win a championship this past spring. But, in his three seasons in the program, he feels he developed well at Guertin as a pitcher and hitter.

“The coaches at BG (led by head man Scott Painter) really helped me and made me work hard and earn what I got,” Anderson said.

He’ll likely be first baseman-DH with the Silver Knights, and wait until his knee heals to pitch at Hartford.

“I love competing on the mound, but I like hitting, too,” Anderson said. “I’ll do both of them as long as I can until someone tells me not too.”

Silver Knights manager Kyle Jackson said he’d likely just use Anderson at first to save his knee. He’s seen the BG alum play perhaps once in high school.

“I think we’ll stick with the hitting right now,” Jackson said. “There’s a lot of force on the knee when you push off (on the mound). It would be his plant leg, that’s a lot of force.”

Jackson added that with the season only 39 games, Anderson probably wouldn’t be able to pitch in time anyway.

“I’m excited to see what he’s going to bring when he’s cleared,” the manager said. “You can see what they do in high school, but when they get into this league, it’s college and another animal. It’ll be good to see how he adjusts to the level of competition before he goes to Hartford.”

And now he gets, as he said, “another opportunity to play (at Holman). It’s great. You can’t beat this field.”

And you can’t beat the lineage Anderson has. His father is former Nashua High School standout Ryan Anderson, who also coached Merrimack to a Class L championship back in 2007. The son has learned a lot from the father.

“He’s taught me a lot of stuff,” Anderson said. “He taught me to be the best in the field, don’t let anyone put me down, stay on top. He’s taught me so much and has been an inspiration. He’s been a great coach to me.”

Sometimes Anderson looks back and wonders after one full year of varsity football what his future might have been in that sport, too, for the Cardinals. From all indications, he would have been a good one. But, while his first surgery cost him one season, he felt he wanted to preserve his body for baseball last fall.

“I know,” he said with a grin. “If I knew I wouldn’t have a high school baseball season, I definitely would have rethought my decision of (not) playing football.

“All the boys were like, ‘Brett, please play, please play. It was tough to watch. I’d wish I was out there with them. A bunch of good dudes there, too.”

Anderson was thrilled when the Hartford coaching staff said they’d like him to play for the Knights.

“I was like, ‘No doubt, I’ll get here,’,” he said. “It’s right down the street. No better place to play.”

And, the last time high school baseball was played, no better player.

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