Telegraph photo by TOM KING Once a top quarterback, former BG standout Jordan Hiscoe has now chosen baseball as his sport as he plays this summer with the Nashua Silver Knights.

NASHUA – Jordan Hiscoe looks nothing like he did five years ago during his senior year at Bishop Guertin High School.

“He came into the office,” Nashua Silver Knights manager Kyle Jackson said. “I asked him, ‘Are you an intern or are you my replacement?'”

Hiscoe has definitely sprouted since his days quarterbacking in former Guertin coach Jeff Moore’s high octane offense, something that was perfect for him. He’s now 6-foot-3, a solid 215 pounds.

But there is something very different about Hiscoe. Yes, he’s now wearing a baseball cap, but there’s no clipboard. The bumps, the bruises, the rehabs, the physical therapy, the pain.

It all added up to one thing for the former Cardinal who honed his QB skills with a year of prep school at Milford Academy.

No, not a change of schools. Hiscoe has been very happy at American International College (AIC) in Springfield, Mass.

But he suddenly realized his football days were numbered.

“I was given a great opportunity to dual sport for two years,” Hiscoe said. “But after battling through some injuries, I kind of had to prioritize what I wanted to do for my future. Given the circumstances, I feel my best opportunity to continue in athletics is through baseball.”

And so he is a Nashua Silver Knight this summer, trying to harness his baseball skills. He’s made some appearances for AIC already.

“I’ve got to make the transition now, replace the helmet for the hat for a little bit, you know?”

Hiscoe said it was tough throwing year round, as a QB in football and pitcher in baseball. He started a few games behind center in his freshman and sophomore years, but the injury bug bit – elbow and arm injuries.

In 2018, he played in three games, completing six of 20 passes for 120 yards, a TD and an interception. He had a 53-yarder among those completions.

As a freshman, he was much healthier. Hiscoe looked like he had a future, and in three games, he completed 29 of 51 passes for 364 yards and a TD, with five picks, and a QB rating of 103.68.

“You know how football is, I was taking a lot of hits and it was taking its toll on my body,” Hiscoe said. “It was tough for me to be at my peak performance with sports all year round. I had to pick one or the other.”

But the decsion wasn’t easy.

“It hurt,” he said. “My whole life I was a football player. I never played AAU baseball, played (at BG), I did the basics for baseball. When I got to college, I knew I had an arm talent that I could utilize going forward.”

True, he was all-in on football, but got an opportunity for baseball, and was originally slated for the outfield.

That’s where he had played at BG, but just throwing one day off a mound, he had some life on his fastball that opened some eyes on the AIC staff.

Hiscoe has started and relieved at AIC and he probably will be a reliever for Nashua. He’s got his fastball 88-90, but also has some off-speed stuff.

He’s seen some movement on his fastball. “It’s a different arm slot (than football), and I can capitalize on some movement.”

But this is all almost new to him.

“I never had a baseball background,” he said. “This is an opportunity for me to learn. I have a lot to keep learning. I feel like I have a lot of potential for this.”

“He’s a big kid,” Jackson said. “I think he’s raw, too. Cam was telling me he’s fairly raw. A little fine tuning, getting him the motions of understanding it. We’ve always had raw people.”

Jackson said being a thrower is one thing, but the mental side of being a pitcher is “a whole other animal.”

“You get into that, and to be able to harness what he can do, well, I’m expecting great things out of everyone,” Jackson said.

A redshirt sophomore this past spring (for baseball) Hiscoe has two years of eligibility left for baseball, and will be going into his senior year academically. He’ll hopefully play in the spring of 2021, and then see if he either stays there or goes to grad school elsewhere and plays his final year.

Ironically, he never expected to set foot on the Holman Stadium turf again.

“I never thought I’d be back here,” he said. “Once I left BG, I thought that was the last time I’d be playing baseball. But given this opportunity to come back to my home stadium, I couldn’t be happier.”

Not pitching this past spring allowed Hiscoe, as he said, to rehab “my way”.

“I was able to slow it down,” he said, “and really do it my way instead of rushing to get back. I’m ready to go.”

Jackson put him into the second game of the season with two-thirds of a relief inning. He definitely was a bit raw, striking out two with his power but allowing a run when he plunked a Brockton hitter with the bases loaded. But he’ll have other opportunities.

Hiscoe has been to Silver Knights games in the past, put on 30 pounds since high school, and now he’s got lots of power and length.

Before he was hurt, he thought he might end up with any team in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. But when he got back to AIC this past fall, his coaches told him the Silver Knights had a chance for him.

“It’s right down the street,” he said. “I get to stay at home for the summer. I get to work and keep with my friends and family. I couldn’t ask for a better situation.”

Farewell football. Hello baseball. Jordan Hiscoe won’t be Jackson’s replacement, but he hopes to be the manager’s good choice out of the bullpen.

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