Telegraph file photo by TOM KING Henri Boudreau gets the mound start for the Nashua today in the opener of the NHCBL quarterfinal series at Concord.

And then there was one.

The last local summer youth baseball team still playing gets back in action today in Concord, as the New Hampshire Covid Baseball League (NHCBL) playoffs get underway.

The Nashua defenders, who finished the season 8-11-1 and grabbed the eighth seed, will take on the No. 1 Concord Cannons (17-2-1) at 5:30 p.m. at Memorial Field. It’s Game 1 of a best two-out-of-three quarterfinal series.

Game 2 is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Bishop Guertin High School’s Elliott Field. If a deciding third game is necessary, it will be played Sunday at 11 a.m.at Concord’s Memorial Field.

Concord won the teams’ meeting in Nashua 8-3; the rematch in Concord, which was played at Rolfe Park (no lights) finished in a 1-1 tie due to darkness.

“I think it’s going to come down on whoever can capitalize on the opportunities they get the most,” Nashua manager and NHCBL founder Tim Lunn said. “Really, both teams’ pitching staffs have been pretty top-notch.”

Lunn has tabbed Hollis Brookline alum Henri Boudreau as today’s Game 1 starter, with McGill University’s Zach Finkelstein set to go in Game 2. Right now Lunn said he’s not ready to go beyond that.

Concord, meanwhile, has a stable of hard throwing arms with four pitchers either having already gone or are earmarked for Division I colleges. Gilford’s Adrian Siravo is a former UConn commit who will be pitching for a Florida junior college next year and is said to be Concord’s hardest thrower. Jonah Wachter of Concord High School – there are only three players on this team from CHS as it’s basically been an AAU quad – is another top arm. Siravo, Lunn says, can throw in the low 90s; a few others like Wachter on the Cannons can hit the high 80s. Nashua has only faced two of the top arms, Siravo and Wachter.

“We don’t necessarily have the hard throwers that they might have,” Lunn said. “But we do have kids that pound the strike zone, work backwards, hit their spots and be effective.”

Offensively, Nashua has been led by Souhegan grad Danny Trczepacz; the Defenders are also looking for pop from Will Brooks while Isaac Zhang has also had a hot bat.

“Down the stretch we were swinging it OK,” Lunn said. “We have a lot of guys who are streaky; it’s just a matter of if we can get them to be streaky at the same time.

“If we can play good team offense against a good pitching staff, move runners over, and execute, we have a good chance.”

Nashua’s well documented problem this summer has been defense.

“We tend to make (errors) in bunches,” Lunn said. “It’s usually just one inning and that’s kind of what happened in that first Concord game.”

All the rounds – quarters, semis and finals – will be best of three.

“It’s going to be a little bit different managing wise in a series vs. a single or double elimination tournament,” Lunn said. “You know you’re playing three back to back days (or at least two), so you have to be more strategic with the arms that you use. And matchups in the lineup and all that.

“One of the reasons I wanted series was to see who is truly the best team. … It rewards the teams for the depth they might have.”

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