Telegraph photo by TOM KING Lucas Stalman (3) gets a hero's welcome from his Nashua Silver Knights teammates after his three-run homer helped top Worcester 5-1 in Game 2 of the FCBL Finals at Holman Stadium. A deciding Game 3 is today at Holman at 6 p.m.

NASHUA – Nick Guarino is gold.

That has to be the feeling the Nashua Silver Knights and their fans have after the Clark University lefty tossed six innings of one-run ball on Friday night.

His effort was a huge key in helping to force a winner-take all vs. Worcester with a 5-1 win in Game 2 in front of a Holman Stadium crowd that had to be close to if not over 800, the largest this summer.

With just a half game separating these two teams during the regular season, this is what you’d expect. Game 3 is Saturday night at 6 at Holman, with the Bravehearts being the home team. Nashua will send Bedford’s Pat Harrington (0-2, 2.58) to the mound vs. Jack Steele (2-0, 4.22) for Worcester. The winner gets a franchise fifth FCBL title.

“After (Thursday night’s 3-2 loss in Game 1) we were a little tight in the locker room after the game,” said Guarino, who had a big cheering section in the suites from Clark, and benefited from Nashua’s stunning five-run first inning. “We were a little down. Worcester got us a little fired up with a couple of things they said after the game. We feed into that energy as a team. We’re going to come out with momentum.”

They had plenty of it early on last night. Guarino (five hits, one run, one walk, four strikeouts) gave up two hits to start the game but got out of it. In the bottom of the first, Worcester ace Angelo Baez wasn’t as fortunate. Troy Schreffler, Jr. and Nick Shumski singled. They advanced on a ground out off the bat of Jared Dupere and then came home on a two-run single by the reliable Kyle Bouchard, who now has four RBIs in the series.

Dylan Jones then singled and one out later Lucas Stalman took a 1-1 Baez offering over the billboards in left to give Nashua a 5-0 start. Wow.

“I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit, happy to put a barrel on it,” Stalman said. “I didn’t know it was gone off the bat but the wind was blowing out a little bit and it carried well.”

“It started in the top of the first,” Nashua manager Kyle Jackson said. “Two base hits and to not even give up a run, that’s great momentum. And then to come out and put a five spot up. …We knew pitching was going to do it and who could limit the big inning, and we got the big inning this time.”

“Guarino was amazing, he kept them off balance. He’s been doing it the last four games for us. He’s been big for us. He gets on the mound and goes.”

His only blemish was a solo homer to left off the bat of Worcester’s Nick Martin.

“My mindset was I was going up against the Pitcher of the Year from a year ago in (Angelo) Baez, a finalist (this year) obviously too,” Guarino said, his season done at 5-0, both relieving and starting. “This lineup had me uncomfortable early, they were spitting on all my change-ups, making me establish the fastball. … Just made a couple of adjustments.”

“We didn’t do enough offensively to get us back in the game,” Worcester manager Alex Dion said. “Guarino’s a phenomenal pitcher. If you get three off him, you’d be happy; we only got one. We get an opportunity to win it again (tonight).”

Bouchard, meanwhile, has been solid in the clutch the last two weeks for Nashua. Like Guarino, he helped win the Brockton clincher, but with his bat. “He just has great at-bats” Jackson said. “He’s seeing the ball well, doesn’t matter if it’s a lefty or righty. … But it was big when Dupere got the runners over, it gave the opportunity for Bouch to get a single.”

Stalman, just back this week from a concussion, recently had hit another big homer in a key rally past New Britain a couple of weeks ago. He appeared late in Thursday’s game but got the start last night.

“He’s been struggling a couple of games coming back from a concussion,” Jackson said. “I wanted to give everybody a chance to get out there and play.”

After Guarino’s six innings, Jackson turned to Jack Dicenso for the seventh and Chris Chaney for the eighth and ninth. Dicenso hit a batter and Chaney allowed a harmless Ben Rice double, and that was it, to get the save.

“We know what we’re capable of,” Guarino said. “We know our lineup’s going to hit, we know our bullpen’s going to take care of business. And our starter staff is obviously one of the best in the league.”

Will all that add up to a fifth FCBL title for Nashua? We’ll see. Harrington in two starts vs. Worcester is 0-1, 0.93. Steele did not face Nashua this season, but he pitched a victorious first game of last year’s FCBL Finals over Bristol.

“We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Stalman said. “We’re going to go out there and have fun. When we have fun, we play well, and things are going to go well.”

That’s the plan.

“They’re (Worcester) going to come out hungry,” Jackson said. “They want it just as bad as us. It’ll be weird being in (road) uniforms again, but we got the first one out of the way, maybe we’ll be OK the second time.”

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