It's a familiar exercise for Nashua Silver Knights first baseman Kyle Wolff -- a home run trot. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Incoming freshmen – in other words, recent high school graduates – have made several inroads in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

Others have looked out of place and struggled.

Nashua Silver Knights first baseman Kyle Wolff may have the tag “freshman” next to his name on the roster, but he’s not your ordinary college freshman-to-be.

And he’s not playing like one, either.

Wolff right now is the Silver Knights’ leading hitter at .328 with three homers and 12 RBIs and an OPS of .901 going into today’s 3 p.m./6 p.m. doubleheader with the Worcester Bravehearts.

You see, the Andover, Mass. native didn’t go to a high school, but rather Middlesex School in Concord, Mass.

“The ISL (Independent School League) and prep school baseball really prepared me well for the Futures League,” Wolff said. “Every single game we faced (Division) I arms, guys throwing mid upper 80s, 90s.”

And, with North East Baseball, a developmental team/program based in Hudson, Mass., Wolff traveled down south for several games last summer.

“We faced D-1 arms all last year, and that prepared me well, too,” he said.

Add to all that the fact he’s six-foot-one, 210 pounds, and you don’t have your ordinary freshman. Boston College knew what it was doing in recruiting him.

“He looks like a man,” Silver Knights manager Kyle Jackson said, noting Wolff has lately been the team’s most consistent hitter. “He’s another kid, he just soaks up everything. We’ve been working on his swing and being patient.”

“Every game, I’m just trying to get on base, hit the ball hard somewhere,” Wolff said. “The ball’s been lucky enough to find some gaps and some holes. But my goal is to get on base every single game.”

Wolff knows this is even different than prep school. During the past week, he was often the Knights’ entire offense.

“I’ve gotten more comfortable as the season’s gone along,” he said. “One thing is the college guys can throw their off-speed (pitches) for strikes, in any count. And that took a little getting used to. But now, hopefully, it’s sit fastball and adjust.”

Jackson says Wolff reminds him of one of last year’s best Knights, Jackson Linn, who was actually drafted but decided to go to college (Tulane) instead.

“I put those two in the same category,” Jackson said. “You’ve got to stop swinging at curve balls, so to be able to read them, and you get in better counts.

That’s what’s happened in the last week; he’s getting in fastball counts and taking full advantage of it.”

It’s not rocket science. As Jackson said, “If you have a bad swing at a pitch, they’re going to throw it again.”

With Wolff, they’ll be taking their chances.

TV TIME

The Silver Knights are getting some great television exposure. Besides some of the local games on Nashua ETV (next one is Wednesday vs. Westfield), they’re game Saturday vs. Pittsfield at Holman was moved from the usual 6 p.m. time to 1 p.m. so it could be aired by NESN, as the network is back to televising a few FCBL games. Nashua will also be on NESN when it’s at Brockton on July 23.

“It’s always exciting,” Knights general manager Cam Cook said. “I always like to see if we have the best ratings of all the Future League games. So I’m hoping whether it’s our home game or the one in Brockton, that one of those two brings in the best numbers.”

Cook said that the Knights game at Holman on NESN in 2020, another Saturday matinee, there were 10,000 people watching at any time. Last year, Cook said, was 5,000, “so hopefully we’ll get back up again.

“It’s fun for our staff, it’s fun for our players.”

And, what’s also been fun is seeing some snippets from the huge Education Day crowd on WMUR’s New Hampshire Chronicle, which used Holman as their base for the nightly shows that aired last week.

Cook gave the show’s producers the idea when they were doing work on a piece on one of the Knights big sponsors, the Walter Bat Company.

“They were interested in doing something here, and I told them Education Day would be a good day for that,” Cook said. “All good stuff.”

GREATER NASHUA NAACP NIGHT

It was in the works for awhile, but became official with an announcement from the Silver Knights on Monday.

As part of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of Nashua and Holman Stadium’s part in breaking the color barrier in professional baseball, the Knights declared Friday’s, July 8 game vs. Vermont to be Greater Nashua NAACP Night.

A portion of all single game tickets purchased online or at the walkup window that night will be donated back to the Greater Nashua NAACP. Also, the visiting Lake Monsters and team owner Chris English – the former Nashua Pride owner – have pledged to match Silver Knights donations by 100 percent.

Remember, the duo of Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella played for the Nashua Dodgers in 1947, making that minor league Class B team the first integrated affiliated baseball team in the United States, while Jackie Robinson was playing in Montreal.

And it was English’s Pride who had the numbers of Campanella, Newcombe and Robinson placed on the left field brick wall at Holman. Plus, former Silver Knights assistant general manager Cheryl Lindner was the driving force behind the murals of Campanella and Newcombe at the Holman entrance.

Fans can also purchase discounted tickets to a pre-game buffet. Contact the Silver Knights for further details.

TWINBILL TODAY

Today’s doubleheader is to make up the season’s first rainout that occurred back on May 28. As of Sunday, Jackson plans on having Aiven Cabral (0-0, 4.50) start Game 1, but had not settled on a Game 2 starter at last look.