Nashua Silver Knights ;pitcher Vinny Civitella stretches in the Holman Stadium outfield during a recent workeout in preparation for tonight's season opener in Nashua vs. Vermont. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Vinny Civitella walked into Holman Stadium for the first time the other day and couldn’t believe what he saw.

A small stadium with seats and suites, surrounded in the outfield by pine trees.

In other words, for him, Baseball Heaven.

“I thought wow, this a is a beautiful stadium, all these seats,” Civitella said. “I couldn’t believe it. Nothing I’ve been through before. It’s exciting. … Nothing I’ve ever seen before. I’ve never played in a stadium this big.”

Civitella, who won six games with an ERA of 3.17 this past spring for Division II Pace University, was Nashua Silver Knights manager Kyle Jackson and his staff’s choice to get the mound nod tonight as the Silver Knights open their 14th Futures Collegiate League season vs. the Vermont Lake Monsters at 6 p.m. at Holman Stadium. Gates open at 5 p.m.

It’s going to be a new experience for the Clifton, N.J. native, who grew up rooting for the Yankees and will be a senior for Pace this fall.

Civitella, the No. 2 starter on Pace’s staff, has never pitched an Opening Night game before, and never in front of a lot of fans.

“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I heard there’s going to be a lot of people here, so it’s very exciting.”

The most fans he’s ever pitched in front of, he said, was about 100. There will be at least 10 times that tonight, perhaps way more, given the fact there’s a post-game fireworks show as well as great weather, which usually creates a large walk-up, holiday weekend or not.

“I’ve started some big games,” he said. “I just have to keep my nerves down. The crowd will be something. Hopefully they will cheer me on.”

Civitella ended up at New York City’s Pace, which plays in the Northeast-10, through connections with his high school coach, who knew his current college pitching coach – former Red Sox pitcher Tim Bausher. Baucher made his MLB debut with the Red Sox in 2005, but more important, get this: Bausher pitched for the Nashua Pride in 2007, the year the Pride won the Can Am League title, going 4-5 with a 3.09 ERA in 10 starts.

So he gave Civitella a heads up about Holman.

“He told me, said the backstop’s big, and it is,” Civitella said with a chuckle.

Civitella throws a four-seam fastball, curve, change, and he’s starting to work on a cutter. “It’s not too bad, actually,” he said of learning his new pitch. “Just grip the four seams and just throw it, and it does it’s job.”

He was actually on his way to a Yankee game with his father when Jackson called him.

“He said, ‘How do you feel about being the opening starter,'” Civitella said. “I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely, that’s great. I couldn’t say no. I couldn’t say no.”

His last start was early may in a playoff game for Pace. He was the Setters’ Saturday pitcher, threw bullpens on Wednesdays, and he did just that two days ago in preparation for tonight.

When he looked at the ballpark, he said it fit his pitching style. In 59.2 innings, he struck out 58 hitters, walking 29, and opponents were hitting just .215 against him.

“I get a lot of pop ups, ground balls, a I strike a lot of guys out,” he said. “The corners are short, so hopefully no balls go over that.

“It’s a great setting. The gaps are big, and I don’t know the outfielders yet, but I’m sure they’ll track down fly balls.”

Civitella says his career at Pace has been very enjoyable, all about “taking advantage of opportunities.”

Windham’s Adam Koza, who signed a temp contract with the Knights, takes a swing during batting practice the other day at Holman Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

TEMP MOTIVATION

This year the Silver Knights cut down on their temp contracts, but there are always examples of players who come to the team on one and stick. That’s what Fitchburg State outfielder Adam Koza, all 6-foot-3, 240 pounds of him, hope is the case for him.

Koza, a Windham High School alum who just finished his sophomore season, hit. 361 with seven homers and 31 RBIs in 36 games. He had an OPS of 1.080 and had a pretty good eye, too, striking out just 29 times in 119 at-bats. And don’t sleep on him when he’s on base; he had 11 steals in 13 attempts.

As a Salem American Legion player, he’s had a game or two at Holman.

“The way I’m thinking about it, I’ve just got to be cool and keep doing me,” Koza said. “Like if I’m hitting, there’s nowhere (else) for me to go, right?”

Meaning he’d stay in the lineup. There was some talk late in his FSU season about Nashua’s interest but just in case he followed the advice of his coach, Fitchburg’s Shawn Manfredo, and went to the FCBL tryout that was held last Friday at Libby Field in Weymouth, Mass.

“I hope to really make the finalized roster so I can really experience being on the Silver Knights for the whole summer,” he said. “It seems like it’d be a helluva lot of fun.”

He’s not even thinking of other options if that doesn’t happen; that’s how much Koza wants to stay.

FIREWORKS NIGHT

Tonight is the first of six Fireworks Friday Nights for the Knights at Holman, and four of them are through June. There’s only one in July (26) and the final regular season home game on Aug. 2…

After tonight, Nashua is home Saturday at 6 p.m. vs. the New Britain Bees and then host the Bees again on Sunday at 3 p.m. They then hit the road for five games in six days, their longest consecutive road stretch of the season.

Newsletter