Silver Knights' Derek Finlay is safe at second after Vermont infielder Jack Rickheim loses the ball during Friday night's FCBL opener at Holman Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – As a dress rehearsal, it wouldn’t have been too bad.

But the curtain opened on the 2024 Nashua Silver Knights season on Friday night, and despite a valiant effort and entertaining contest, they fell short to the Vermont Lake Monsters 5-4 before an announced,lively Holman Stadium crowd of 2,238.

It was a few games contained into one. Nashua fell behind 3-0 in the first inning, battled back to take a 4-3 lead in the seventh, but a mistake pitch and a mistake in the field gave the Monsters their tying and then winning run. Nashua had a chance to knot it in the bottom of the ninth but fireballing Vermont closer Sean Gamble fanned the Knights’ Derek Finlay on a 2-2 pitch with the tying run at third to end it. Nashua left 11 on base.

“I think there’s some stuff we can clean up,” Silver Knights manager Kyle Jackson said. “I told the guys, after the first thing that happened, you battled. You got runs, you bunted, you did everything right. It stinks to not get the ‘W’, but I think they’re going to be fine.”

The fans were certainly entertained. Down 3-0, Nashua clawed its way back into it. Returner Ryan Caufield’s RBI ground out in the fourth, and then two more came in in the fifth vs. Vermont reliever Jack McLaughlin to tie things at 3. An inability to complete the double play off the bat of Nate Kearney got one run in and then Adam Koza singled in the tying run.

The Knights took the lead in the seventh without the benefit of a hit. Tommy Ahlers walked with two out, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a wild pitch.

It was too good to be true. Nashua lefty reliever Mike Crowley, who came on to fan Vermont’s Wyatt Patchett with the bases loaded in the seventh to end one threat, got beat on an 0-1 pitch to Evan Dennis. The Vermont center fielder inside-outed it over the wall in right field for a solo shot to tie things at 4.

Then in the ninth came the problems of players who have yet to know each other. Crowley gave up a leadoff single to Dylan Watson. Sam Cavossa then bunted, and it was fielded cleanly by Nashua first baseman Kearney. Except there was one problem – neither second baseman Ben Tullo nor Crowley covered first, and Kearney’s soft throw went for naught, allowing Cavossa to reach but more importantly Watson to go to third. He scored on a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Tony Rossi vs. the Knights fifth pitcher of the night, Andrew Koshy, to make it 5-4.

“There’s not a lot of communication,” Jackson said. “It just didn’t have it. We had one day of going over it, but we went over bunt defense with a man at second for the international (ghost runner 10th inning). It’s my fault for assuming that we knew with a man on first, the second (baseman’s) got to come over.”

The other tough part was Nashua had its chances. The Knights had the bases loaded in the second and third innings and came up empty, and Koza,who reached base three times, led off the eighth with a double, was bunted to third, but with the infield in Caufield grounded to second and Jeff Valdez grounded to third to end that threat.

Vermont jumped on Knights lefty starter Vinny Civitella for their three in the first on a walk, back-to-back hits, a wild pitch and RBI groundout off the bat of Colby Brouillette. But Civitella settled down and tossed three scoreless thereafter.

Silver Knights starter Vinny Civitella delivers a pitch in the first inning of Friday’s FCBL season opener vs. Vermont at Holman Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

With two out in the ninth, Nashua’s Will Fosberg doubled. Finlay got down 0-2, but battled back against Gamble to even things at 2-2 – one of those pitches sailing over everyone to send Fosberg to third. The former North and Coffey Post standout, who was redshirted at UAlbany,did well for not seeing live pitching in months with getting two hits, but Gamble was a different animal and won that battle on the next pitch.

“I think once the jitters get out, everybody trying to do a little too much,” Jackson said. “It’s understanding it’s just a baseball game, we got it out of the way, and we’ll move on another one (tonight). … This is a good group of guys.”

For whom the stage shouldn’t be too big.

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