Here’s a few takeaways from a Memorial Day Weekend to remember at Holman Stadium with the Nashua Silver Knights:

—- The fans, it seems, are reeeeallly into it this season, hoping that it won’t turn into a repeat of last year’s tough campaign. Friday’s big crowd was loud, and you’d expect that, and even Sunday’s matinee was loud during a wild game. Not many people left before it was over.

—- We’re not being homers, but there’s no question that the Knights have hit a home run with having Nashuans Derek Finlay (North) and River Hart (South) playing together for the first time. Finlay is instant energy, and hit a whopping .462 for the weekend. They probably heard the roar all over the city when Hart hit his two-run bomb yesterday. And leadoff hitter Tommy Ahlers out of Keene State and Salem was hitting .545. The fans, it seems, are going to love this team. They will also be aggressive on the basepaths. Sunday manager Kyle Jackson moved Finlay up to second in the order and it immediately produced a run.

— It certainly isn’t easy managing a pitching staff of 18 or so, give or take a couple of players that have yet to arrive. An example was Sunday’s game in which the bullpen wasn’t on the same page with the dugout, and it almost cost Nashua a win. Starter Andrew Chenevert, who got his wish to continue into the seventh, had nothing left but had to stay out there because the Knights relievers weren’t ready. One grand slam later and the game was tied. Jackson was furious during the inning.

“We’ll clean it up, but that’s in-house,” Jackson said. “It’s just a matter of getting on the same page and understanding that bases loaded happened in a minute’s span. In a 90 second span, you don’t have enough time. … I have to set my expectations with them and let them know how quickly it can turn. They all come from different programs on how they set up.”

Really, it is not easy getting 30 plus players from all different schools and regions to mesh. That was just an example.

—- Jackson is a very big and well respected voice in this league. He lobbied hard along with other managers for the International Rule for the 10th inning in the off-season, and got his wish. Why? Because the managers, including Jackson, can’t stand the Home Run Derby. But the league is reluctant to part with it.

— The Knights are going to have to wait a while for their potential closer, Kyan Bagshaw, to arrive. Bagshaw was at Holman yesterday but only to spend some time to get to know his summer teammates. That’s because he’s off to Eastlake, Ohio and the Division III World Series with Endicott College. It’s his second trip to the event, and think of how many college players at that level never get a sniff of something like that. Good for him.

— If you were at Holman this weekend, the voice you were hearing over the PA system was that of Nichols College’s Anthony Sousa, and we dare say he is the best public address announcer a Holman team has had since the Nashua Pride had New Hampshire’s best voice, Ken Cail. Sousa has a future. Anyone who was a Rivier men’s lacrosse game or two was able to get a preview as he served in the same role at Merrill Field when available. Enjoy the voice this season while we have it.

Silver Knights starter Andrew Chenevert delivers a pitch during Sunday’s FCBL game vs. New Britain at Holman Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

— Nashua had some great starting pitching over the weekend from the trio of Vinny Civitella, Braydon Gray and Andrew Chenevert. It’s too bad they lost Gray to the Valley League after Saturday night’s start, but if the other starters are like these guys, the team can’t help but win. Chenevert was lights out for six innings, which probably Jackson will admit in hindsight should have been his limit on Sunday.

—- How’d you like the new blue uniforms? Those were to be the special July 4 unis but the team decided to wear them for the first two nights (especially for the Salute to Service on Saturday). Still, it was great to see the team back to wearing red on Sunday. As owner John Creedon said back in January when he was selling his other FCBL team, Worcerster, “I’m all in on the Red Team.”.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on X (formerly Twitter) @Telegraph _TomK.

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