Nashua Silver Knight infielder Derek Finlay watches from next to the dugout last Friday after his season ended a week ago with a torn ACL. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – A year ago, Derek Finlay sat in the dugout at Bishop Guertin High School’s Elliott Field after a Coffey Post Senior Legion game, and was asked about where he wanted to play next summer.

“I want to play for the Silver Knights,” Finlay said without hesitation.

His wish came true, but unfortunately for Finlay, that wish plus his 2024 season did not last long. The former Nashua High School North standout tore his ACL in a collision at first base during last Tuesday night’s Nashua game vs. Worcester at Holman Stadium, and his season is done.

Finlay was bunting for a base hit toward third, and it looked perfect. The throw to Worcester first baseman Timmy Wagner skipped by the bag and as Wagner turned to chase it down and Finlay turned to try to start to second the two collided, and Finlay went down and basically couldn’t get back up.

“It’s unfortunate,” Finlay said. “A good bunt, did what I had to do. Get down to first base, the first baseman’s in a weird spot, kind of blocking the base. So I tried to avoid him, I see the ball go by, go to second base, I planted my right foot and I felt it pop.”

Finlay tried to hop back, crawl back to the bag but was tagged out. Eventually he was able to walk off with a little bit of help, but the outcome was clear he had suffered a bad injury.

The last couple of years, Finlay has been snakebit. He suffered a shoulder injury that limited his senior season with North but did manage to play the final month. But during the Titans’ playoff loss to Bedford in 2022, he want down with an injury to the other knee in the second quarter and the two injuries forced him to miss his senior basketball season at North.

“The other knee, and now this,” the highly competitive Finlay said. “What are you gonna do?”

Finlay, who finished up hitting .294, knows what he will do, it’s just a question of where. He’ll undergo surgery, he said, sometime around the third week in July, and begin an 8 to 10 month rehab. He was planning on transferring from the University of Albany after being redshirted his freshman year, and still doesn’t know if he’ll do that, go back to UAlbany, or go to another school, etc.

“I don’t know,” Finlay said. “I still have to make a decision. It’s going to be tough now with this.”

Silver Knights manager Kyle Jackson had plenty of sympathy for Finlay, who was used as a shortstop and DH during his first four weeks of the season.

“My heart aches for him,” Jackson said. “Being a local kids, getting an opportunity to play here, and have that happen, just a tough thing. He told me when he got the news, and said ‘Can I still be around?’ And I said, ‘Of course.’ It’s good to see him here.”

TEAM HOPING HART CAN RETURN

Talk about local players on the Knights getting a tough break, outfielder-DH River Hart is hoping he hasn’t incurred just that – literally.

Hart was slated to undergo X-Rays on the area around his left elbow after he was hit by a pitch during the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader vs. Westfield, a 16-11 win in which he homered, singled, and walked before being plunked. He was in obvious pain and left the game and the stadium to get it checked out.

Silver Knights general manager Cam Cook said he wasn’t 100 percent sure but that it seems there was no fracture and Hart would basically have to wait for the swelling to go down, etc.

“It’ll swell up and they’ll have to deal with getting range of motion and all that back,” Cook said. “He may be out a week but he’s a tough dude, so who knows.”

Hart is the league leader in homers with five after his three-run blast on Sunday, and while he started the season hot he had tapered off, was in and out of the lineup, but appeared to have found his groove. He started the big ninth inning rally Friday night that culminated in Drew Loikits walk-off home run with an infield hit. And Sunday the former Nashua South standout and current UMass-Lowell sophomore outfielder’s homer broke open the game as part of a nine-run third inning. He was back up to hitting .260 when he got hurt.

WOODS PITCHER OF THE WEEK

Nashua’s Derek Woods was named FCBL Pitcher of the Week for his outing this past Saturday when he tossed six innings of one-hit, shutout ball vs. Norwich, striking out seven.

KNIGHTS STILL A DRAW

Nashua is clinging to second in the league in attendance after a tough weekend with iffy weather. They drew just over 1,000 on Friday night, a fireworks night with rain in the forecast, but were under 1,000 on Saturday after it rained all afternoon. Sunday with severe storms in the forecast kept the crowds for both games vs. Westfield under 1,000.

Still, the Knights are at 1,467 per game in 14 openings, just ahead of third place New Britain (1,441) and fourth place Norwich (1,435).

One has to worry about Brockton, which in nine games is averaging just 125 fans per game. Vermont is running away with the lead, averaging 2,535 per game.

COOK HELPING OUT MV PROSPECTS

The Silver Knights and Merrimack Valley Prospects -now called the “MV Prospects” in an announced rebranding – have had a relationship this season in terms of advertising, etc. Well that deepened on Monday with the announcement by the Prospects that they have expanded their partnership with Cook. In additon to coordinating the organization’s clinics and private lessons, Cook will now consult with the program’s showcase players in terms of college recruiting.

“Cam brings years of experience working closely with college coaches,” the Prospects said in a release. “His community involvement aligns seemlessly with our mission, and his insights will be invaluable to our players.”

The group, which 10 years ago was born as the Greater Nashua Prospects, has introduced two new programs, 9U-14U travel teams and 15U-17U Showcase teams.

THIS WEEK

You’ll have plenty of chances to see the Silver Knights at Holman, beginning with tonight’s rematch with Westfield at 6 p.m. Norwich is in town on Wednesday, and after a road game at New Britain on Thursday, Nashua is home Friday and Saturday nights vs. Vermont and Sunday afternoon vs. Norwich.