Nashua Silver Knights pitcher Andrew Chenevert, going into this weekend, has not lost a Silver Knights start since August of 2003. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Like everyone, Andrew Chenevert doesn’t like to lose.

Well, as long as he wears a Nashua Silver Knights uniform, he doesn’t have to worry about it one bit.

You see, Chenevert hasn’t lost a Silver Knights start since August 5, 2023. It was a 2-0 loss to the Norwich Sea Unicorns and he gave up just two runs (one earned) over six innings of work. That finished his season at 2-4, but with a 1.98 earned run average.

Since then? Going into tonight’s scheduled start at Westfield, he’s 10-0 in 15 starts and 17 total appearances. This year he’s already equaled last year’s win total at 5-0 and his ERA is cut in half at 2.17.

Amazing.

“He just fills up the zone,” Silver Knights pitching coach Spencer Bergeron, who has seen Chenevert all three seasons. “That’s what a lot of it is in this league. He mixes all three pitches, throws for strikes, and throws to contact. If you don’t walk guys, don’t put yourself in bad positions, you’re going to get wins, you’re going to get outs and be successful on the mound.”

Chenevert just says it’s a matter of keeping the baseball faith.

“I definitely give credit to my guys, my catchers who call the game,” he said. “I’m just trusting my hitters, that they’re going to hit well, just know I can go out there with confidence, throw strikes and get out, that’s all it really is.”

Chenevert doesn’t look at the numbers, except those on the scoreboard when the game is over. So he doesn’t think about his win streak.

“I try not to look at stats,” he said. “I just go out there, try to play the game I play, not think about the stats like that, ERA or the strikeouts. Like I said, it’s all about trust and knowing you can go out there and pitch well with confidence. I’m not a guy that’s gonna blow it by guys. I have my four pitches that I throw for strikes, get the ball in play, know my fielders will make the plays, the outfielders will make he catches. Our team has a bunch of good hitters, I know they’re going to go out and score runs for me, that’s all it really is.”

Chenevert says he takes the same attitude when he pitches for Saint Anselm, where the Dracut, Mass. product will be entering his junior year.

“It’s all about confidence, just pounding the zone and getting outs,” he said.

Chenevert knows it takes mental discipline, that in the FCBL there are a lot of good hitters. “Good numbers, good average, they get on base,” he said. “But I trust my catchers, the pitches they’re going to call, and I just know we’re going to get outs. … They call great games, I give a lot of credit to them.”

It’s almost like a night off, or part of one, for Silver Knights manager Nick Guarino and Bergeron.

“He goes out, it’s lock it in for five innings, we’re good,” Bergeron said. “We don’t need anybody til the sixth.”

The other key? Throw strikes and pitch to contact. While Chenevert has struck out only 22 in 29 innings pitched, he’s only walked six while giving up 21 hits. Last year he did give up 56 hits in 49.1 innings, but walked just 17 while striking out 36. It’s just simple pitching. There’s a plate, and throws the ball over it.

“He just pounds strikes,” Bergeron said. “He knows who he is as a pitcher. He doesn’t try to overpower guys. He tries to match it on the corners, mix in a breaking ball, throw a changeup. Keep guys off balance.

“It’s an old school approach to pitching. In today’s day and age, everybody wants to see how hard they can throw. He goes out, and he is who he is.”

Which is clearly a winner and a smart pitcher who uses a mature approach.

“Level-headed,” Bergeron said. “He’s not going to get upset with bad calls. He’s going to move on to the next pitch, and that’s another strength of his, to forget one thing.

“He gives up some hard contract because he’s in the zone a lot. But all right, he gives up a double in the gap he assumes he’s going to get a ground ball from the next batter. He’s not looking for the strikeouts, they come, but he’s not looking for it.”

HIS HIGH SCHOOL DAYS

Chenevert played his high school ball at Dracut High, and he misses hitting. That was done when he went to Saint A’s.

“My coach my freshman year took the bat away,” he said. “I hit for the first week in captains practices and the coach said ‘Let’s cut that off, we’re going to focus on pitching.'”

“I was a good hitter in high school,” he said. “I definitely thought I could hit at the next level, but I think the main focus was me going (to Saint A’s) as a pitcher.”

At Dracut he hit all through school, and played first and third when he didn’t pitch. This year at Saint A’s he started the season in the bullpen and got his first start over spring break vs. Franklin Pierce, and the team that went to the Super Regional hit him pretty well.

His best starts he said were against Pace and Assumption. He recovered from a slow start to the season for a 2-1 mark, but his 7.94 ERA will improve next year. He had 10 appearances, three of them starts.

“I earned my starting role there and I was pretty happy about that,” Chenevert said. “And all that confidence rolled into this (Silver Knights) season.”

His first two years in high school the 6-1 Chenevert played basketball, and also all four years his other favorite pastime – golf.

“I loved golf so much,” he said. “Any chance I get, I’m probably on a golf course.”

In fact, he works on a golf course, Four Oaks Country Club in Dracut. And Hickory Hill in Methuen, Mass. is the course near his house; his golf partner is fellow pitcher Nolan Mederos. It’s a thinking man’s game and Chenevert is also a thinking man’s pitcher.

Bergeron said it was evident from working with Chenevert two years ago how things would go.

“Right away you could tell from the bullpen, that’s what he’s going to do – throw three pitches for strikes, not try to overpower guys.”

What’s Chenevert’s best pitch? It depends on the night, he says.

“Some weeks (they start once a week in college and the FCBL) it changes,” he said. “One week my changeup can be really good, another week my slider can be really good. It just depends on who I’m facing. If I’m facing a lot of lefties, I’ll throw a lot of changeups. If facing a lot of righties, it’s sliders and curve balls.”

But, he says, if he had to pick a favorite, it would be his changeup.

“My changeup has consistently been my best pitch the last four or five years,” he said.

What is it about the FCBL that keeps him winning?

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe it’s the wood bats. Pitching in the NE-10 with the composite bats it’s definitely a little tougher, the barrel’s here (pointing midway), there’d be home runs in college.

“I don’t know what it is. I love pitching here. This is my third year here, I love pitching at Holman Stadium, the crowd’s amazing.”

When he first came to Nashua, he was an incoming freshman, smaller, etc. “A tiny freshman, I thought I was going to get hit pretty hard,” he said. “Have guys hit bombs off me. But the first two weeks I think I settled in pretty well, ended up pitching well.

“I definitely had a tough freshman year of college, it was eye-opening for me. Last summer I definitely worked my butt off, got better, got stronger, had my velo jump a little bit this spring as well.”

But it’s not about velocity with Chenevert, but it did him well to get enough to get by. It’s mainly about pitching, placement. He’s an artist on the mound.

“All four of my pitches can land for strikes,” he said. “I’m not going to blow it by you, I don’t throw it 91 or 93.I throw mid-80s, and if it works, it works.”

Is there a place in baseball for that after college? Chenevert might like to find out, but the business administration major who also minors in economics is also realistic.

“I think every baseball player’s goal in college is to try to make it to the next level,” Chenevert said. “It’s definitely extremely, extremely challenging.

“If I keep putting the work in maybe my velo will jump up eventually, I can finally hit a 90, maybe even higher than that. I definitely want to keep playing as long as I can and see where it takes me.”

Meanwhile, where it takes him and Knights is usually to an increase in the far left corner of the standings.

“Usually we laugh,” Bergeron said. “Through three innings he’s at 26 pitches and we’re like ‘He could throw a complete game today.’

“It’s that simple. Throw multiple pitches for strikes and you’re going to be successful.”

And Chenevert just adds the exclamation point.