Silver Knights staff were testing out the Holman Stadium scoreboard/video board using last year's lineup on Monday as players reported and work begins in earnest to prepare for Wednsday's 10:30 a.m. season opener. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – This won’t be his first Historic Holman Stadium rodeo.

Usually, unless it’s a returnee, the Nashua Silver Knights starting pitcher on Opening Day will have no idea what to expect, and the surroundings will be foreign.

No so for Newfield’s Cam Piwinicki, who just finished his freshman season at Brown University, going 4-2 mainly as a reliever in 20 appearances but with a start. He is getting the ball from Silver Knights manager Nick Guarino to start the Silver Knights 16th season Wednesday at10:30 a.m.at Holman vs. the Vermont Lake Monsters.

You see, Piwinicki pitched at Holman as a visitor with the Exeter High School Blue Hawks, and won a state championship last year.

“I’m looking forward to the honor of being the Opening Day starter,” Piwinicki said Monday as the players reported to Holman for meetings and orientation, etc. “It’s cool to be back. I love the mound here, I’ve always loved coming here, the first time I pitched was my sophomore year. In the scope of New Hampshire, it’s one of the better mounds, probably the best other than Delta Dental (in Manchester).”

In fact, the last time he was at Holman pitching was nearly a year ago, as the Blue Hawks rattled favored Pinkerton 12-1 in the Division I semifinals. Piwinicki held the Astros to just six hits over five innings, striking out six in a mercy-rule game. They went on to beat Londonderry in the title game a few days later at Delta Dental.

“It was awesome,” Piwinicki said.

Ironically, Exeter will be at Holman later Wednesday facing Bishop Guertin.

“Piwinicki pitched 6 2/3 out of the pen for Brown the other day in the (Ivy League) tournament,” Silver Knights manager Nick Guarino said. “He’s a freshman with a lot of experience. Young guy. Bunch of experience on the mound this year. No pitch counts. No restrictions. So he’s ready to go. So I was like, ‘Let’s give him the ball Game 1.’ I like the way it matches up.”

Overall at Brown, Piwinicki pitched 42.1 innings, allowing 39 hits with 14 walks and 23 strikeouts, with an ERA of 4.04.

Piwinicki has a fastball, a splitter and a slider “in my arsenal. I love throwing any of them, obviously the fastball has its own charm, you know, you get to throw harder.”

Piwinicki, according to Guarino, asked for tickets for his family to come on Wednesday; that will add to the festive atmosphere.

“I told the guys today, there’s going to be a lot of stuff you haven’t seen before,” Guarino said.

Piwinicki isn’t one of those players, that’s for sure.

Brown’s Cam Piwinicki, an Exeter High School alum, gets the Opening Day nod on the mound Wednesday for the Silver Knights. (Photo courtesy of Silver Knights/Brown University)

COACH ADDITION

Tommy Ahlers, who played part of last year late but was a key atop the order two seasons ago for the Knights while patrolling center field, has been added to the coaching staff as jack-of-all trades.

“Everything,” Guarino said he would do. “He threw BP today, he’s going to work with the outfielders and hitters. He wants to get into coaching after the fact, so we’re giving his first opportunity here, hoping we can teach him some things, how it goes and go from there.”

EARLY ROTATION SET

Guarino said Thursday’s starter at the Westfield Starfires, another morning Education Day game, will be lefty Dimitri Skourides out of Brandeis. The Knights plan to go with Goffstown’s Will Perkowski out of Dayton, in his third season with the Knights, on Friday at Lowell, and Saturday night at Holman will be Wentworth’s Nigel Cross. Cross works and will be the normal Saturday starter, while Perkowski gets the Friday nod. As for Skourides, “I like him against Westfield because he’s a (Division) III guy who throws a lot of strikes, and against Westfield there you have to throw a lot of strikes so you don’t get hurt with the long ball in that short park, and it looks like he can get guys out.”

Skourides went 3-3, 3.77 for Brandeis, and opponents hit just .196 against him.

NEW TECHNOLOGY

The Silver Knights, as well as the rest of the Futures League, are using Trackman technology, with installation by the main tunnel onto the concourse.

“It’s a ball tracker, it tells you angle, exit velocity, distance,” Silver Knights owner John Creedon, Jr. said. “From the pitcher’s hands to the catcher, and from the bat to wherever it goes. It’s new technology for us, so I have to get with our press box team to understand all the bells and whistles, functions and advantages.”

Creedon said it’s simply keeping up with the times.

“It’s a game of data these days,” Creedon said. “We were kind of living in the past without that at our fingertips. We’ll get more proficient and better with it as the season goes on.”

WORKOUT TODAY

The Silver Knights worked out yesterday morning at an indoor facility in the city, but then the weather cleared and there was a team cookout and Creedon and general manager Cam Cook addressed the players. They’ll have their first Holman workout today beginning at 11 a.m.