Lowell Spinners catcher Andrew Johnston looks to throw to a base after Nashua's Jordan Welch scores during Saturday's FCBL game at LeLacheur Park. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

LOWELL, Mass. – Let’s face it, the 2026 Nashua Silver Knights will go as far as their bats will take them this summer.

On Saturday, they took them far. We mean reeeeally far.

Nashua pounded out what may be close to if not a one-game club record with six homers on the way to a 17-9 mashing of the Lowell Spinners. Lowell had former Red Sox reliever Jonathan Papelbon as a special guest and the Spinners probably could have used him to appease the crowd of 2,674.

“We were a little surprised,” Silver Knights manager Nick Guarino said. “Good swings, they made adjustments. They weren’t trying to hit home runs, they were trying to stay in the middle of the field. Those guys (Lowell pitchers) weren’t throwing hard.”

Nashua turned LeLacheur into its own private launching pad, as a couple of shots went over the big left field scoreboard. The wind was clearly blowing out to left field, where all the homers were hit, and the leader on the evening was Nashua’s Mason Campagna, an incoming freshman at Penn State who hit two homers, going 4 for 6 with six RBIs and three runs scored. It was one of the best offensive performances of the season, by a player who was appearing in just his eighth game.

“I just tried to see the ball deeper today,” Campagna said. “Everything was clicking today.”

His first homer tied the game at 2 in the second inning after the Spinners got Nashua thinking with Cam Biller’s two-run dinger of his own off Nashua starter Nigel Cross in the bottom of the first for a short-lived 2-0 Spinners lead.

Ben Peterson followed Campagna’s first blast with a solo shot of his own, and the back-to-back shots gave the Knights a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish.

They broke it open with six runs in the third, Brendan Horne and Peter Keblinsky smacking a pair of solo shots to highlight a five-hit, 10-batter frame for a 9-2 lead.

But we know that no lead is safe in the FCBL, and the Nashua bullpen let the Spinners back in it – Brody Bump, Bryce McCleland (who was awarded the win despite giving up three runs) and Jackson Pecor all struggled, and it was 9-6 and 10-7 after six. But the Knights said enough was enough and put up another seven spot in the eighth, highlighted by solo homers by Connor Smith and Campagna. Just like that it was 17-7, although Lowell prevented a mercy rule ending with two runs in the bottom of the frame off Knights reliever Ty Lohsen.

Peterson, Horne, Keblinsky and Smith were all 2 for 6 with a combined eight RBIs. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit, as Nashua posted 18. Incredible, and it certainly was no accident.

“We put the (pitching) machine on the outer half (in batting practice), knowing the kid pitching (Lowell’s Caden Smith) was a slow lefty,” Guarino said. “That’s kind of been our kryptonite, slow lefties, guys that work away, you saw that with Vermont (a doubleheader loss on Wednesday). Good adjustments today, stay the middle of the field, when you stay middle, you’re able to get your hands down and pull the baseball. That’s all we did. You give yourself a lot more margin for error when you stay in the middle of the field.”

Silver Knights’ Peter Keblinsky is in the middle of his home run trot during Nashua’s 17-9 romp over Lowell Saturday at LeLacheur Park. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Guarino kept most of his high leverage relievers out of the game, but at some point he said those who were touched up (mainly by falling behind the hitters) will need to figure it out as they’ll be needed.

“We have the guys we’ve been using two or three times a week and (today) those guys are back up again,” Guarino said. “We’re in a good spot, we’re not depleted by any means. But these guys (who pitched Saturday) need to step up, figure it out and put up a couple of zeroes for us.”

When they don’t, it’ll be up to the bats.

“I told you a couple of weeks ago, the lineups are going to do their thing,” Guarino said. “We know the lineup’s going to score runs. It may not be 17 runs every time, there’s going to be games when we don’t hit and get beat, but for the most part, we’re going to do what we have to do there.”

The win puts Nashua in third now at 19-18, up onWorcester (19-20) and Norwich (17-20) as only three teams will join likely top seed Vermont in the playoffs in a month. Nashua hosts New Britain for the second time in three games today at 3 p.m. at Historic Holman Stadium, sending Josh Florence (3-1, 2.45 ) to the hill.

“Back to one over (.500),” Guarino said. “It’d be nice to get a win (today) and sweep the weekend.”

MIAMI DRAFTS KOZEAL

Former Silver Knights infielder Cam Kozeal was selected 87th overall by the Miami Marlins on Saturday in the MLB Firtst Year Draft.

Kozeal was with Nashua in 2023 and played in 18 games. He also played with Bourne of the Cape Cod League, and was at Vanderbilt and Arkansas.