Nashua Silver Knights

Nashua Silver Knights

Team Logo
Cap Insignia
League FCBL (East Division)
Location Nashua, New Hampshire
Ballpark Holman Stadium
Year founded 2010
League championships 2 (2011, 2012)
Colors Red, Black, Silver
              
Mascot Sir Sterling
Ownership Drew Weber
Management Lowell Spinners (Operator)
Ronnie Wallace (General Manager)
B.J. Neverett (Vice President of Player Development and Assistant Manager)
Manager Ted Currle
Website NashuaSilverKnights.com

The Nashua Silver Knights are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Nashua, New Hampshire. It is a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with a 56-game regular season[1] comprising 10 teams from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The team's home games are played at Historic Holman Stadium in Nashua. The team is managed by the Lowell Spinners, the Class A minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.[2]

Ownership

The Silver Knights were not just a charter team of the FCBL but an impetus for the creation of the FCBL, as Drew Weber, owner of the Spinners, wanted to also operate a franchise in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. When this was not feasible, Weber and others created the FCBL. Chris Hall, who had been the General Manager of professional and collegiate teams in Nashua, became the league's commissioner. The name Knights was chosen over three other club nominations by a vote of Nashua grade-school students. The club modified the winner to "Silver Knights" to avoid conflict with an existing amateur baseball team in the city.[1]

Results

2011: Mike Chambers was the first field manager with B.J. Neverett and Tom Bowles assisting as coaches. The Silver Knights finished first in the regular season, with a 27-16 record. They defeated the Torrington Titans (25-17) in a best-of-three championship series.[3] The Silver Knights led the league in attendance, with an average of 869 spectators per game,[4] far above initial expectations of 300-500 fans.[1] The Silver Knights earned the Top Pitcher award (Eric Perrault), Top Pro Prospect award (Eric Perrault), Defensive Player of the Year award (Rob Benedict), Relief Pitcher of the Year award (Dylan Maki), and Manager of the Year award (Mike Chambers).[5] Six players were also named to the All-FCBL Team: Mark Sanborn (First Base), Logan Gillis (Second Base), James Katsiroubas (Third Base), Matt Jacobs (Outfield), Eric Perrault (Starting Pitcher), and Dylan Maki (Relief Pitcher).

2012: The league expanded from 4 to 9 teams. Neverett was promoted to field manager, with Bowles and J.P. Pyne assisting as coaches. The Silver Knights improved their attendance to an average of 1,125 spectators per game. The Silver Knights dominated the regular season with a 39-13 record. Then they swept through the Brockton Rox and North Shore Navigators to win their second consecutive FCBL Championship. The Silver Knights earned the Top Pro Prospect award (Chris Shaw), Defensive Player of the Year (Connor Lyons), and Manager of the Year award (B.J. Neverett).[6] Seven players were also named to the All-FCBL Team: Chris Shaw (First Base), Logan Gillis (Second Base), James Katsiroubas (Third Base), Jon Minucci (Outfield), Christopher Good (Starting Pitcher), Nick Poore (Starting Pitcher), and Cody Rocha (Relief Pitcher). At the end of the summer PerfectGame.org named them the 26th best team in all of collegiate summer league baseball.[7]

2013: Neverett was promoted to the front office as VP of Player Development. Pyne was promoted to field manager, with Bowles assisting as pitching coach.[8] The regular-season record of 34-19 was one game behind the Martha's Vineyard Sharks (35-18). Both teams thus earned a bye from the "one-game play-in" instituted that year for the next-best four teams, and both teams won their best-of-three semifinal series in two games. But Martha's Vineyard, which had won 6 of the 7 regular-season contests against Nashua, won both games of the championship series. The Silver Knights earned the Relief Pitcher of the Year award (Cody Rocha), the Commissioner's Award (Manny Cabral), and the Organizational Promotional Award. Two players were also named to the All-FCBL Team: Tom Hudon (Starting Pitcher) and Cody Rocha (Relief Pitcher).

2014: Ted Currle was hired as their field manager, with Jeff Dupont and Kyle Jackson assisting as coaches. Currle was familiar with the Futures Collegiate Baseball League having formerly served as manager of the Martha's Vineyard Sharks in 2011 and was as an assistant coach for the Brockton Rox in 2012 and 2013. The team spent most of the season around .500 and was one of four teams with similar records headed for the one-game play-in to the post-season. On August 8, the last day of the regular season, Nashua lost the right to host this play-in game, finishing the regular season at 28-26. Traveling to Torrington, Connecticut the next day, Nashua lost the play-in game in 11 innings. Attendance for the season averaged 1,375.[9]

2015: With the replacement of the Old Orchard Beach franchise by the Bristol Blues, Nashua was moved to the East Division, joining in-state rival Seacoast Mavericks.

Year-by-year results

Year Record Place Attendance Average Result
2011 27-16 1st 19,127 .628 Won League Championship over Torrington 2-0
2012 39-13 1st 28,125 .750 Won League Championship over North Shore 4-0
2013 34-19 2nd 34,249 .642 Lost in Championship to Martha's Vineyard 0-2
2014 28-26 3rd in West 35,760 .519 Lost one-game "play-in" at Torrington

Postseason Appearances

Year Play-In Round** Semi-Final Round* FCBL Championship
2011 Torrington Titans W (2-0)
2012 Brockton Rox W (2-0) North Shore Navigators W (2-0)
2013 Brockton Rox W (2-0) Martha's Vineyard Sharks L (0-2)
2014 Torrington Titans L (0-1)

2012 FCBL All-Star Game

Historic Holman Stadium hosted the 2012 FCBL All-Star Game. This was the first All-Star Game in Futures Collegiate Baseball League history. The league was split into two teams, the Original Four (Nashua Silver Knights, Torrington Titans, Seacoast Mavericks, and Martha's Vineyard Sharks) against the New Five (Brockton Rox, North Shore Navigators, Wachusett Dirt Dawgs, Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide, and Pittsfield Suns). The Silver Knights sent a record 10 players to the game including five starters.[10]

2012 FCBL All-Star Game Logo

Before the game the FCBL hosted their second annual scout day. The All-Stars and other players from the nine teams in the league participated in drills and tests in front MLB scouts. Then the Silver Knights hosted the Celebrity All-Star Hitting Challenge pitting Team Gillis (Captained by Logan Gillis), Team Minucci (Captained by Jon Minucci), and Team Shaw (Captained by Chris Shaw). Various items were placed in the field and hitters scored points for hitting the items. Hitters were also award points for any home runs hit over the wall. Team Gillis won with Miss New Hampshire Megan Lyman (New England College) winning the individual competition.

The Silver Knights' Christopher Good earned the honor of starting pitcher for the Original Four All-Stars. Silver Knights and Nashua native Alek Morency (Merrimack College) earned the win and Jon Minucci (Southern New Hampshire University) earned the MVP Award. He went 2 for 4 with 1 RBI, 2 runs scored, a stolen base, and a great catch in the outfield. The Original 4 won 3-0 in front of the 1,634 fans.[11]

This was the second time Historic Holman Stadium hosted an All-Star Game. In 2003 the Nashua Pride hosted Atlantic League All-Star Game.

Alumni

To find a full list of all former Silver Knights players in professional baseball visit NashuaSilverKnights.com

References

  1. 1 2 3 King, Tom (March 4, 2011). "Silver Knights are off and running in city". Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  2. ↑ King, Tom (February 8, 2011). "It’ll be Silver Knights playing at Holman". Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  3. ↑ King, Tom (August 6, 2011). "Silver Knights win FCBL title". Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved August 18, 2011. And in the end, the Nashua Silver Knights franchise had the best players, capturing the inaugural FCBL Championship Cup with an 8-3 win over the Torrington Titans on Friday night to complete a two-game sweep.
  4. ↑ Editorial (August 8, 2011). "City should extend Silver Knights pact". Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  5. ↑ "2011 FCBL Awards". Futures Collegiate Baseball League. 2011-08-01.
  6. ↑ "2012 FCBL Awards". Futures Collegiate Baseball League. 2012-08-10.
  7. ↑ "2012 Summer Collegiate Team Rankings". Perfect Game USA. 2012-08-20.
  8. ↑ "Nashua Silver Knights promote Neverett, Pyne & Berthiaume". Nashua Silver Knights. 2012-10-04.
  9. ↑ "Futures League – Attendance". Pointstreak.
  10. ↑ "FCBL All Star Game Rosters Announced". Futures Collegiate Baseball League. 2012-07-19.
  11. ↑ "Minucci Shines Brightest". Nashua Silver Knights. 2012-07-26.

External links

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