Andover Native Kyle Wolff Helps Lead Nashua To FCBL Crown

BURLINGTON, VT —Andover native Kyle Wolff was the home run hero Friday as the Nashua (New Hampshire) Silver Knights captured the championship of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL).

Wolff, one of several Nashua players with local ties, hit a two-run, go-ahead homer in the top of the ninth inning to put the Knights in the lead for good against the Vermont Lake Monsters. Nashua's 6-5 win in Game 3 of the Championship Series gave it a 2-1 series win in the best-of-three series.

The Knights had suffered a 12-0 defeat in the opening game of the series, before bouncing back with a dramatic 6-5 win in Game 2, achieved with a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth.

Wolff, who played high school baseball at Middlesex School in Concord and is headed to Boston College, said his Nashua team never lost belief.

"We got down 12-0 in the first game and we still felt all the pressure was on Vermont," Wolff told the Eagle-Tribune. "(Vermont) had to be perfect, they had to come to our field (for Game 2), and then ultimately, come here (to Burlington) again, and in Game 3 anything can happen."

Wolff, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound first baseman, finished the regular season with a .322 batting average, six home runs and 29 RBIs in 42 games.

In five postseason games, Wolff hit .320 (6-for-20), which included the two-run homer.

In Nashua, Wolff was joined by Andover native Pat McConnell, an outfielder, who will be a junior at Colby State.

McConnell, who attended Andover High School, hit .262 for the Silver Knights with a homer, 11 RBIs and six stolen bases in 38 regular-season games.

North Andover native Brady O'Brien was an infielder on the Nashua squad. He played in just three regular season games, going 5-for-11. O'Brien then hit .200 (4-for-20) in the postseason.

O'Brien, who attended Saint John's Preparatory School, also will be a junior at Colby College.