The New Hampshire Wild introduced themselves in style Wednesday night.
The Empire Professional Baseball League club was firing on all cylinders during its opener at its new home – Concord’s Memorial Field – as they scored 12 in the eighth inning to pull away from the Plattsburgh Redbirds for a 15-1 win.
It was the Wild’s first of 36 EPBL games scheduled at Memorial Field through Aug. 9. After a fast start, New Hampshire leads the league with a 7-2 record.
The EPBL is a semi-professional league with six teams, including two from Puerto Rico. The team was formed in 2016 and played home games at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, but the Wild took a year hiatus in 2017.
There’s 20 players on the team from all over the continental U.S. and one from Puerto Rico. Wild manager Scott “Nate” Nathanson has been in a managerial role in the league since 2016. This is his first season with the Wild, and he hopes the ballclub makes an impression on its new city.
“We’re excited about being here,” Nathanson said. “The rest of the season looks very, very promising. I have a great group of players here. They’re great people, they’re excellent ballplayers.”
Nathanson grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and worked in physical education for 35 years and coached some college baseball. He has experience with some of his players from previous stops along their careers.
“The strongest character of the team is its starting pitching,” Nathanson said.
Christian Telemaco, 22, of Durham, Maine, was the starting pitcher for the home opener. He scattered six hits over six shutout innings while walking four and striking out one.
Nathanson said some members of the team were signed at a tryout event in California, while most of the players came to a one-week spring training in Delaware where they hosted a draft afterwards. None of the players are from New Hampshire, but they were welcome to staying in the area.
To familiarize the city with the franchise, the team has been hosting various events around Concord to spread awareness of the league, including handing out flyers and pocket schedules.
Nathanson said the president of the league, Eddie Gonzalez, had very successful talks with city officials to bring the team back to New Hampshire after missing out last year. Nathanson said he couldn’t comment on why the team disbanded last year.
Gonzalez said the league had been established in the northeast and managers of other teams recommended he look into hosting a team in Concord. After a lot of research and talking with the city, he said Memorial Field was the perfect place to play.
“This field is designed and made for something like this,” Gonzalez said.
After talking with city officials, Gonzalez was told the field hosts some collegiate and American Legion baseball but there is enough open time in the schedule so the team can make the field its new home. Nathanson had nothing but praise for Memorial.
“The field plays beautiful,” Nathanson said. “No lips at the end where the dirt meets the grass. The ball is staying down beautifully, and the outfielders like the way the ball is carrying out there right now.”
Gonzalez was busy multi-tasking during the Wild’s home opener, as he was announcing, keeping stats and running a live stream for Wednesday’s game.
“This league focuses on providing opportunity for these guys that are out of college and looking for a chance to be scouted to the high-level professional baseball leagues,” Gonzalez said. “This league is a player’s league. So it’s really an opportunity for these guys from this region also to pursue a dream, a pro baseball dream.”
The opportunity might not be far-fetched – a Boston Red Sox scout was in attendance amid a sparse crowd for the opener. Gonzalez said there are major league scouts at almost all the games in the league.
Many of the league’s players are very talented, but they may not have had an opportunity to impress a scout earlier in their career. Gonzalez said that’s the beauty of a league like this.
Community involvement is a major part of the Empire League, and Gonzalez and Nathanson are very excited for the Wild’s chance to play in Concord.
“I hope it brings just a positive environment for the youth around here, as baseball does everywhere,” Gonzalez said.
The Wild continue the season at Memorial Field against the Redbirds with games Friday, Saturday and a doubleheader on Sunday. The 12-game homestand continues against the New York Bucks with six contests in a five-day stretch starting July 4. All Wild home games will be played at Memorial Field, and admission is $5.
More information is available at wildprobaseball.com.
(Jacob Dawson can be reached at 272-6414 ext. 8325, jdawson@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @jaked156.)