Although the age of the “COVID year” in college baseball is trending towards becoming a thing of the past, graduate students are still dotting many rosters around New England.
For two of the best programs in the region’s Division 2 ranks, though, that fact didn’t stop a bit of a youth movement at the top of the stat sheet in 2024.
Southern New Hampshire outfielder Nater Wachter (Concord, N.H.) and Franklin Pierce pitcher Nik Pavia (Bolton, Mass.) wasted no time making a name for themselves in the Northeast-10 Conference, emerging from their freshman seasons as first-team all-conference players and the Northeast Division’s Rookie Hitter and Pitcher of the Year, respectively.
There was no such thing as dipping toes in the water for these guys. Facing a competitive field of older, experienced college players didn’t faze them.
