WEYMOUTH, Mass. (September 7, 2022) -- The Futures League will honor five individuals and one championship team as part of its second-ever Hall of Fame class in 2022.
The group will be honored during a Hall of Fame dinner and ceremony following the Third Annual Futures League Golf Tournament, which will be held on Friday, October 7 at Leicester Country Club in Leicester, Mass. The dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Though Mickey Gasper played just one Futures League season on his way from Bryant University to the New York Yankees organization, his 2016 accomplishments with the Nashua Silver Knights still remain prominently in the annals. Gasper’s .421 average and .532 on-base percentage remain the top single-season marks in Futures League history, while his 21 doubles are still tied for the most in one summer. The Merrimack, N.H., native also slugged a league-leading .726 with 31 extra-base hits, 42 RBI and 119 total bases that season. The first-ever Silver Knight to win the league’s Most Valuable Player honor, Gasper went on to win Northeast Conference Player of the Year honors as a Bryant junior and then got drafted following another All-New England senior season. He spent the 2022 season with the Double-A Somerset Patriots.
A three-year veteran of the league who played for the Silver Knights (2012) and Seacoast Mavericks (2014-15), Ryan Gendron saved his best season for last and put up record-holding numbers in 2015. After winning a championship with his hometown Nashua squad in 2012, Gendron was one of the league’s top hitters in back-to-back years and still holds the league’s single-season home run record with his 22 in 2015. The Southern New Hampshire University product also set existing records for total bases (138), extra-base hits (33) and slugging percentage (.758), while his 53 RBI that summer were 16 more than any other player in the league. In 139 career Futures League games, tied for fourth-most in history, Gendron hit 33 home runs, scored 94 runs and drove in 88 and totaled 251 bases. He is currently an assistant coach at New England College.
The winningest manager in Futures League history with 147 regular-season victories and 14 more in the playoffs, B.J. Neverett has contributed to four of Nashua’s record six league championships. The longtime “Gate City” resident and Nashua North High School coach joined the Silver Knights as Director of Player Personnel and an assistant coach during the league’s inaugural 2011 season before taking over managerial duties for the team’s second straight title-winning campaign a year later. Neverett returned to his previous role for the next few years before resuming the helm from 2016-19, winning titles in his first two years back as field manager. His 2012 club held the league’s single-season record for wins (39) until 2021, including future San Francisco Giant Chris Shaw. Neverett was a 2010 inductee into the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA) Coaches Hall of Fame.
Mike Odenwaelder’s name is written into Futures League record books as both a player and a coach, having been named Most Valuable Player and Manager of the Year during his multifaceted career. The former Division 3 All-American at Amherst College played three seasons for the Torrington Titans, hitting a league-best .370 with 49 RBI and 20 stolen bases as the league’s MVP in 2014. Odenwaelder was later drafted by the Baltimore Orioles and spent two seasons in their minor league system.
While coaching at his alma mater alongside fellow Hall of Fame inductee J.P. Pyne, Odenwaelder spent the 2019 season in the North Shore Navigators dugout and was named Futures League Manager of the Year after guiding the organization to its first playoff appearance in three years. After spending last season as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College, Odenwaelder was recently named the head coach at Eastern Connecticut State University.
A dugout veteran with nearly two decades of college coaching experience throughout New England, J.P. Pyne joined the Futures League family as an assistant coach under Neverett in 2012 as Nashua won its second straight championship. He managed the Silver Knights in 2013, leading them to 34 wins and another appearance in the title series. Pyne returned to the league as the Worcester Bravehearts’ manager from 2016-18, compiling 129 regular-season and 10 postseason victories in three seasons. His Worcester teams won more than 30 games in two of those years, capturing a West Division title in 2016 and a playoff championship in 2018. Since leaving the Bravehearts to become Amherst College’s head coach, Pyne has continued his relationship with the Futures League by sending players from his Clark University and Amherst teams to numerous organizations every summer.
In addition to the five individual Hall of Famers, the league will honor its first-ever championship team, the 2011 Nashua Silver Knights. Under the direction of Nashua native and current Franklin Pierce head coach Mike Chambers, the team finished 27-16 and swept a two-game series against Torrington for the historic title. Nashua’s six All-Futures League players included Pitcher of the Year Eric Perrault (Keene State), Batting Champion Logan Gillis (Bentley), Defensive Player of the Year Rob Benedict (Welsey) and Relief Pitcher of the Year Dylan Maki (Northeastern).
The Futures League’s inaugural class of Hall of Famers was inducted in 2020 following the league’s milestone 10th season, consisting of 13 individuals who have, in a variety of ways, contributed to the league’s creation and continued success over its first decade of existence in New England.
The 2022 Hall of Famers will be honored following the third annual Futures League Golf Tournament, which will begin at 12 p.m. on October 7. Click here to register for the tournament and Hall of Fame induction event. Contact Nashua Silver Knights Assistant GM Katie Arend ([email protected], 603-718-8883) with any questions.
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