TRUMBULL, Conn. – Nashua’s quest for a berth to the 15-year-old Babe Ruth World Series ended at the hands of host Trumbull on Sunday night.

The victory by Connecticut state champion New Milford over Plymouth, Mass., earlier in the day turned the night cap into a winner-take-all playoff game with the survivor of Trumbull and Nashua slated to go to the semifinals on Monday.

Trumbull ended up being too tough for the New Hampshire state champions, using an eight-hit attack and the pitching of righthander Tyler Zikias to post a 5-0 victory in the final game of pool play at the Trumbull High School field.

Zikias allowed just two hits over six innings with eight strikeouts and five walks. Trumbull ace Mike D’Agostino, making his first appearance of the tournament, got the final three outs to seal the game in the seventh.

Nashua finished 1-2 in pool play, posting a 6-5 victory over Plymouth on Saturday after dropping a 10-0 decision against New Milford in the first game on Friday.

With just three pitchers at their disposal during the tournament season, it’s still quite an accomplishment for Nashua to get this far.

"They’re a hard-fighting club," manager Willie Kearsead said. "I think we did very well to get this far. They have nothing to hang their heads about."

Nahua’s only regret is possibly not coming in as prepared as they could have been.

"I think we performed ok," said Alex Amigo, who

played as good a defensive shortstop as anyone in the tournament. "But I think we could have done better. Going from the states to the regionals is a big step up and I think we could have been more prepared."

Trumbull finished 3-0 in pool play and moves on to face Augusta, Maine, in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Dom Paladino started and pitched the first three innings for Nashua and was relieved by Amigo in the fourth. Catcher A.J. Mele had two hits for Nahua and Andrew Patno had a single. Patno also had a solid game in left field, tracking down a number of balls that should have gone for hits.

Trumbull built a 5-0 lead with two runs in the second, one in the third and two more in the fourth.

Nashua had the bases loaded with two outs as Amigo and Pat McCarthy walked and Connor Coy reached on an error. But Zikias struck out Alex Patno swinging to end the threat.

Nashua had first and second with one out in the top of the seventh as Tyler Macquarie was hit by a pitch and Mele singled to center, but Trumbull turned a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.