It was the final week of the regular season, the next-to-last Nashua Silver Knights home game.

The opponent, the Westfield Starfires, were entrenched in last place, but they were all over the fifth place Knights, whose 2-17 finish will be forever part of franchise lore, unfortunately.

The final was 10-2, but here’s the thing: There was a very good crowd on hand, as had been the case the final two or three weeks of the season. Thursdays used to be packed but that trend had tailed off – until the last few weeks of this season.

But by the seventh inning, fans were packing up and heading out. It wasn’t good baseball, the Knights, who had been eliminated the previous night from postseason contention, weren’t competitive.

This night was a reason the Silver Knights cannot afford in 2026 to miss the postseason for a fourth straight year. They can’t let the baseball deteriorate, not a franchise that has an FCBL leading six championships, last coming in 2022. The season ticket base we hear is a bit disgruntled – they’re the diehards who are there every home game, follow the team closely, and are more apt to read anything written about the Knights than not.

What happened to a team that was 22-19 and then went 2-17 the rest of the way is a mystery in some ways and not in others. First, let’s be honest, no one expected this. Manager Nick Guarino knew he didn’t have a potent offensive team so he managed small ball and it worked until the team’s one-two hitters both got hurt. Eventually, it caught up with them and the Knights became a team of singles hitters, unable to mount the comebacks they did the first half of the season. College coaches gave them a lot of pitchers who were given innings and pitch restrictions. Yet until mid-July the Kights were a thrill for the local fandom to watch, declaring that they don’t lose at home.

That’s why owner John Creedon, Jr. will be a bit more active in what the team does on the baseball side in the off-season. Not in a nagging way, he’s not like that. He’ll consult with his baseball staff, and ask or see if there’s anything he can do, any call he can make, etc. Ironically Nashua on the business side had one of its best seasons ever – likely the best in the Creedon ownership era since he bought the team in 2019 — with a record average attendance. That part of Silver Knight life was good.

And the ironic thing was the slow starts that ruined seasons past didn’t take place. This just didn’t make any sense. How? Why?

“It’s a different way to lose,” Creedon said. “It’s on me.”

You had to feel for general manager Cam Cook and field manager Nick Guarino, and also the players that stuck it out all year. This is their livelihood.

But something’s got to change. The Silver Knights need to get some heavy hitters, players like they had back in the previous decade.They know it. Both Guarino and Cook talked about expanding the college base, going out of their comfort zone. And, listen up Silver Knight fans – if they go national with their player search, these guys will need a place to stay. As in host family. That may be a huge, huge key.

“There’s a lot of randomness to it,” Guarino said. “You don’t know (about a player).”

True, but Nashua’s luck has to turn. Here’s another suggestion. Please, please, please Futures League, put a limit on the high school graduates (incoming freshmen) that teams can have. Nashua has had waaaaay too many in the past; limit it to four per team. There were players on this team that didn’t belong. This is a college league, people. Not – and no offense – Legion or AAU ball.

“We’re not doing that next year,” Guarino said. “I have a better idea now how it all goes. If we had Matt Jackson (a Division I hitter from Stonybrook) all year, he’s a (Vermont’s Shaun) McMillan, (Worcester’s Jackson) Marshall type guy.”

It’s interesting, Guarino says in the FCBL the top flight Division I players are players who don’t play good defense. So they are sent to the FCBL because their college coaches know they will get 40 to 60 games to hone their skills. That was the case for McMillan at Vermont at first base. “And he’s going to get better because of it,” Guarino said.

Those are the guys Nashua needs. The baseball side can spill into the business side in a good way. But if you’re not careful…

“We’re going to level up with our baseball knowledge,” Creedon said, “and get some guidance. And go from there.”

As Guarino said, “We’re going to figure it out.”

They really have no choice now.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on X @Telegraph _TomK.