Nashua's Caleb Vacchiano forces Westfield's RyanVentrelle at third during Sunday's FCBL game at Historic Holman Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – It was a perfect example of why they in all likelihood will miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

The Nashua Silver Knights fell to the Westfield Starfires 7-4 in 10 innings on Sunday at Historic Holman Stadium in a game they possibly could have won in regulation.

But the bullpen couldn’t hold a 3-2 lead in the ninth, allowing Westfield to tie it. And in the 10, it collectively gave up four runs to seal their fate.

Nashua (22-32) is now 4.5 games out of a playoff spot with five games left. Norwich (26-26), which is slated to be in town tonight (weather permitting), has already leapfrogged over Worcester (26-27) into third place and can clinch a spot in the four-team postseason with a win tonight at Historic Holman Stadium.

Sunday Nashua had broken a 2-2 tie when Connor Smith scored on a wild pitch. Former Nashua South and Coffey Post standout Brendon Doughty, who had been working concessions for the team all season but let the Knights know when Legion season ended he’d be available, had tossed four scoreless innings of relief until the ninth.

He plunked Westfield’s Jackson Richard to lead off and gave up two hits with a ground out in between, Cayden Van Dolah’s blooper to center tying the game and spelling Doughty’s exit.

Another local, former Bishop Guertin standout and four-year Knight Brandon Metivier came in and worked out of trouble to keep things 3-3. In the bottom half, Nashua’s Peter Fischer took a called third strike right down the pipe with the count 3-2 and the winning run at third to send things to the 10th.

Then it all fell apart. Westfield, with the automatic runner at second to begin the 10th, scored four times off Metivier and Zak Lussier as the pen couldn’t hold the Starfires down to even at least one run.

The lack of relief help – the bullpen shorthanded to begin with and then even more so after three relievers combined to toss 5.1 scoreless innings Saturday night – had the Knights sticking with Doughty for the ninth.

“I don’t have a closer,” Nashua manager Nick Guarino said. “Every move is under a microscopic. He (Doughty) was rolling, I keep him in there, he was pitching pretty good. … They score four in the 10th and tough to come back from that.”

Things were tight throughout. Cole Camara’s RBI double in the first (1-0) and Wyatt Raymond’s homer over the first tier of billboards in left in the fifth (2-2) both off starter Ty Lohsen were Westfield’s runs while Nashua plated two in the first to be up 2-1 on Nate Kearney’s RBI single and Caleb Vacchiano’s sac fly.

In the 10th, after a leadoff walk and ground out, Albin Valdez singled in the go-ahead spelling Metivier’s exit. Pinch hitter and FCBL HR Derby champ Morrie Fried greeted Lussier with a double off the left field wall to plate another. Two wild pitches brough home two more runs. Ugh.

It’s just been Nashua’s bugaboo from mid-July on: Finishing games.

So now the Knights, pretty much knowing their barring-a-miracle fate, will take things this week as they come. They have Norwich tonight, off Tuesday, at New Britain Wednesday, home vs. Westfield and Norwich Friday (last home game) and close out the disappointing season at Vermont on Saturday.

“We’re just having fun now, positive reps, have fun, get the most out of the last five days you have with each other,” Guarino said. “We were loose all day today. BP was loose, we were loose all game.”

But the result was all to frustratingly familiar.