Wareham, Mass. — The stands were packed at Spillane Field, all eyes fixated on the helicopter touching down in center field. The Massachusetts State Police brought their helicopter for the opening ceremonies of First Responders’ Night, a night dedicated to law enforcement in the Police, Fire, and EMS departments of Wareham and beyond.

“This was such an awesome night. The crowd was phenomenal. Anytime you see the football bleachers filling up, you know, it's something special. But more importantly, playing for the first responders who are putting their lives on the line for us is something special,” said Gatemen Field Manager Ryan Smyth.

The players of both the Wareham Gatemen and Falmouth Commodores took a picture with police officers in front of the helicopter, commemorating a night for the brave men and women who keep their communities safe.

“Those men and women sacrifice a lot of their time for this community, and communities around the world. To have them come out here on a nice day and watch us play some ball and play hard for them; it means a lot,” said Gatemen Third Baseman Kyuss Gargett (Kentucky).

There was a packed crowd, excited to see a Gatemen team that entered the game red-hot, winning three straight games. They were rewarded with yet another great performance from start to finish.

The Gatemen (4-3) defeated the Falmouth Commodores (3-4) 4-1 on Saturday, sealing their fourth consecutive win, and putting the Gatemen only a half game out of first place in the West Division.

After the State Police helicopter had a minor malfunction, preventing its liftoff and slightly delaying the game, the game started as many expected it to, with both teams starting some of their best pitchers. Both teams went three-up-three-down in the first inning, and it seemed a pitching duel was happening on schedule; however, the Gatemen offense proved to be too hot for Commodores Starting Pitcher T.J. Coats (Nebraska) to handle.

In the bottom of the second, the Gatemen put up four runs on the Commodores’ defense with two outs, batting around the order to do so. The rally started with back-to-back walks, then third baseman Kyuss Gargett blasted a 2-RBI triple to left center field, putting the Gatemen on the board.

“I got my head out and put a nice ball in play, and got the boys rolling a little bit. So it felt good,” said Gargett.

It was the first triple of the season for the Gatemen, and it was not the original plan for Gargett rounding the bases, but he took the chance when the opportunity arose.

“I wasn't going for three rounding second base, then I saw the outfielder bobbled the ball a little bit and thought ‘I got it’. And so I just kept going, and went off my skill,” said Gargett about his triple.

The hit fired up the Gatemen dugout as they got off to an early lead. From there, the Gatemen added on more runs with a pair of RBI singles from second baseman Brayden Randle (Ole Miss) and Kollin Ritchie (Oklahoma State) to put the Gatemen’s four runs on the board.

However, Gargett’s triple would not be the only triple of the game. First baseman Ty Dalley (Clemson) also crushed a triple into center field in the bottom of the fifth, joining his teammate in the triple club.

“We play in a pretty decent-sized ballpark, so it's not totally surprising to me to see that happen. Sometimes we want to show off the speed, and the middle of the order guys want to show off that speed too,” said Smyth.

Unfortunately for the Gatemen, Dalley did not score from third in that inning, but he did not need to. The Gatemen’s defense held the Commodores to only one run and three hits.

A big reason for that was because of another fantastic start from left-handed pitcher Chase Richter (Arkansas State). In Richter’s second start of the season, he pitched 4 ⅔ innings, allowing only 2 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 8 batters.

“I’ve been allowing my body to work when I get out there, attacking hitters early, being able to fill up the zone, and just trusting my stuff, that’s what’s been working for me,” said Richter.

The performance increased his strikeout count to 14 on the season, the most on the team and the 4th in the entire league. He also maintains a perfect 0.00 ERA, making him a valuable asset in the Gatemen’s starting rotation.

“He's doing really well. That first hitter of the game, he didn't look comfortable, and then he settled in real quick. He's been awesome giving us length, having two outings at five innings, and again, it's a good start,” said Smyth about Richter’s performance.

The Commodores simply had no answer for the Red Wolf southpaw and could not string together any offense. Star player Maika Niu (Marshall), who entered the game batting .300 and acted as one of the best hitters for Falmouth out of the leadoff spot, went 0 for 5 in the game.

The only Commodores run came in the top of the sixth inning as Antonio Morales (Wake Forest) scored after Kyle Morrison (Texas A&M) grounded out to third. Other than that, it was a dominant pitching day for the Gatemen, with Kaleb Applebey (Austin Peay State) grabbing his second win of the season and Patrick Galle (Ole Miss) grabbing his second save of the summer, as Kyuss Gargett secured the final out on a ground ball to third.

The Gatemen once again delivered a great performance from start to finish, thanks to the deadly combination of an energized offense and a rock-solid pitching staff.

“We've been getting good starts, and now that the bats are coming around, we're putting up runs early. So you combine those, and that's a good recipe for success,” said Smyth.

“We just got a bunch of gritty guys. It doesn’t really matter who the opponent is, I trust our group to win,” said Richter.

The Gatemen have one more game before their first day off of the season. They return to Whitehouse Field to face the Harwich Mariners for the second time this summer, aiming to win five consecutive games going into the break.

“We keep this going by consistency. Baseball is a game of failure, but the mistakes that we can limit on defense, and executing situationally on offense; that's how we'll keep winning,” said Gargett.

First pitch between the Mariners and the Gatemen will be Sunday, June 22, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. at Whitehouse Field in Harwich.