The opening day for Wareham Gatemen baseball is something of a pastime for Dan Murphy and his three kids.

The family lives in Mansfield, but owns a summer home in Wareham, and they have been attending opening day for around 10 years, Murphy said.

"It's kicking off the start of summer, kind of like the 4th of July is one of those traditions, opening day for the Cape Cod League is another one," he said.

Murphy and his daughter, Grace, shared jelly beans while sitting in the bleachers overlooking the first Gatemen game of the season on Thursday, June 14. The team took on the Chatham Anglers at Spillane Field.

The pair sat together until they were joined by Murphy's sons, Sean and Matthew. The two came running back proudly displaying a foul ball that Sean recovered a few hundred feet from Spillane Field, in front of Wareham Middle School.

There were plenty of balls to be caught, as Gatemen and Anglers hit many of them outside the field, with one of the balls breaking a new record — shattering a middle school window early in the game.

The broken window shocked and awed baseball fans, who seemed sure that any evidence of a similar occurrence lay buried deep in the annals of Gatemen history.

The area was quickly cleaned by staff and volunteers on hand, however, and attention returned to the baseball on the field.

The Gatemen trailed the Anglers early on as the visitors scored 4 runs in the 2nd inning to put themselves ahead of Wareham, 4-1.

The low score did not stop the traditional 5th inning T-shirt giveaway, however, and kids stopped playing catch outside of the field and ran into the bleachers after the 5th inning to catch shirts thrown into the stands by Gatemen players.

The free T-shirts were not the only audience/player interaction throughout the game.

Gatemen players Dan Tobik and Sean Newcomb made their way into the stands to help sell raffle tickets.

And, honoring another Gatemen home opener tradition, players from Wareham Little League lined the infield looking toward a white pole adorned with the American flag as a performer sang the American anthem.

"I think it's good, the kids love it," said Wareham Little League T-ball coach Dan Reardon about the young players' experience of getting out onto the field. "They get to go out there and feel like they're a part of the team."

Gary the Gateman was a new addition to the line-up this year.

The new mascot adorned a Gatemen jersey, an oversized head with a nose like Pinocchio, and an upbeat Gateman spirit as he slapped high-fives, hugged, and danced with fans.

Back on the field, the Gatemen continued to trail the Anglers well into the last innings, when 3 more runs by the Anglers put the visitors up 7-1.

A late 7th inning rally gave the Gatemen 2 more runs to put them within 5 with bases loaded.

The Gatemen were not able to hit that grand slam, however, though the team sent one more player home to make the score 7-4 at the end of the 7th inning.

The 8th inning passed by quickly, giving the Gatemen the 9th inning to catch up.

Pitcher Jonathan Holder, a freshman from Mississippi State University, stepped up to the plate and struck out at least 2 Anglers to keep the Gatemen within 3 runs.

The Gatemen offense managed to get bases loaded without any outs in the bottom of the 9th.

Two strikeouts later, Ethan Gross of the University of Memphis hit a single to send a teammate to home base and bring the Gatemen within 2 runs.

A second player attempted an ambitious steal home, however, and he was called out at home, abruptly ending the game in favor of the Anglers, 7-5.

Even without the winning score, the turnout of the home opener was enough to please Gatemen president and general manager Tom Gay.

"Overall, it's very well attended," Gay said. "All the new staff and interns are doing a good job, so it looks like we're off to a good start."

The Gatemen have 2 home games coming up against Brewster Whitecaps on Friday, June 15 and the Falmouth Commodores on Saturday, June 16. Both games are at 7 p.m. The Gatemen will play at Cotuit on Sunday, June 17 at 5 p.m. For more information and a full Gatemen Schedule, visit www.gatemen.org.