The Gatemen fell to the Bourne Braves 4-0 on a cool Tuesday night at Spillane Field, bringing an end to Wareham's season, as the Braves swept the the Gatemen in the first round of the Cape Cod Baseball League playoffs.

The Gatemen finished the regular season with a 17-25-2 record, good enough for third place in the West division. They were no match for the Braves, however, as the Bourne Bridge rivals beat the Gatemen by a combined score of 11-1 in the first two games of the three-game playoff series.

Bourne took the lead in the first inning Tuesday night on a mammoth three-run home run by the Braves shortstop C.J. Chatham. Both teams settled into the game after the first, and the Gatemen couldn't convert on good opportunities in the middle of the game.

Gatemen third baseman Andrew Knizner led off the fifth inning with a standup double. With runners on first and second and two outs, Gatemen catcher Nick Cierci hit a single into center field that would have caused a play at the plate, if not driven in a run, but Knizner had to hold at third after he tripped rounding the bag. With the bases loaded, the next Gatemen batter grounded weakly to second base for the third out.

Wareham threatened again the next inning, this time with the bases loaded and only one out. Pinch hitter Jay Jabs stepped into the box for the Gatemen, but struck out swinging.

That brought up Gatemen outfielder and Cape Cod League batting title champion Andrew Calica, who finished the season with a stellar .425 batting average, the highest average in a Cape League summer since 1982.

Calica battled through a 13-pitch at bat, hitting foul balls left and right, sending hordes of children into the Wareham night, chasing after them in hopes of grabbing a souvenir.

But Calica lost the battle and struck out looking at the last pitch. The Gatemen never threatened to score for the rest of the game.

Despite picking up the loss, it was a quality start for Gatemen pitcher Brett Hanewich, who went six innings, struck out six, and gave up no runs after the three runs in the first.

The loss was in many ways a microcosm of the Gatemen season, as the offense couldn't produce timely hits or generate runs. Including Tuesday's loss, the Gatemen were shut out seven times this summer and finished near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories, including finishing last in runs batted in.

While the season was an improvement on the last two years, where Wareham failed to reach the postseason, the Gatemen still have yet to win a playoff game since 2012, when they were league champions.

The Bourne Braves will go on to face the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the next round of the playoffs, but the Gatemen were only left to wonder what could have been, as they left Spillane Field for the final time this summer.