Late-game heroics by Tyler Ross and flame-throwing Colby Suggs enabled Wareham to take first blood in Cape Cod Baseball League Championship Series on Wednesday.

After lining an RBI single in the seventh inning, Ross towered a 1-1 pitch over the centerfield wall in the top of the ninth inning to lift the visiting Gatemen to an exciting 5-4 win over Yarmouth-Dennis in Game 1 before 2,323 fans at Red Wilson Field.

The 6-0, 225-pound Suggs earned the save with a three-strikeout ninth inning, throwing several blazing fastballs in the 94-97 MPH range.

The ninth-inning blast by the LSU catcher spoiled a brilliant pitching performance by Red Sox right-hander Andrew Thurman (Cal-Irvine), who allowed five hits and one walk over seven innings while striking out 12 Wareham batters.

Kendall Graveman (Mississippi St.) started for the Gatemen, allowing seven hits and two walks in seven innings with four strikeouts.

Y-D took an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI double by Alex Blandino (Stanford), a squeeze bunt and a bases-loaded walk.

Wareham answered in the top of the third on an RBI single by Cole Sturgeon (Louisville), but the Red Sox took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the third on a solo blast by Robert Pehl (Washington).

The Gatemen cut the lead to 4-2 in the top of the fourth on a homer by power-hitting Daniel Palka (Georgia Tech) and made it a one-run game in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Ross, who was tagged out on a rundown after the run had scored.

With runners on second and third in the top of the eighth, Palka drove in the tying run on a grounder to first base against reliever Jonathan Holder (Mississippi St.), who earned the win with a scoreless eighth inning, setting the heroics by Ross and Suggs.

Zak Blair (Mercyhurst) made the defensive play of the game for YD in the eight inning when he fielded a drive off the top of the right-field fence by Ethan Gross (Memphis) and threw out the Wareham shortstop with a perfect throw to second base.

Ross and Dustin DeMuth (Indiana) were repeat hitters for the Gatemen, while Palka and Ross drove in two runs apiece. Pehl and Blair led the Y-D attack with two hits apiece.

The two teams return to action Thursday with a game 2 contest at Spillane Field in Wareham at 7 p.m.