Captains victorious on Cleveland Sports History Night over Great Lakes, 6-3

Aug. 6—Aug. 6 was the 13th annual Cleveland Sports History Night held by the Lake County Captains, as they continued their series with the Loons at Classic Park.

Featured among the group of guests were current Browns players Denzel Ward, Greg Newsome II and Perrion Winfrey, former Harlem Globetrotter and Cleveland native Derick Polk and former Cavalier Larry Nance Sr.

Many fans remember Nance's time with the Cavaliers from 1988-1994, including their runs to the Eastern Conference finals in 1991-92 season. Nance was honored to be able to interact with fans young and old to spend some time and talk with all in attendance.

"It's always good because people still remember our group of guys from that era," Nance said. "A lot of fans have already talked about the Coliseum days, and it's always a blast. It's always good when they bring us back up because we have a lot of fun and we have the best fans in the world."

Also a basketball player, Polk graduated from Cleveland Central Catholic before he played for Ohio State and had a handful of seasons where he tried his hand at professional basketball.

While that didn't pan out, Polk did find success as a member of the Harlem Globtrotters, who he spent six years with.

"This is my second time being a part of this event, and I think that it's great because it gives the fans a chance to see the athletes," Polk said. "They can watch us on TV all the time, but it's rare for them to be able to get up close and take pictures and interact with us. The Captains do a great job of doing things like this."

Nance and Polk are friends, and both shared the same sentiment of being able to give back to the fans. With the chance to both be a part of one of the biggest events in the Captains' schedule, they wanted to be included.

"It means I must be doing something right," Polk said. "Every athlete wants to be appreciated for what they do, and I've been blessed so much and it allows for me to give back. As a kid from the city of Cleveland to show these kids what they can achieve is something special."

Nance added: "It's always a joy to be able to be a part of events like this. It spans from people talking about the old Cavaliers teams in the 90s, wearing the throwback jerseys, to us talking about the current group of Cavs players. I'm always thrilled to be a part of these types of events."

While fans got to meet players from the past and present of Cleveland sports, the Captains made sure they gave them an enjoyable. Lake County jumped ahead early in a 6-3 victory.

Joe Naranjo started the action with a three-run home run to left field in the bottom of the first. Then a single by Angel Martinez drove Connor Kokx in the fourth, and Korey Holland tacked on a solo homer to right in the sixth and Johnathan Rodriguez recorded an RBI single in the eighth for insurance.

Lake County (54-45) starter Jack Leftwich composed another strong showing, as he went six innings, struck out four, allowed five hits and prevented any Loons runs.

Great Lakes got on the scoreboard with a three-run eighth inning, but Jack DeGroat and Trey Benton made sure that was all that they got, as they combined for 1 2/3 innings of scoreless work.

The teams conclude their series Aug. 7, as Tommy Mace (0-4, 4.86 ERA) on the bump with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.