Lake County Sentinel
Captains take down Lugnuts 6-5
Ray Milavec to be honored by Captains on Sunday
BY TIM SHIRER
CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER
The Lake County Captains entered Saturday night's contest against the Lansing Lugnuts barely alive for the final playoff spot in the Midwest League East Division. For the second night in a row the Captains took down the Lugnuts, this time 6-5 in front of 7,684 at Classic Park.
The Captains got on the board first in the second inning when Martin Cervenka singled to lead off the inning. Li-Jen Chu then doubled and Cervenka moved to third. Bobby Ison followed with a sacrifice fly and Cervenka trotted home with the Captains first run.
The Lugnuts tied the game in the fourth with a single run off Captains starter Micah Miniard. Then took the lead in the top of the fifth when they put two more runs on the board to take a 3-1 lead.
Then the rain and lightning arrived with two outs in the inning. The game was delayed for an hour and twenty-six minutes before the game resumed.
The Captains bats got started in the bottom of the fifth when Sam Haggerty led off the inning by drawing a base on balls. Jose Medina then singled to right field and Haggerty moved to second. Ordormar Valdez then executed a nice sacrifice bunt, moving Haggerty to third and Medina to second base. Haggerty then came home when Willi Castro reached on a fielding error by Lugnuts shortstop J.C. Cardenas, pulling the Captains to within one run at 3-2.
The Captains regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Jose Medina hit a majestic three run home run giving the Captains a 5-3 lead. The home run for Medina was his eighth long ball of the season.
The Lugnuts added single runs in the eighth and ninth, but that was too little too late.
The Captains scored their final run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Medina tripled and drove home Haggerty with the Captains sixth run.
The two teams will play game three of their four game set Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Justin Maese. Maese is 1-3 with a 2.62 ERA. The Captains will counter with Shao-Ching Chiang. Chiang a righty is 8-11 with a 3.77.
Prior to Sunday's game the Captains will honor Ray Milavec who was the PA voice of the Captains for ten seasons before former Captains GM Brad Seymour decided to make a change at the position.
Milavec, will be inducted into the Captains "Coaches Crow’s Nest” which honors Area College and high school. Ray was a teacher for 30 years in the Wickliffe School District and coached softball, baseball and volleyball for decades. Ray was an assistant coach on Wickliffe's two state championship teams in 1992 and 1993.
The Wickliffe legend Milavec was named Plain Dealer coach of the year in 2000 his final year coaching at the high school level. Ray returned to coaching and coached volleyball and fast pitch softball at Wickliffe Middle School, where he also served as athletic director until he retired in 2015.
On a personal note, I have known Ray Milavec since I was 14 years old, over 34 years. Ray is one of the top five nicest people I have ever known in my life. My first memory of "Mr. Milavec" was at a talent show at Wickliffe Junior High. He was a teacher at the high school at the time, I was in seventh grade at the Junior High. The talent show was an annual tradition where students and many teacher would perform skits or songs. I had never heard of Mr. Milavec until he took the stage dressed as a pilgrim and sung his version of "On Broadway" and nailed it. For the next 34 years I have had this memory and many others and I am honored to call Ray a friend. Sunday's ceremony will be emotional and a very deserving honor as Ray joins the greatest coaches and educators in the area in the Lake County Captains "Crow's Nest."
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @IndiansTim Check out our IndiansNation fan page
POSTED 08/27/2016 23:24
