For the first time in 14 years, Greater Cleveland has a professional baseball championship in its trophy case.
No, we're not talking about the Guardians, who will be hoping to break their 76-year World Series title drought when the MLB playoffs begin next month. The honor goes to their High-A affiliates in the Lake County Captains, who became kings of the Midwest League by beating the Timber Rattlers 9-4 in the decisive game of the championship series.
The two teams split the opening two games of the best-of-three showdown, forcing a winner-take-all Game 3 Wednesday night in Eastlake. Tied 1-1 after five innings, the Captains set sail in the sixth, taking the lead on doubles by Wuilfredo Antunez and Jake Fox before blue chip prospect Ralphy Velazquez slammed a towering three-run homer to right to make it 6-1.
The Rattlers clawed back with three in the eighth to cut the deficit to two, but Lake County responded in the bottom of the frame with a solo homer by Fox. Travis Bazzana and Angel Genao — who like Velazquez are among baseball's top 100 prospects — added RBI singles to put the game out of reach, and Shawn Rapp worked a perfect ninth to clinch the Midwest title.
It's the Captains' second Midwest League championship in their 22-year history, with the first coming back in 2010 when it was still a Class A league. Among the players on that squad was Roberto Pérez, who eventually became a two-time Gold Glove winner with the Cleveland Indians.
Elsewhere on the farm, the Double-A Akron RubberDucks are battling the Erie SeaWolves for the Eastern League title. The Ducks dropped Game 1 Tuesday at Canal Park and will need to win Thursday in Pennsylvania to force a Game 3.
