While the Lake County Captains baseball team has posted a losing 64-74 record in each of its last two seasons, its top brass assures that the squad is much better than the numbers indicate for its home opener tonight against the Baltimore Oriole's Class-A affiliate, the Delmarva Shorebirds. "As always, developing players is our primary goal. Good, hard work and coaching is more responsible for our players' success. It's a work ethic not lost at all to our team and organization as a whole," says Kevin Brodzinski, the team's general manager. "A lot of the talent is cultivated right here."Case in point: Tribe hurler and former Lake County Captain Fausto Carmona ended the 2007 season with 19 victories under his belt to form the Indians' one-two pitching punch with teammate C.C. Sabathia. And last year, the Captains' pitching staff threw two no-hitters in 10 days against the same Shorebirds team. "Fans are lucky enough to see a single no-hitter in their lives, let alone two of them in less than two weeks. It established recognition of the success of the farm system in baseball and proves that teams aren't always trading for talent," says Brodzinski. "Our current players are tomorrow's highlight reels." First pitch is at 7:05 tonight at Classic Park, 35300 Vine Street in Eastlake. Tickets are $7 to $22. Call 440-954-9467 or visit www.captainsbaseball.com.
Tue., April 8, 7:05 p.m., 2008
