Mohegan — ESPN commentator Holly Rowe will receive the Margo Dydek Award as its 2018 Woman of Inspiration when the Connecticut Sun host the Chicago Sky on Sunday, Aug. 12, at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Rowe has covered a variety of sports at ESPN for over 20 years and has continued to work despite currently receiving treatment for Stage IV Metastatic Melanoma. The Sun, in Rowe's name, will make a $1,000 donation to the AIM at Melanoma Foundation, the largest international melanoma organization focues on research, education, legislation and awareness.

The award, named after the former Sun center, is given to an outstanding woman who has distinguished themselves while positively impacting the local community. Dydek was a former Sun all-star who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 37 in 2011. She was an accomplished professional who finished her WNBA career as the career leader in blocks. But Dydek was better known for a warm and open spirit that endeared her to so many women's basketball fans around the world.

"This is incredible to me," Rowe said in a Sun release. "Margo Dydek was one of the first WNBA players I covered when she was drafted by the Utah Starzz. As their color analyst, I was fortunate to get to know her. She was gentle and kind while working hard and being tough on the court. I will never forget her telling me, she and her sister learned how to sew their own clothes because it was impossible to find something to fit her seven-foot-two frame. She was a lovely woman and I admired her. I have long grieved that we lost her so young."

NECBL

• Brett Rodriguez (Wofford) hit a fifth-inning grand slam to lift the Mystic Schooners to a 6-1 victory over the New Bedford Bay Sox in a New England Collegiate Baseball League game at Fitch High School. University of Hartford teammates Chris Sullivan and Zach Ardito had two hits apiece for the Schooners (20-18) while Zach Thompson (Maryland) got the win, allowing just three hits over six innings with no walks and 11 strikeouts.

LL baseball (8-10)

• East Lyme won its opening game in the state tournament at Willimantic with a 9-2 win over Jewett City. Nick Cambi pitched four innings to earn the win and also scored twice and drove in two runs. Ryan Wargo, Garrison Biggs, Andrew Sevigny and Kaiden Gates also had hits for East Lyme, which will play Southington in a winners' bracket game on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

LL baseball (9-11)

• District 10 champion Mystic will have to wait a day before playing for the state championship after Monday's losers' bracket final between Westport and Simsbury at East Hampton was rained out. The game will be played on Tuesday with the winner facing Mystic in the championship round starting Wednesday.

College football

• Safety Obi Melifonwu is UConn's lone representative on the American Athletic Conference Fifth Anniversary team. Melifonwu played for the Huskies from 2013-16 and was a first-team All-AAC pick in 2016 when he was second in the AAC in tackles per game (9.8). He currently plays for the Oakland Raiders. The team was selected based on a fan vote, a vote of local and national media members and a vote of the AAC's 12 football programs.

Wolves acquire Digby

• The New England Black wolves of the National Lacrosse League acquired Tyler Digby from the Calgary Roughnecks. In addition, the Wolves will receive a fourth-round pick in the 2019 NLL Entry Draft in exchange for New England's second and third round picks in 2019. Digby, a 6-foot-3 forward, had six goals and 16 assists in 13 games for Calgary last season and has 124 goals and 147 assists in 85 career games over five season.

Women's lacrosse

• Coast Guard Academy's Daria McKenna, a former Fitch star, was named to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Division III Academic Honor Roll for the second straight season. McKenna, who graduated with a degree in operations research and computer analysis, was the first play in program history to score over 100 points and is the Bears' career lead in points (133), goals (84) and assists (49). She was also a three-time All-Academic pick by the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference and was a second team All-NEWMAC pick in 2018.

DAZ tournament (11-12)

• East Lyme defeated New London 5-2 as Alex Salerno pitched 5.2 innings to earn the win while allowing three hits and striking out nine. Quinn Killoy (2-for-2) broke a scoreless tie with a two-run home in the third for East Lyme and Ralphie Sanchez hit a two-run homer for New London.

• New London defeated Pawcatuck 11-7 behind winning pitcher Luca Muscarella, who allowed only three hits in four innings. Derrel Mitchell hit two home runs for New London, Sanchez added a three-run homer and Ethan Torres went 2-for-3 with a double. Aaron LoPresto had two hits and scored a run for Pawcatuck while Camden Ogden hit a two-run homer and Ethan Torres had a double and a run.

• New London defeated Groton 10-9, rallying in the bottom of the sixth to win on an RBI single by Almando Aquirre, his second hit of the inning. Matthew Pero added a two-run homer in the sixth while Almando Aguirre was the winning pitch in relief with five strikeouts in 2.2 innings. Nathan Virtue hit a three-run homer for Groton while Braxton Rios had two hits and two runs.

• East Lyme defeated Ledyard 10-5 as was Alex Dreyhus was the winning pitcher in relief and Alex Salerno was 3-for-3 with three RBI, including a home run, and Liam Cochrane had two hits and two runs. Freddie Myers had Ledyard's only hit.