‘Clutch up’: Redmond’s SunWest Legion baseball team battles to win regional championship

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Central Oregon has an American Legion baseball champion.

The SunWest baseball team from Redmond has won the state title two years in a row. 

Last year at regionals, they fell short of a championship. 

This year, they got redemption. 

After six days of baseball, the SunWest Legion team beat a Montana team 8-6, in Montana, to take home the title.

It was not an easy week.

They lost their first game 2-1, striking out 13 times.

They were down in nearly every game, and even trailed in the championship game 5-1.

The team has a wide range of players, from freshmen in high school to freshmen in college.

Many of the players have been playing together since they were young, and Coach Marc Horner is incredibly proud of their perseverance. 

"Everybody at one point or another failed miserably, and succeeded incredibly, to step up and clutch up,” Horner said.

He touched on how special the moment was.

"It's always fun when you win that last game that you can possibly win at the end of the year,” Horner said. “It kind of hasn't hit us yet, I don't think. It's about experiences, and experiencing that with these guys is a complete blessing."

Horner has two sons on the team and a third son as the bat boy.

However, he considers every player a son, saying you have to treat your team like family.