Into the path of every championship team, some adversity must appear. For the 2017 Lewis-Clark State baseball team, its most persistent foe was the weather.
Snow and rain kept the Warriors indoors throughout January, February and much of March. They came into this year's Avista NAIA World Series with the fewest games played (48) and were tied for the fewest wins (35).
So when the tournament started eight days ago, the only question about the Warriors was if they had done enough to prepare themselves for the pressure cooker that is the Series.
They emphatically answered that Friday night, combining clutch defense, resilient pitching and well-timed hitting to forge a 6-4 victory over Faulkner of Alabama in the championship game in front of 4,390 spectators at Harris Field.
With the win, LCSC secured its 19th NAIA title in program history and third consecutively. That string of titles, won under the watch of coach Jeremiah Robbins, matches the three straight the Warriors had from 2006-08 and is topped only by the six straight L-C collected from 1987-1992.
For the Eagles, it was their second consecutive runner-up finish, and they again bowed to the Warriors while trying to rally in the ninth.
