Portland teens bring home championship win from Babe Ruth World Series

(KPTV) - The boys of summer are bringing the Babe Ruth World Series trophy back home to Portland after the teens’ title win Saturday in Jamestown, New York.

A world championship feeling is a first and is forever for the 15U Rose City boys.

Brave Johnson, a junior at Jefferson High School, says there’s no feeling like it – it’s the best feeling in the world.

“It’s a good feeling, you know? Knowing we are one of the best teams in the country,” Brave says.

Nothing came easy in Jamestown for the Rose City teens as they rallied again on Saturday to a 6-4 victory over Norwalk, Conn.

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Lake Oswego sophomore Tino Flores says he enjoyed putting Rose City on the map.

“It’s definitely representing our city,” Tino says. “You hear a lot of Washington, Oregon or not a lot of Portland. So it’s really just representing your city and putting them on the map and it’s a blessing to even be out here in Jamestown and the fact that we won it all is just really amazing.”

Andre Goodwin is a Portland 15U Babe Ruth assistant coach.

“I tell these boys, we can go back to livin’,” Goodwin says. “We were so superstitious doing the same routine the last 10 days.”

Craig Vandyke, another assistant coach, says every boy contributed to the win.

“There was not one player on this team that didn’t contribute in one form or fashion.”

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Team head coach Craig Combs says, “We played seven games and you knew Portland was on the field just because of our fan base.”

Portland Babe Ruth has been rooted in family and community for the past 70 years.

Roscoe Mithoefer, a La Salle Prep sophomore, says the win is surreal.

“You never think that kids from our own neighborhood should be the best team in the world, but we are and it’s pretty amazing,” Roscoe says. “I think it shows that there is a lot of talent in non-club baseball, and it shows that you don’t have to pay thousands of dollars to play one of the best games of baseball.”

The world champs now get to look forward to the start of the school year in another week, but for now, they’re gonna live their best life.

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