SALEM – To celebrate Salem High School's first baseball state championship in program history, fans lined the streets of downtown to congratulate the Spartans.
"Dream come true, everything comes together. I don't know, it's hard to explain. I don't think they've gotten over it yet. They're still excited as they can be. When you look at how hard it is, and how everything is not to fall into place and that's what you look back on and say 'wow, I don't see how we did it,'" said Spartans head coach Wes McMillan.
"It still doesn't feel real. I still feel like I'm in a dream. It hasn't hit reality yet. It's just very exciting, I'm very proud of these guys," said catcher Matt Wright, who drove in the game winning run in the championship game Saturday.
McMillan is in his 17th season at the helm of the Spartans program and his players were excited to bring home the trophy for him.
"He's an unbelievable coach, and he does a lot of things that nobody ever sees. Behind the scenes, always making sure that we're ready to play. So it was really fulfilling for me as a senior to be with him for this special moment," said shortstop Joe Quinn.
The 2018 squad was a young team, and the Spartans hope this is the start of a new tradition of baseball champions in Salem.