The Portland Barbers had to do it the hard way, but they won the program’s first American Legion Northwest Regional tournament on Sunday at Dehler Park in Billings, punching a ticket to the World Series later this week in North Carolina.
The Barbers lost their opening game of the tournament before battling back through the loser’s bracket. They eliminated both the Billings Royals and Missoula Mavericks before meeting Idaho Falls in Sunday’s championship game, needing to beat the Bandits twice to advance.
Portland fell down 8-1 after the first inning in Game 1 but battled back to tie it in the top of the 6th inning before pouring three across in the top of the 7th to force a decisive game 2…