KEIZER — Riding the hot bat and relief pitching of Wyatt DeForest and a sixth-inning offensive outburst, No. 4-seeded La Pine defeated No. 10 Horizon Christian (Tualatin) 10-5 to capture the Class 3A baseball state championship Friday at Volcanoes Stadium — the program’s first state title.

Horizon Christian got to work early, putting runners on first and third with one out in the top of the first inning. Sam Romero then poked an RBI single into left field to put the Hawks in front 1-0. Angelo Roes prevented any further damage, however, as a strikeout and a fly out allowed La Pine (24-4) to get out of the jam down by just one run.

Cade Tillema and Nathan Murrell led off the top of the second with back-to-back singles to create a Horizon Christian (20-8) scoring threat, and Luke Klein delivered a single to left field to increase Horizon’s lead to 2-0.

DeForest led off the home half of the frame with a triple, and Roes drew a walk. Eddie Price sent a double to left-center field to score two runs, and two throwing errors by Horizon Christian allowed Price to score and give La Pine a 3-2 advantage. In the third, DeForest blasted a two-out solo home run over the fence in left field, extending the Hawks’ lead to 4-2.

Making the program’s first appearance in a state final, La Pine continued to pour it on in the fourth inning. Alex Farnsworth laid a bunt down the first-base line for a single and to score Ben Plant, and DeForest lined a single to left field to bring in another run to up the Mountain Valley Conference champions’ lead to 6-2.

Horizon Christian did not back down, however. After scoring a run in the fifth, the Hawks scored twice in the sixth, including on a one-out squeeze bunt, to cut La Pine’s lead to 6-5. But Horizon Christian stranded the potential tying run in scoring position.

La Pine, however, had an answer, putting its first two batters on base to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Alex Farnsworth drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to center, and DeForest singled in another score to push La Pine’s lead to 8-5. Jake Farnsworth then came across on a passed ball, and Eddie Price drove run-scoring single through the infield to stake the Hawks to a 10-5 advantage.

DeForest went 4-for-4 with a home run, a triple and three RBIs for La Pine, and the senior struck out five in five innings of relief. Price was 2-for-2 with three RBIs for the Hawks, and Alex Farnsworth had a hit and drove in two runs.