The ups and downs from a challenging second half of the season for the Aviators were long forgotten about Wednesday night.

Las Vegas won the Pacific Coast League first-half championship with a 49-26 record to clinch a spot in the PCL championship series, but finished below .500 (34-40) in the second half.

None of that mattered this week, when Las Vegas swept the Tacoma Rainiers, the second-half champion, in two games of the best-of-three PCL championship series and clinched the league title Wednesday night at Las Vegas Ballpark.

That punched the Aviators’ ticket to Saturday’s Triple-A national championship game, when they will face the International League champion Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at 7:07 p.m. at Las Vegas Ballpark.

Jacksonville, the Miami Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate, defeate

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