LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The College of Southern Nevada Coyotes are back in the JUCO World Series for the first time since 2017.

A huge portion of this team includes born-and-raised Las Vegans, some even having ties to the 2003 championship team, and players say the best part about it is representing their hometown.

CSN is no stranger to success. The team won the national championship back in 2003 and has produced a laundry list of Major League Baseball players.

Nick Garritano has been the team’s head coach for 14 years and has seen it all, from past trips to the World Series to watching 22 of his players get drafted and make it to the big leagues.

He says what makes this group of players special isn’t just their talent. It’s also their bond with each other.

“They’re a family,” Garritano said. “They really pull on the same end of the rope. They play for each other. We have a phrase here called “For the Front”. There’s no selfish guy here, whether it’s our leading hitter, whether it’s our 16th guy on the bench, whether it’s our number one arm or 15th guy on the bullpen.”

The players say they have their own memories of CSN’s winning history.

Coach Garritano’s son Nicky says he fondly remembers watching his dad coach the 2017 team that also made the World Series.

Infielder Mikey Cruz’s dad was a member of the ’03 championship team.

Both say now, it’s their turn to make history for Southern Nevada.

“It’s awesome to follow in my dad’s footsteps and do exactly what he did,” Cruz said. “Hopefully, we can accomplish what that team in 2003 accomplished.”

“Seven years ago, when they went, I was just a kid in the stands watching,” Garritano said. “To be able to share the field with him, at this level, is awesome and to go to Grand Junction with him is even better.”

​The team will be traveling to Grand Junction, Colorado this week, with their game against Northwest Florida State College set for this Saturday.

An abortion-rights group in Nevada said it has enough signatures to place a measure on the Nevada ballot that would enshrine abortion rights into the Nevada Constitution.

Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, the organization behind the petition, said it collected 200,000 signatures from voters across every county in the state, which is double the 102,362 signature threshold required to qualify. Under Nevada law, the amendment would need to be voted on in both the 2024 general election and the 2026 midterm elections before becoming law.

If passed, the amendment would give Nevadans “a fundamental right to abortion performed or administered by a qualified health care practitioner until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient, without interference from the state or its political subdivisions.”

“I think it shows a lot of bipartisan and a lot of nonpartisan support, and we imagine that a lot of folks, both Republicans and Democrats alike, are going to come out on this issue in 2024,” Lindsey Harmon, president of Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, told ABC News. “Abortion access is overwhelmingly popular in the state of Nevada, and we feel so privileged to be here to make a safe space for patients who are seeking access to care.”

The group has also pushed for a second measure, which is broader and would grant Nevada residents the authority to make decisions about “all matters relating to pregnancy,” which includes “abortion, birth control, vasectomies, tubal ligation, and infertility care.” 

Late last year, a lower court blocked the petition from moving forward, saying it was misleading. Last month, however, the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s ruling and argued all of the terms were under the general umbrella of “reproductive rights.” Still, Nevadans for Reproductive Freedoms said it is going to pursue the more narrow measure. 

“Obviously for 2024, we are sticking with the language that has been circulated, but it’s important to keep in mind that we need to be proactive and how can we prove that reproductive rights [are] healthcare,” Harmon said. 

Republicans in Nevada, who are trying to flip Sen. Jacky Rosen’s (D-NV) seat as well as the state red, will have to grapple with the amendment in November. Veteran Sam Brown is the front-runner for the Republican nominee for Senate ahead of the state’s June 11 primary. 

While his campaign website says he is “pro-life,” Brown, like many Republicans lately, has said he believes states should decide abortion policies. Previously, Brown led the Nevada branch of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, which is an anti-abortion organization that has supported the strictest abortion laws in the country. Kristy Wilkinson, Brown’s communications director, told Axios the Freedom and Faith Coalition is focused on human trafficking, not abortion. 

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“His efforts were focused on several critical issues facing our state: combating human trafficking, advocating for meaningful criminal justice reform, and supporting the devastated communities recovering from the COVID-19 shutdowns,” Wilkinson said. 

Nevada is one of 11 states seeking to enshrine abortion rights into state constitutions. The measures are on the ballot in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, and South Dakota.

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Nevada is facing its annual shield-backed katydid infestation. These insects have a habit of swarming homes and causing problems for local farmers. Though they are not true crickets, shield-backed katydids bear the nickname “Mormon Crickets” due to their famous invasion of the early saints of The Church of Jesus Christ in Salt Lake City during the mid-19th century.