The core of the U16 Cochrane softball team has been together for seven years and added another notch to their belt with the Division 1 U16/19 minor softball title for Calgary District 3.

The team mercy-ruled all three of their playoff games and on July 5 defeated the South Bow River 2 in the final, 12-4.

Coach Todd Temple says the team played a solid game and deserved the title.

"It was an error-free game, which is always nice when you're playing ball," says Temple. "The girls played great and really deserved to win. It was really fun to watch."

The Cochrane team started the season in division 2 but was moved up because of their strong performance. Once in division 1, they only lost two games.

In their years together, the team has proven to be competitive and won the U14 title last season. 

"They've been quite a successful team," says Temple, who has coached them the bulk of those years. "They've won championships more than half the years they've been playing together."

As they continue to mature in the sport, they've got some top-notch fastball chuckers and one of them is now firing the ball around the 60 mph mark, says Temple.

"They're a really talented sqaud of girls. They just get the game very well and they know what they need to do and have a lot of fun playing together."

Next season they'll have to choose between continuing to play U16/19 division 1 or climbing to the premiere division. It may be a tough decision to make because the team has retained a recreational feel to their play over the years and going to the higher level may change that.