A season that was up in the air at one point then started late has proven to be a rewarding return to the ball diamonds for two Cochrane Minor Ball (CMB) rep teams.

Both the 13U AAA Peleton Crush and 15U AA Shear Fluids Crush played in their respective provincial final and came home with much to be proud about this season.

Playing in Spruce Grove/Stoney Plain, the 13U Crush won silver after losing to a Southeast Edmonton team in the final. They beat the Calgary Redbirds in a close 4-3 semifinal and went 2-1 in the round-robin.

In Calgary, the 15U were undefeated in the tier 5 round-robin before losing to Castor in the semifinals.

"We had a comeback win on Saturday to finish first in our pool, so that was pretty exciting," says head coach Sean Gaffney.  "We were down a bit early, and the boys rallied to come back in the last inning, which is fantastic."

One tough inning left them behind in the semifinals, but the team dug deep and almost pulled off a comeback win.

Gaffney says other than having a late start to the season and running late into summer, it was a great first season in the Baseball Alberta 15U AA league. He believes people were thankful to return to a more normal outdoor sporting environment.

The team was fortunate to have a solid group of pitchers.

"I think in our tier we probably had the deepest pool of good arms out of any teams that we saw this year in any of our league play. We were pretty lucky with the talent of arms that we had to put on the mount. We could go head-to-head with anybody."

"We had a good coaching group and kids that were committed and determined to improve and wanted to play at a higher level, so it easy when you have kids that have the ability and desire."

"I thought it was fantastic. We were lucky with the weather, we were very lucky with the players and families in the program, and we're looking forward to another successful season next year."

Several of the players will age out, but some will be returning, and others will be coming up from 13U for next season. Whether they will be playing AA or AAA ball next season will be determined in the future.

The 13U AAA team started their round-robin with a mercy win over the Parkland Twins, the number one seeded team in their division. Losing just one game in extra innings to Sherwood Park, they finished first in their pool.

Head coach Corey O'How says they were up late in the final against Southeast Edmonton but just couldn't hold on.

He says the team continues to receive praise from parents, other teams, and game officials for their conduct.

"The coaching staff is definitely proud of the job they did, and, probably, more importantly, just the way our kids acted and carried themselves."

He says Cochrane proved it belonged in a AAA league.

"They weren't too excited about letting in a new organization, and we proved that we belong there and gave the high-end teams, like the Dawgs, a real run for their money. At the end of the day, we did a lot better than a lot of the club teams that come out of Calgary."

"The games were a high-intensity level, but the kids really stepped up. Some teams took us for granted and just weren't really ready for us. That worked to our advantage."

This was CMB's first season in Baseball Alberta leagues and also has several Little League teams.

That's it for minor ball this season. Off-season training will begin before you know it.