The Moose Jaw Major AAA Millers were celebrating on the weekend as they ended their season on a winning note, capturing the North Regina Little League championship with a 6-1 win over the Regina Twins.

“The boys were pretty excited, they were jumping up and down on the mound with the trophy in the air,” said head coach Tony Dreger. “It was exciting to watch that the boys had a really successful year and had a lot of fun doing it also.”

The final was a tight game, but a couple of players for the Millers came up with big plays to lift Moose Jaw to the title.

“We had Rylan Watson pitching, he threw 85 pitches over four innings and threw a really good ball game, he also helped his cause with a three-run home run in the top of the first inning to get us up 3-1, and then Hunter Stewart in the bottom of the fifth, hit a three-run shot to get us to 6-1, so it was a close battle throughout the game,” said Dreger.

The Millers rolled in the playoffs, opening with a 16-6 win over the Regina Rockies and then beating the Twins in back-to-back games, 12-2 and 6-1 to capture the title.

All season the Millers had mercied teams, but the tight final game against the Twins really tested them, according to Dreger.

“They just persevered through it and stayed positive, so that was a huge step for the boys,” said Dreger. “We progressed throughout the year and then as it got tighter in the final, we didn’t panic, we stayed within ourselves and had some success, won a championship.”

The championship win completes a stellar season for the Millers that saw them fail to come out with a win in just two games, a loss and a tie to end the regular season. They captured a pair of tournament titles and dominated throughout the season.

Dreger said that the loss and tie at the end of the season actually motivated the team more heading into the playoffs and helped them re-focus.

“One of the things that we talked about was playing within ourselves, not worrying about what’s on the other side of the diamond and just making sure that we’re doing all the little things that we need to do to be successful,” said Dreger. “It showed us that we’re not invincible and we have to come to the ballpark ready to play.”

The season is over for the Millers, but ten players from this team will move on to represent Moose Jaw with the Major AAA All-Stars as they attempt to make a return trip to the Canadian Little League Championships. They play their first games this weekend in Swift Current.