The bad news at Holy Innocents' has had time to sink in: The Golden Bears didn't repeat as Class AA baseball champions.

The good news, however, has all offseason to sink in: Coach Dylan Deal believes his team can make another run at it next season.

"I think we were all disappointed," Deal said in an e-mail, referring to the quarterfinal sweep that Holy Innocents' suffered at Cook. "We had 10 seniors on the team, eight of whom started every day. We thought this was a good year to repeat."

But Cook had another agenda —- avenging its defeat from the 2006 quarterfinals, when Holy Innocents' won a best-of-three series. The Hornets got that revenge, winning 4-3 in nine innings in the first game and 2-0 in the second.

"That is baseball. We ran into a buzz saw down in Adel. They had great pitching and timely hitting. We had great pitching and couldn't buy a timely hit. Such is life."

The Bears are losing third baseman Fletcher Hawkins, shortstop Bentley Heyman, second baseman Daniel Blaustein, pitcher/ first baseman Mark Grimm, catchers Sean Aiken and Jack Austin, and outfielders Andrew McGonnigle and Bobby Aitkens to graduation. And they'll be missed.

But with left fielder Wills Aitkens returning, along with first baseman Jack Farrell, third baseman Charles Henley, pitcher/shortstop Whit Woodring, second baseman Jackson Davis and pitchers Kevin Kyle and Travis Stout, the Bears are prepared to reload.

Of those players, all are seniors except juniors Stout and Aitkens.

And it's obvious Deal feels good about that.

"We obviously have a lot of holes to fill, but the thing we have going for us is that these guys have learned from some of the best [Holy Innocents'] baseball players."

While it may be early to speculate how far the Bears can go, it's clear Deal expects to be in the mix, especially as they drop to Class A for the next two years.

"I like our chances with the new faces next year," he said. "They are tough kids who play savvy baseball."

Correspondent Steve Shelnutt contributed to this article.