Don Rice
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
It seemed fitting that the Saskatoon Berries found a great way to round out their strong inaugural season with a walk off win in their season finale at home on Monday. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of 9th, the Berries scored twice to defeat the Moose Jaw Miller Express, 4-3.
The victory gives the Berries a final record of 31-25 in Western Canadian Baseball League play. They gain momentum heading into the franchise’s first-ever playoff series, which starts on Wednesday.
“It feels pretty good,” said Berries outfielder Carter Back about the walk off win. “It shows that we can go out and win games that are pretty tight. It’s definitely a good feeling to walk off into the playoffs on a win too.”
The Berries qualified for the third playoff spot out of four qualifiers in the East Division. They will take on the second-place Medicine Hat Mavericks in a best-of-three series that starts Wednesday in Medicine Hat. Game 2 goes at home at NexGen Patch at Cairns Field on Thursday with a third game on Friday, if necessary, back in Medicine Hat.
Things didn’t look quite so rosy for the Berries when the season began. The Berries didn’t get their first win until their sixth game and had a 2-7 start. Since then, the Berries have put together a 29-18 record.
“Usually it takes some time to build up,” said Berries outfielder Jalen Freeman. “But for a team to just come out and make the playoffs (the) first time is very exciting. We’re excited to really go and possibly win it the first year.”
The Berries have a lot to contend with in their first-round opponent Mavericks, who finished with a 33-23 record and two games ahead of the Berries.
The Mavericks lost in the league championship last season.
Saskatoon only defeated Medicine Hat twice in eight head-to-head meetings, but the Berries won their last matchup rather handily, with an 11-3 victory last week in Medicine Hat on August 4. However, the day before, the Mavericks defeated the Berries 11-2.
“Medicine Hat is a good opponent,” said Berries head coach Joe Carnahan. “They’ve played us very well this year. Their big thing is they battle at the plate and have a lot of tough outs in their lineup and they have good pitchers as well.”
A couple of the potent bats in the Medicine Hat lineup are catcher Nick Thibodeau, who led the Mavericks with 11 home-runs and 63 runs batted in, and outfielder Jordan Phillips, who wasn’t far behind with nine homers and 62 RBIs. They both finished just off the league single-season record of 66 RBIs, set by Kaleb Warden of the Lethbridge Bulls in 2019.
Leading the Berries offence are Beck with a .374 average, 77 hits and 11 home-runs and catcher and first-baseman Eric Menard who batted .340 with 7 home-runs and 44 RBIs.
Starting on the mound to open the series for the Berries will be Michael Singleton who had a 3-2 record and a 4.19 earned-run-average. Berries ace Wyatt Wiatrek has been nursing an injury and may not see action. Jacob Petersheim is expected to start the opener for the Mavericks. He led their team with five wins and a 3.25 ERA.
The excitement this year for the Berries has extended far beyond their won-loss record. They have drawn large crowds throughout the year, averaging more than 1,900 per game at home. They are the top-drawing East Division team and second only to the two-time defending champion Okotoks Dawgs who average over 4,700.
The other East Division semifinal series sees the first place Regina Red Sox (38-18) taking on fourth-seed Moose Jaw (26-29). In the West Division, the league best Sylvan Lake Gulls (44-12) face the Brooks Bombers (22-36) and Okotoks (42-14) tangle with the Lethbridge Bulls (36-20). All playoff rounds follow a best-of-three format with the opening series being played between Aug. 7-9. Division finals will take place Aug. 11-13 with the WCBL championships from Aug. 15-17.
drice@postmedia.com
