Saskatoon Berries have new look – and championship expectations – for 2026 WCBL season

The sound of the bat cracking, the feeling of dialing up a pitch from the mound at Cairns Field and the smell of the freshly cut grass.

They’re all sensations pitcher Merek Yeager has been waiting to experience again after breaking out as a teenage star at the Western Canadian Baseball League park last year.

“Coming back here is just special,” Yeager said.

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“Now I know what to expect. The fans, the environment, it’s just a fun time every game. We have expectations this year, and we’re going for a championship.”

The Saskatoon Berries are ready to hit the diamond for the team’s third season on Thursday, when they open the 2026 WCBL season with a four-game series against the Weyburn Beavers.

Saskatoon is coming off a historic 2025 campaign, which saw the team set the league’s new single-season win record with 46 victories. The Berries finished the regular season with a sparkling 46-9 record.

That success didn’t transfer over to the post-season however, as the Berries fell in Game 3 of East Division Final for the second season in a row to the eventual WCBL champions, the Regina Red Sox.

“I just think we have to find another gear,” Yeager said. “We were good all regular season, but I think we just couldn’t get quite to the next gear. I think it was more of a mindset thing than anything.”

Now, the record-breaking Berries will start a new campaign with a roster which includes about a dozen returning players from 2025.

Several returning pitchers will be throwing heat for the Berries on the mound, including Yeager and Michael Sall in the rotation, while the team’s bullpen will include returnees Tanner Hosick, Clay Mixon and Colin Plain, among others.

In the field, two key members of Saskatoon’s roster are back. Outfielder Ethan Murdoch and infielder Nathan Houston will both bring significant experience to this year’s roster.

The Berries will also have head coach Joe Carnahan back in the fold, after the reigning WCBL Coach of the Year signed a three-year contract extension with the team on Wednesday.

“Our main goal is to win a championship,” said Carnahan.

“First and foremost, we just got to be ready for game one and take it game by game, focus on the task at hand. If we can continue to do that and stay healthy throughout the year, hopefully we can make a little further run this year.”

Yeager is expected to see plenty of the ball this summer out of the Berries rotation after he starred in 2025 as an 18-year-old with 10 starts under his belt, posting a 5-1 record with a 5.10 earned run average and 45 strikeouts. The Muenster, Sask. pitcher is also coming off his first season of college baseball south of the border at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.

“I’m trying to elevate my game every single time I’m on the field,” Yeager said.

“I’m trying to get better every chance I get, and every opportunity, I use it to my advantage. With this next summer I’m planning on trying to be completely dominant this year.”

Now, with a bit of college experience under his belt, Yeager is on track to become an even bigger part of the Berries’ pitching staff this summer, according to Carnahan.

“I’m sure his command is going to be a little better,” Carnahan said. “I know his velocity has ticked up a little bit, so he’ll be a big part for us.”

Yeager will have to wait for his first start of the WCBL season, however, as Carnahan has confirmed his first four starting pitchers of the season against Weyburn.

Tyler Bailey will get the ball on opening day of the 2026 season on the road, while Jackson Fox will pitch for Saskatoon in the WCBL’s annual Rural Roots Baseball Classic game in Carnduff, Sask. on Friday.

As for the Berries’ home opener on Saturday against the Beavers, the ball will be handed over to Southeastern Louisiana University ace Owen Stempel.

“It’s going to be a great experience,” Stempel said. “I came a long way out here, so I can’t wait to get on the mound and compete with these guys.”

With opening pitch looming on Thursday, Yeager said the team is focused on keeping up the consistency it displayed during the 2025 regular season, and rising to the challenge whenever the moment calls.

“As soon as we do that, no one’s standing in our way,” Yeager said.

“I think we’re going to completely steamroll everyone once playoff time comes if we just stick to our game and we don’t try to do too much. We should crush everybody.”

Beck not returning to Berries

The Berries enter the 2026 WCBL season with a handful of holes in their lineup, including the departure of 2025 WCBL Most Valuable Player Ethan Menard at first base, along with two-year standouts Cory Wouters and Bailyn Sorensen at infield and catcher.

Saskatoon’s biggest loss has come in the outfield, however, as the franchise’s first homegrown star, Carter Beck, will not be back in 2026.

Two-time WCBL first-team all-star Carter Beck will not be returning to the Saskatoon Berries in 2026, as he focuses on his preparation for the upcoming MLB Draft. (Steve Hiscock/Saskatoon Berries)

“He’s put himself in a very good position where he’s got a lot of major league workouts coming up,” Carnahan said.

“He got invited to the MLB Combine, so he’s put himself in a pretty good position for the draft. He’ll be doing that, getting ready for the draft and his pro career.”

Carnduff’s Beck dominated in his first two seasons in the WCBL, winning the league’s Rookie of the Year and Most Outstanding Canadian awards in 2024 before repeating as a first-team all-star last summer.

“He obviously made a lot of the other guys better,” Yeager said.

“He took some of the pressure off the lineup, but I know we got some dogs coming in here. It’s going to be tough to fill his role, but if we find three other guys that are dogs on our team, I think that will be good.”

Beck departs the Berries with 174 hits, 24 home runs, 96 RBIs and a perfect .400 batting average over 106 games in purple and blue.

Now, the team will turn to a group of outfielders to try and fill in the gaps, including Murdoch, as well as newcomers Mason Gaines, Brandon Leon and Nash Nichols.

“It’s hard to say you can replace a guy like (Beck),” Nichols said. “It’s going out there, trying to do my job every day and help out wherever I can.”

There will be still be a Beck on the Saskatoon’s roster this year, however, as Carter’s younger cousin, Reid Beck, from Meadow Lake, is on the roster as a right-handed pitcher.

“He was with our academy last year,” Carnahan said. “He was down at Cloud County this year – good junior college down in Kansas – and (I’m) looking forward to having him on the team this year.”

New look at Cairns Field

Fans at Cairns Field will have some new vantage points this season, as 352 new seats are being installed behind home plate to raise seated capacity in the ball park to 1,995.

“It should be exciting,” Carnahan said.

“It’s going to be a tight backstop back there, so the fans are going to be right on the field. A little bit different than it has been. It should be exciting for the fans and the players alike.”

The seats are being finished this week, and the team hopes they’ll be ready for the home opener against Weyburn on Saturday.

Fans at Cairns Field will have new seating options this season, with 352 seats being installed behind home plate ahead of the Berries’ home opener on Saturday. (Scott Roblin/650 CKOM)

Carnahan said the sight lines aren’t the only adjustments that will likely need to be made, as the shorter backstop could make pass balls and wild pitches different to adjust to.

“We’re going to have to take a look at that,” Carnahan said.

“We haven’t played any games yet, and haven’t really seen any games here yet with the construction, but it’s going to be tight. There’s a couple teams in the league that have tight backstops like this, but we’ll see what the bounce-back is like off the padding.”

The team will also be debuting a new secondary logo this season, which was released by the Berries on social media earlier this month.

According to Allison Hlady, the team’s manager of brand and promotions, the new logo will be worn on the field this weekend during the team’s return to Cairns Field.

“Guys will be wearing their new alternate logo hats with their white jerseys on home opener on Saturday,” Hlady said. “They got the ‘S’ logo with two berries in the middle.”

The Berries begin their path to the WCBL championship series on Thursday night, with a 7 p.m. opening pitch on the road in Weyburn before their home opener Saturday at 4 p.m.