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The sweetest berry of the Western Canadian Baseball League season belongs in Saskatoon for 2026.
For the first time in franchise history, the Saskatoon Berries claimed the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy with a dominant 11-1 victory on Sunday night at Cairns Field over the visiting Sylvan Lake Gulls.
The win marked the end of slugger Ethan Murdoch’s baseball career, as he celebrated with his teammates in the outfield where he’s patrolled for two seasons in Saskatoon.
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A product of Swift Current, Murdoch said it’s the perfect final chapter to his life in baseball.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Murdoch said. “Just a ton of emotions, especially for me. You know, this is it. Just this group of guys, I love playing with them all year and it was so much fun.”
The Berries swept the best-of-three WCBL championship series, off the back of stellar pitching and timely hits by the offence.
On Sunday, the Berries held a 3-1 lead for much of the night before a three-run home run off the bat of Josh Henson brought a sell out crowd of 2,579 fans to their feet in the sixth inning.
“Just an electric feeling,” Henson said. “These fans, it’s unreal every time we come on the diamond. It’s just an unreal feeling right now.”
Seventeen-year-old catcher Aiden Kilshaw led the league in post-season RBIs with a solo home run and two RBIs on the evening to pick up the championship win.
BREAKING: For the first time in franchise history, @StoonBerries are Western Canadian Baseball League champions.
— Scott Roblin (@ScottRoblin) August 17, 2026
They sweep the Sylvan Lake Gulls with an 11-1 victory in front of a record crowd at Cairns Field.
Much more to come.@CKOMNews @CJMENews pic.twitter.com/Rv7sE8U9Gk
For players like Nathan Houston, it’s redemption after the Berries’ record-breaking 2025 squad fell in the WCBL East Division final to the Regina Red Sox.
Houston, a Melville product, also lost the 2024 WCBL championship while playing with the Moose Jaw Miller Express and said the moment after the final out didn’t feel real.
“It’s a dream come true, really,” Houston said. “I’ve been thinking about this since I was a little kid, so definitely a cool experience.”
It’s a night more than three years in the making for the WCBL’s newest franchise, after joining the league as an expansion team in 2024.
Berries head coach Joe Carnahan added to his illustrious resume with the seventh WCBL title of his career, with the previous six won as a player and coach in Swift Current.
He said the first championship won in Saskatoon is unique on its own however.
“It’s special with every group of guys,” Carnahan said.
“This group of guys was extremely close to each other and they just wanted to be together as long as they could. It showed the way they played during the playoffs.”
Muenster product Merek Yeager threw six innings for the Berries on Sunday with just one earned run given up on seven hits alongside four strikeouts, before relievers Brooks Jones and Colin Plain pitched nearly perfect baseball over the final three innings.
Saskatoon Berries lifting the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy at Cairns Field following an 11-1 victory in Game 2 of the WCBL championship series over the Sylvan Lake Gulls on Aug. 16, 2026 (Steve Hiscock / Saskatoon Berries)
Saskatoon’s pitching was sterling all playoffs with Jones (7.1 innings pitched, four hits, zero earned runs, 12 strikeouts), Plain (three innings pitched, three hits, zero earned runs, six strikeouts) and Zachary Landreville (11.2 innings pitched, six hits, two earned runs, 15 strikeouts) leading the way.
Post-season MVP honours however went to Berries closer Wesley Shackelford, who was the most dominant arm in the league in playoffs.
In four relief appearances, Shackelford only allowed one hit against with zero runs in nine innings of work alongside 14 strikeouts.
“The bond that we had just straight off the bat was incredible,” Shackelford said. “I just knew that when we got things going, it would result in something like this.”
The Berries win is the first for the city since 1981, when the Saskatoon Patrick Liners won the title in the previously named Saskatchewan Major Baseball League.
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