Murray Wood: Remember when?
Old photos remind us our downtowns used to be places people went to more often. Murray Wood says a lot has changed, incl...
It was in March 2023 when Steve Hildebrand stood at a podium to announce the return of the Western Canadian Baseball League to Saskatoon after a decade-long hiatus.
Not even three-and-a-half years later, the Saskatoon Berries president stood on the diamond at Cairns Field lifting the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy above his head with the Berries celebrating as WCBL champions on Sunday night.
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A Berry sweet night at the ballpark 🫐
— Scott Roblin (@ScottRoblin) August 17, 2026
It’s WCBL glory for @StoonBerries tonight at Cairns Field in just their third season as a team.
We’ll have all your championship coverage on @CKOMNews and @CJMENews. pic.twitter.com/8R9D69oQP4
“Did I envision it to happen like this in three years?” Hildebrand said. “Probably not, but you know what? We’ll take it.”
For the first time in program history, the Berries stand alone atop the WCBL as champions after a dominant 11-1 victory over the Sylvan Lake Gulls in Game 2 of the league championship series.
While it’s a moment Hildebrand didn’t expect to come so early in the team’s tenure in the league, he isn’t surprised at the result given the work behind the scenes to make summer collegiate baseball a reality again in Saskatoon.
“I believed that we could build something good and I believed in the people we had,” Hildebrand said. “I guess when you believe in people, good things happen and that’s what happened here.”
Saskatoon’s championship win completed a full-circle journey in the league for outfielder Nathan Houston, who grew up attending Melville Millionaires baseball games for the now-defunct WCBL team.
After suffering a loss in the championship finals in 2024 with the Moose Jaw Miller Express, getting his hands on the trophy was something he waited on for years.
“I remember going to games as a kid in Melville and just wishing for an opportunity to win the championship,” Houston said.
“Last year we fell short and it was heartbreak. Man, getting it done here in front of the home crowd especially, it means so much to me.”
The Berries completed the mission Sunday with a combination of timely hitting and lights out pitching, as they finished their playoff run with a perfect 4-0 record on their home diamond and a 6-1 record overall.
It’s a final hurdle cleared for Saskatoon, which had endured heartbreak both in 2024 and 2025 with Game 3 losses in the East Division final series.
That included an upset loss to the Regina Red Sox last summer after setting a new single-season wins record, but returnee Ethan Murdoch said this year’s group was able to play beyond their years.
“This team was a lot younger than our team was last year,” Murdoch said. “I think we played really mature baseball and didn’t ride the highs and the lows, it was pretty steady. We just kept playing our game and I’m really proud of the guys for that.”
A Berry sweet night at the ballpark 🫐
— Scott Roblin (@ScottRoblin) August 17, 2026
It’s WCBL glory for @StoonBerries tonight at Cairns Field in just their third season as a team.
We’ll have all your championship coverage on @CKOMNews and @CJMENews. pic.twitter.com/8R9D69oQP4
Murdoch was the first Berries player to grab the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy post-game, after he was approached by Saskatoon head coach Joe Carnahan just moments before.
“I was in the back and Joe was like, ‘Hey get up here, let’s go you’re the one grabbing it,’” Murdoch said.
“It’s a special moment for me, I was excited to just touch it in general at any point. To be able to hold it up first, just hold it up to the crowd and see their reaction, to bring it into the boys was unbelievable. That’s something I’m never going to forget.”
It was a bittersweet final chapter to Murdoch’s baseball career, as the Swift Current slugger graduated from the WCBL after playing for his hometown Swift Current 57’s in 2023 and two years suiting up for the Berries.
Set to join the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos as a strength coach and video analyst, he said it was important to end his time on the diamond with a trophy.
“For me, it’s going out on my own terms,” Murdoch said. “I would have loved to keep playing and play pro, but it’s not in the cards for me. At least if I went out, I went out on my own terms and went out on top.”
Houston, who played the last two seasons with Murdoch in Saskatoon, said the graduating crop of Berries deserved to exit the WCBL as champions.
“I think about Murdoch today, (Diego Quinonez), Carter Kopp and Jackson Fraser,” Houston said. “Those guys mean a lot to me, so I’m grateful that we got the job done and helped them out.”
Saskatoon finished the regular season with a 38-18 record, a full eight wins fewer than last season’s record-breaking Berries team and was inconsistent down the stretch drive ahead of playoffs.
Carnahan said this year’s group was tested throughout the year, which he saw come to the surface once the post-season hit.
“You define a person the way they respond to stuff and when things get hard, how they respond to that,” Carnahan said.
“There were some bumps this year and things were hard. Every time we had that, the guys responded. Their work ethic all year, their attitudes every day never changed.”
Those hurdles were key in finally being able to put the Berries over the top according to Hildebrand, who was heartened by the effort shown when the chips were down this summer.
“We had some unfinished business,” Hildebrand said. “We chatted lots about it in the off-season. I thought we faced some adversity this year and really thought it helped us in the playoffs.”
Bonded through Berries baseball
Pitcher Brooks Jones was deep into his college baseball season with the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley when he got a call about a potential landing spot for summer ball in Saskatoon.
To him, Saskatoon could have been on another planet with very little knowledge about his next destination.
“Absolutely nothing, to be honest,” Jones said. “I didn’t really know a lot about it. I kind of figured out I was coming up here towards the end of the spring season. Now, it’s pretty much home.”
Brooks helped anchor a Saskatoon bullpen alongside WCBL post-season MVP Wesley Shackelford, Colin Plain, Adam Korte and Dallen Rude which dominated opposing hitters en route to the league championship.
It’s a familiar story of unfamiliarity for the first-year champions on the Berries, like Josh Henson who delivered a clutch three-run home run in the sixth inning of Game 2.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming into summer ball,” Henson said. “Coming here and meeting all the guys, playing in front of these fans every single day was an unreal feeling. It was an unreal summer that I just can’t say enough about.”
That fan support was evident during playoffs for the Berries, as the team broke several attendance records at Cairns Field including 2,579 tickets sold for the deciding game in the championship series Sunday.
Murdoch said it’s a level of support he’s still blown away by.
“I was at the gym a few weeks ago and some dude was wearing a Berries jersey in the gym,” Murdoch said.
“Like that’s just crazy, we’re everywhere. Everywhere we go on the road, no matter what city we’re in, there’s someone wearing a Berries hat somewhere.”
Saskatoon Berries head coach Joe Carnahan captured his seventh career WCBL championship on Aug. 16, 2026 after six previously won in Swift Current as a player and coach. (Steve Hiscock/Saskatoon Berries)
Carnahan captures seventh championship
Sunday’s win was not only historic for the Berries organization as a whole, but for their manager in the dugout as well.
“I just can’t say enough about Joe Carnahan and the job he does,” Hildebrand said. “His staff, unbelievable people.”
Carnahan has now been a part of seven WCBL championship teams, three as a player with Swift Current in 2001, 2005 and 2006 before he captured another three as a coach in 2010, 2016 and 2017.
A five-time recipient of WCBL Coach of the Year, Carnahan jumped at the opportunity three years ago and said he doesn’t regret a moment making the move north from Swift Current to Saskatoon.
“Talking to (Hildebrand) and his vision, it was pretty much a no-brainer,” Carnahan said.
“It’s awesome just with the work that everybody does off the field, the whole organization, the way the organization is, the fans how they’ve supported us and then the players we’ve been able to bring in.”
Sunday’s championship moment was momentous for the Saskatoon Berries Baseball Academy as well, with two graduates in Merek Yeager and Aiden Kilshaw forming the battery at pitcher and catcher for the Berries in Game 2 against Sylvan Lake.
Yeager threw six innings for Saskatoon in the clinching game, while the 17-year-old Kilshaw recorded two RBIs to lead the WCBL post-season in that category with 10,
“There was a handful of guys throughout the season that were from the academy,” Yeager said.
“What they got going on there is just awesome. Seeing the academy translate into this league is awesome. It’s homegrown stuff and it’s what you need to do, that’s how you win.”
From hosting WCBL All-Star Weekend to watching alumni Carter Beck be drafted 26th overall by the Atlanta Braves in the 2026 MLB Draft, the Berries are celebrating a monster summer now as champions of the league.
Hildebrand is encouraged by the leaps the franchise has made in a short amount of time and what it could mean for the growth of the sport in Saskatoon and beyond.
“You talk about Martensville, Warman, Muenster, the great province of Saskatchewan has lots of good baseball players,” Hildebrand said.
“Hence what Carter Beck just did in the MLB Draft. I think it’s extremely special everything that has gone on here. We continue to just keep raising the bar, that’s what we’ll do.”
Celebrations were quick for the Berries after the confetti flew at Cairns Field on Sunday night, with the majority of the team already taking flight back to their college programs.
What remains in Carnahan’s mind, is a legacy of the first championship season in Berries and a city which has been along for the ride since their very first pitch.
“Saskatoon is a sports city,” Carnahan said. “With us being able to be here, be able to play the way we’ve been able to play the last three years and then this year winning a championship, it’s awesome. I think baseball will be on the rise, for sure.”
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