Saskatoon Berries reflect on historic second season

It’s tough to say goodbye, and for the Saskatoon Berries it means the end of a historic season one step shy of reaching the ultimate goal.

After Wednesday’s loss to the Regina Red Sox in game three of the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) East Final, the Berries found themselves on the sideline sooner than they expected.

While there may be some long faces, there is still a lot the players, coaching staff and the organization as a whole can be proud of — 46 wins in 55 regular season games is an incredible mark, something the league has never seen before.

Including the Berries’ three postseason wins, the team ended with 49 wins on the year.

“Forty-nine wins, you don’t hear that in summer ball,” said Berries catcher Bailyn Sorensen. “Having that many wins in the season … this is a game of baseball, this is the way things happen sometimes.”

For Sorensen it was an emotional end to his final season as a member of the Berries.

“I’m definitely not showing tears now, but I had them coming out,” he said. “This may be my last game as a baseball player.”

Sorensen will forever be a part of the original crop of Saskatoon Berries who helped re-establish the league in the city.

He said seeing how the team and the fan base grew over the last two years is something he’ll always remember.

“Looking at where we started out last year, and the improvement we made in just one year, I think me and the guys that aren’t coming back again next year have left a good stepping stone for the guys coming in.”

Another Berries player saying goodbye is infielder Ethan Menard.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” he said. “The things it’s done for my career and baseball (I) couldn’t be thankful enough.”

Menard credits the Berries with helping his game mature and allowing him to tap into his potential.

“I was a player that would really let the way I played in the game affect the way I played,” he said.

“Being around guys like Joe (Carnahan) and teammates … like Bailyn (Sorensen), Jalen (Freeman), Nathan Houston, Ethan Murdoch … just showing me that one at bat, one pitch, one play makes up for everything.”

Menard said it’s something special when a team has a total buy-in to a game plan.

“Nobody’s one swing and one playing style is going to be alike, so just getting a group of guys that can play together and find a way to win baseball games so often is really awesome.”

The Berries saw a bunch of its headliner talent coming from Saskatchewan in players like Carter Beck, Murdoch, Houston, and 18-year-old pitcher Merek Yeager.

“It just proves that Sask. kids can play, and the more Sask. guys you can get on your team the more people are going to come out and watch,” said Berries outfielder Beck.

Beck said head coach Carnahan left him with some of the best advice he could’ve asked for.

“I learned a lot from Joe (Carnahan),” he said. “One of my favourite things I learned is I was in the training room a little bit my first year and (Joe) goes ‘How are you going to keep yourself healthy in the pros, you can’t keep healthy in the WCBL,’ and I was pretty mad about that, but I went out and, sure enough, stayed out of the training room.”

Carnahan also is pleased to see Saskatchewan players excelling in the league.

“Baseball is very good in Saskatchewan, it’s kind of underrated from a lot of people,” he said. “When you look at a night like (Wednesday night) and you’re from Saskatchewan, I don’t know how you don’t want to play here.”

The Berries now they have the opportunity to roll out an almost identical roster from 2025 for the 2026 season.

“Basically everybody’s eligible to come back,” said Carnahan. “It’s a good core group and we’ll obviously have some conversations and see where their (college) coaching staff wants them to be.”