Berries were Saskatoon’s hottest ticket in summer of 2024

First-year club came up win short of WCBL final

The Berries salute their faithful at Cairns Field on August 13.

If you are going through Saskatoon Berries withdrawal, you likely have company.

The Berries season came to an end just eight days ago on August 13 at Cairns Field. In a series deciding Game 3 of the WCBL’s East Division Championship Series, the Berries dropped a 5-3 decision to the Moose Jaw Miller Express.

Saskatoon claimed Game 1 of that series 14-1 at Cairns Field on August 11 and anticipation was high in “The Bridge City” the expansion club could make the best-of-three WCBL Championship Series. One night later in Game 2 of the set at Ross Wells Park in Moose Jaw, the Express rebounded with a runaway win by a 17-6 score. That set the stage for the Express to claim a tightly contested winner take all Game 3.

The crowd at Cairns Field give the Berries a standing ovation.

After the Berries fell 5-3 in Game 3, they waved their hats to the crowd while being saluted by the 1,811 spectators who packed into Cairns Field. For the summer of 2024, the Berries were the hottest ticket in Saskatoon.

Before the Berries came into existence, the last team from Saskatoon to play in the WCBL was the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets, who existed from 2002 to 2014. In their final campaign in 2014, the Yellow Jackets posted a 20-26 record to finish ninth overall in the then 13 team circuit and drew about 200 spectators per game to Cairns Field.

Carter Beck emerged as the Berries star player.

Fast forward to March 29, 2023, the Sask Entertainment Group announced it had purchased an expansion WCBL franchise to begin play in May of 2024. The Sask Entertainment Group is the parent company that also owns the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush. That meant the new WCBL expansion franchise, which would be officially dubbed the Berries on July 13, 2023, would have a sound business and marketing team behind it.

Even before the Berries hit the field, the club sold a tonne of merchandise, with team hats being a big hit.

The Berries would also have the advantage of playing at a revamped Cairns Field, which is now part of the massive sports park called the Gordie Howe Sports Complex overseen by the Gordie Howe Sports Complex Management Corporation. Cairn Field’s old grandstand was knocked down in April of 2018 to make way for the new facility built in its place.

Nolan Sparks fires a ball in from left field.

The Berries played their inaugural regular season game on the road falling 5-4 to the Red Sox in Regina this past May 25. The home debut for the new WCBL side came on May 28 at Cairns Field as the Berries dropped an 8-4 decision to the Red Sox. The Berries drew 2,200 spectators to that first home date, and despite the loss, most of the fans that came out to the park left feeling like they had a good time.

The spectators had fun with the various in game promotions. They enjoyed the various foods in the concession that contained Saskatoon Berries and also a Saskatoon Berries branded beer brewed locally by 9 Mile Legacy Brewing.

It was expected the Berries would have growing pains on the field, and they did falling in their first five straight games and posting a 3-8 record after 11 contests. Their first win came on May 31, when they blanked the Beavers in Weyburn 5-0. The first home win came one night later with a 16-10 triumph over the Lethbridge Bulls.

Andrew Albers, left, and Joe Carnahan check out play on the field.

After that 3-8 start, the Berries improved rapidly and finished with a 31-26 record, which placed them sixth overall on the 12-team circuit. The ace that allowed the Berries to improve quickly was the squad’s coaching staff.

On July 5, 2023, the Berries hired Joe Carnahan head coach. He built a legacy in the WCBL in Swift Current playing league championship teams in 2001, 2005 and 2006. Carnahan became the team’s head coach and guided them to league titles in 2010, 2016 and 2017.

His staff included for MLB hurler Andrew Albers as the team’s pitching coach and Chance Wheatley and Alex Archuleta as assistant coaches.

Colin Plain sets to unload a pitch for the Berries.

Centre-fielder Carter Beck has emerged as the Berries most recognizable star being one season removed from being named the most valuable player of the under-18 AAA level of the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League with the South East Twins. Local area products like Nolan Sparks, Oakland Flodell, Cory Wouters and Colin Plain have came through at key times for the Berries.

United States products like Bailyn Sorensen, Jalen Freeman and Ethan Menard have endured themselves to the Saskatoon and area community since arriving in May.

On the attendance front, the Berries are playing in front of an average home crowd of about 1,900 spectators a night.

A group of youngsters meet Berries mascot “Barry the Bear.”

For Berries president Steve Hildebrand, who is still better known as the associate general manager of the Blades, you could tell the Berries and baseball were his passion, and it was cool to see the season work out like it did.

Hildebrand was able to spend the summer working with his son Max Hildebrand before the go off to be WHL rivals again. Max Hildebrand, who was once an accomplished baseball player himself, is the Berries equipment manager but is best known as the star netminder of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders.

It was exciting to see the Berries in the post-season, and it was a pleasant surprise to see them win a best-of-three East Division Semifinal 2-1 against the Medicine Hat Mavericks. Berries fans also experience the tough part in being in the post-season.

A member of the “Berry Bunch” performs at the seventh inning stretch.

Due to the WCBL being a summer league for players playing university or college ball mostly in the United States and partially in Canada, some university and college programs start recalling their players when the WCBL playoffs are on. When the Berries post-season run concluded, about half of their roster had returned to the university and college ranks.

The toughest departure was seeing Sparks depart for Northern Kentucky University Norse Baseball Team following the Berries Game 1 win over the Express in the WCBL’s East Division final. In four post-season games with the Berries, Sparks, who is an alumnus of the Saskatoon Cubs Under-18 AAA Team, was 5-for-18 at the plate with two home runs and four runs batted in. He batted .302 in the regular season, and his timely hits were missed after his departure.

Youngsters run the bases after the Berries last game on August 13.

Even with the departures, the Berries and their fans could see how close to seeing the club go all the way.

Last Saturday playing before 6,341 spectators at Seaman Stadium in Okotoks, the Express found themselves locked in a 5-5 tie with the host Dawgs heading to the ninth inning of a series deciding Game 3 of the WCBL final. In the bottom of the ninth, Dawgs first baseman Connor Crowson hit a solo home run to deliver Okotoks to a 6-5 victory, a third straight WCBL title and an eighth WCBL championship overall.

For the Berries, they gave their fans more thrills on and off the field than maybe a first-year should have been able to provide. They made going to a high-level baseball game in Saskatoon the sexy thing to do and here is hoping that becomes a tradition that follows for a long time to come.

A picture memory is made after the Berries last game on August 13.

A “boys of summer” team that connected with the folks in Saskatoon is here.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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