Saskatoon Berries ‘juiced' to build on inaugural WCBL season in 2nd year
After a memorable first season in the Western Canadian Baseball League, the Saskatoon Berries are ready to do it all over again.
The first wave of players have arrived at Cairns Field taking part in three days of practice ahead of the team's 2025 WCBL season opener on the road Thursday against the Weyburn Beavers.
'A whole lot of excitement here and we're just ready to get going,' Berries pitcher Matthias Trondson said. 'We didn't get as far as we wanted last year, so we have a great opportunity on our hands this year.'
The Berries are entering their second year as a franchise after taking the WCBL by storm last year, bursting onto the summer collegiate baseball scene with their inaugural season.
Despite coming out of the gate slowly, the Berries finished their first regular season with a 31-25 record to grab the third seed in the East Division and match up against the Medicine Hat Mavericks in their first playoff series.
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Saskatoon came out on top in three games over the Mavericks to earn its first series win, before falling in three games in the East finals to the Moose Jaw Miller Express.
'I think that win against Medicine Hat in the opening round was big for our team, proving that we belong here,' Trondson said.
'Looking forward to this season, everything is ahead of us. We think that there could be some special things down the road for us.'
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Ahead of opening pitch in 2025, the Berries will be returning 11 faces from their inaugural season roster, including reigning WCBL Top Canadian and Rookie of the Year Carter Beck.
A threat both at the plate and in the Saskatoon outfield, Beck was named a first-team all-star after posting a .374 batting average with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs.
Named most valuable player at the 2024 WCBL All-Star Game as well, the Carnduff, Sask., product is coming off his first season of NCAA Division I baseball with the Indiana State Sycamores, where he was recently named to the all-Missouri Conference Valley team for his production.
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While the team is still awaiting his arrival from Indiana State, Berries head coach Joe Carnahan said he will add immediate punch to the lineup in the coming days.
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'He had a great season down at Indiana State and we're thrilled to have him back, obviously,' Carnahan said. 'He'll come in and he knows what it's all about. He was excited to come back, wanted to come back and we're looking for a leadership role from him.'
Among the returning players to Cairns Field this summer will be catcher Bailyn Sorensen, infielders Ethan Menard and Cory Wouters, outfielders Beck and Jalen Freeman, as well as Trondson, Carter Kopp, Adam Beamin and Colin Plain on the mound.
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Saskatoon Berries home opener Saturday to mark second season
Putting the league on notice last season with a run that saw the Berries finish one win shy of reaching the WCBL finals, their strong first season has allowed Carnahan more opportunities to recruit new players to the roster in 2025.
'A lot of players wanted to come play here,' Carnahan said. 'So it was a little bit different recruiting this year once everybody's seen actually what goes on here in Saskatoon and the support that we get throughout the city.'
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Two of those additions will be in the pitching rotation with Klevert Martina and Matthew Whitney coming over from the Swift Current 57's and Fort McMurray Giants, who both were among league leaders in strikeouts last season.
While in the infield, Saskatoon has picked up Melville, Sask., product Nathan Houston, who has spent the last two years starring with Moose Jaw and finished third in the WCBL in batting average in 2024 with a .385 mark.
'It was pretty hard not to notice what they were doing last year,' Houston said. 'It was kind of the talk of the league, everybody was focusing on this new team and what they were doing. The fan base is really cool and from the guys in the organization, I hear they do it right.'
Houston came out on top in Saskatoon and Moose Jaw's second round battle last year, where he would end up hitting .548 with five RBIs in the Miller Express's run to the league championship series.
According to Wouters, it will be a huge boost patrolling the infield with one of the top two-way players in the league.
'I played against him last year and played against him a little bit growing up,' Wouters said. 'He's been the same way every year that I've known him. He's just a really good ball player, so it's awesome to have him on our side instead of playing against him this year.'
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The Berries are coming off a banner year at the ticket office as well, packing Cairns Field with more than 55,000 spectators over the course of their inaugural season, which ranked only behind the three-time defending champion Okotoks Dawgs.
Houston said that environment was a key driver in his jump north to play in Saskatoon.
'I can't explain how excited I am,' Houston said. 'I got lots of family coming up to watch. Playing in front of that many fans is going to be really cool for the first time, not playing against them. It's going to be fun having those fans behind our back.'
The Berries will kick off their sophomore season on the road for their first two games before opening up Cairns Field on Saturday afternoon to host the Regina Red Sox, a game that can't come soon enough for their crop of new and returning players.
'We can't wait to see the fans and play in front of them,' Trondson said. 'Saturday is going to be a great day, the weather is going to be nice and we're all ready.'
Saskatoon's season opener goes at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening at Tom Laing Park against Weyburn, before Houston and the Berries pay his old team a visit in Moose Jaw on Friday evening.
Opening pitch for the Berries' home opener is set for 4 p.m. at Cairns Field on Saturday, battling their rivals from Regina.
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