The number eight and nine hitters in the line-up were key to the Saskatoon Berries extending their winning streak to four games as the home side downed the Fort McMurray Giants 5-3 Tuesday night before 1,120 fans at NexGen Patch at Cairns Field.
Left fielder Turner Zdunich (pictured) in the eighth spot in the Saskatoon batting order, led off the three-run bottom of the fifth inning – that put the Berries in the lead for good – with a double and scored a run while designated hitter Cam Marshak, in the nine hole, had three hits and scored two runs. Mother Nature also played a hand in the game, both good and not so good for the home side. The brisk north, northwest wind led to a dropped fly ball that allowed Fort McMurray to open the scoring in the top of the fourth inning. But, Saskatoon benefitted from the bright sun in the eyes of Giants’ right fielder Connor Raney, who misplayed three fly balls in the fifth inning that led to the three-run Berries’ rally. The winning streak improved Saskatoon’s record to 4-1 while Fort McMurray is winless at 0-4 to start the 2025 Western Canadian Baseball League season. The same teams meet Wednesday night at 7 o’clock. Following are Les Lazaruk’s post-game chats with Berries’ head coach Joe Carnahan and Zdunich plus the official box score courtesy the W-C-B-L website…..
Game Date: 06/03/2025
Fort McMurray Giants 3 AT Saskatoon Berries 5
YTD YTD
Ft.McMurray AB R H BI AVG Saskatoon AB R H BI AVG
Olaybal, E LF 2 1 0 0 .000 Freeman, J CF 5 1 1 1 .238
Barry, D SS 4 0 1 0 .250 Houston, N SS 3 1 0 1 .263
Cook, E CF 5 0 0 0 .000 Murdoch, E RF 3 0 2 1 .333
Rhoades, M 1B 4 0 1 1 .250 Sorensen, B C 4 0 1 2 .167
Harwood, S DH 4 0 1 0 .250 Wesslund, C 2B 4 0 0 0 .333
Sauve, N C 4 1 1 0 .250 Wouters, C 1B 4 0 1 0 .364
Hercun, C 3B 4 1 1 1 .250 Roell, M 3B 4 0 2 0 .500
Murphy, M 2B 4 0 1 1 .250 Zdunich, T LF 3 1 1 0 .111
Raney, C RF 3 0 0 0 .000 Marshak, C DH 4 2 3 0 .263
Montanaro, G PH 1 0 0 0 .000
35 3 6 3 34 5 11 5
Ft.McMurray 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 - 3 6 3
Saskatoon 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 x - 5 11 3
2B--Sauve, N C (1), Murdoch, E RF (2), Sorensen, B C (2), Zdunich, T LF
(1). 3B--Barry, D SS (1). RBI--Rhoades, M 1B (1), Hercun, C 3B (1), Murphy,
M 2B (1), TOTALS 3 (0), Freeman, J CF (3), Houston, N SS (1), Murdoch, E
RF (3), Sorensen, B C 2 (2), TOTALS 5 (0). HP--Olaybal, E LF (1).
SF--Murdoch, E RF (1). SH--Houston, N SS (0). SB--Olaybal, E LF (1),
Murphy, M 2B (1), Murdoch, E RF (3). CS--Roell, M 3B (1). E--Hercun, C 3B 2
(2), Murphy, M 2B (1), Wesslund, C 2B 2 (3), Zdunich, T LF (1).
LOB--Ft.McMurray 9, Saskatoon 8. DP--M. Murphy(2B) - D. Barry(SS) - M.
Rhoades(1B).
YTD
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Ft.McMurray
Culbertson, W 3.0 5 1 1 0 1 0 3.00
Roberts, W (L,0-1) 2.0 3 3 1 0 0 0 4.50
Glenn, L 2.0 2 1 0 0 3 0 0.00
Taft, L 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.00
8 11 5 2 1 4 0
Saskatoon
Quinonez, D 3.0 0 1 0 2 3 0 0.00
Lessard, J 1.0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0.00
Chumrau, A (W,1-0) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00
Laird, Z 2.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0.00
Sall, M 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 0 3.38
Mixon, C (S,1) 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.00
9 6 3 1 3 10 0
WP--Quinonez, D 2 (2). PB--Sorensen, B. HB--Quinonez, D (1). SO--Olaybal,
E, Cook, E 3, Rhoades, M, Harwood, S, Sauve, N, Hercun, C, Raney, C 2,
Freeman, J, Sorensen, B, Wesslund, C, Zdunich, T. BB--Olaybal, E 2, Barry,
D, Zdunich, T. BF--Culbertson, W 13 (13), Roberts, W 10 (10), Glenn, L 9
(9), Taft, L 5 (5), Quinonez, D 13 (13), Lessard, J 5 (5), Chumrau, A 4
(4), Laird, Z 8 (11), Sall, M 5 (12), Mixon, C 4 (10). P-S--Culbertson, W
45-28, Roberts, W 27-19, Glenn, L 27-19, Taft, L 18-9, Quinonez, D 50-30,
Lessard, J 17-11, Chumrau, A 17-11, Laird, Z 31-19, Sall, M 19-14, Mixon, C
17-12.
T--2:30.