The first big goal of the 2025 W-C-B-L season was achieved by the Saskatoon Berries about 20 minutes after they took the field, but that didn’t stop them from showing their top form in blasting the Swift Current 57s 18-2 on Saturday night at Cairns Field.
When the Regina Red Sox bounced the Weyburn Beavers 11-1 in the first game of a doubleheader, that meant the Berries were guaranteed to finish ahead of both Weyburn and Swift Current in the East Division standings. And, Saskatoon still has 20 games remaining in the regular season! However, the Berries put on a power display in front of 1,917 fans as five different players hit home runs, the most noticeable part of a 23-hit attack. Carter Beck, Ethan Menard, Ethan Murdoch, Cory Wouters and Mason Roell all went yard for Saskatoon, now 31-5 for the season. Beck had four runs batted in, Menard and Roell each had three, Wouters hit his eighth home run of the season and fourth in seven games while Murdoch – a Swift Current product – went five-for-five at the plate with two R-B-I. Menard’s round-tripper was his ninth of the season, tying him for the league lead with Medicine Hat first baseman Evan Morrison. Thanks to all the offence, Berries’ starting pitcher Matt Whitney pitched six solid innings, coasting to his fifth win of the season – also tied for the league lead. Saskatoon is now eight games ahead of second place Medicine Hat in the East Division, their next big goal of the season. The Berries will look to reach for that Sunday afternoon when they host the 7-28 57s at 1 o’clock at Cairns Field. The game can be heard on CJWW, beginning at 1 p.m. Following are Les Lazaruk’s post-game interviews with head coach Joe Carnahan, Beck and Whitney plus the official box score courtesy the W-C-B-L website…..
Game Date: 07/12/2025
Swift Current 57s 2 AT Saskatoon Berries 18
YTD YTD
Swift Current AB R H BI AVG Saskatoon AB R H BI AVG
Hilton, S LF 5 0 1 0 .308 Beck, C CF 1 2 1 4 .340
Ayala, L C 3 0 1 0 .340 Zdunich, T LF,PH 2 0 0 0 .145
Almonte, J C 2 0 1 0 .214 Menard, E 1B 6 2 3 3 .431
Henriquez, W 3B 4 0 0 0 .296 Medina, A 2B 5 0 2 1 .377
Koehn, G 1B 4 0 1 0 .264 Prieto, N 2B 1 0 0 0 .219
Ayala, J CF 4 1 2 1 .268 Sorensen, B C 5 1 1 1 .284
Bailey, E DH 4 0 2 0 .333 Houston, N SS 4 1 1 1 .331
Imai, Y 2B 4 0 0 0 .000 Wesslund, C PH,SS 1 0 1 0 .345
Mapes, T SS 3 1 1 0 .256 Murdoch, E RF 5 3 5 2 .300
Adair, R SS 1 0 1 0 .234 Wouters, C DH 4 3 3 1 .345
Vail, B RF 4 0 1 0 .242 Kilshaw, A DH,PH 1 0 0 0 .000
Roell, M 3B 5 3 3 3 .314
Freeman, J CF,LF 4 3 3 2 .324
38 2 11 1 44 18 23 18
Swift Current 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 11 3
Saskatoon 3 3 4 4 4 0 0 0 x - 18 23 1
2B--Ayala, L C (5), Koehn, G 1B (9), Menard, E 1B (9), Medina, A 2B (7),
Murdoch, E RF (7), Freeman, J CF,LF (5). HR--Ayala, J CF (4), Beck, C CF
(4), Menard, E 1B (9), Murdoch, E RF (4), Wouters, C DH (8), Roell, M 3B
(1). RBI--Ayala, J CF (21), TOTALS (0), Beck, C CF 4 (24), Menard, E 1B 3
(29), Medina, A 2B (24), Sorensen, B C (25), Houston, N SS (28), Murdoch, E
RF 2 (25), Wouters, C DH (26), Roell, M 3B 3 (18), Freeman, J CF,LF 2
(19), TOTALS 18 (0). SF--Beck, C CF 2 (5). SB--Freeman, J CF,LF (11).
CS--Menard, E 1B (3). E--Mapes, T SS (16), Vail, B RF (1), Ratcliff, R P
(1), Houston, N SS (19).
LOB--Swift Current 9, Saskatoon 6.
YTD
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Swift Current
Ratcliff, R (L,1-3) 2.0 6 7 4 2 1 3 9.21
Noto, M 2.0 9 7 6 0 0 1 9.15
Puello, J 4.0 8 4 0 0 2 1 7.31
8 23 18 10 2 3 5
Saskatoon
Whitney, M (W,5-0) 6.0 8 2 2 0 7 1 3.18
Chumrau, A 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 0 3.48
Kopp, C 1.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 1.13
9 11 2 2 0 12 1
WP--Noto, M 3 (5), Puello, J 2 (6), Whitney, M (2), Chumrau, A (4).
SO--Hilton, S 2, Almonte, J, Henriquez, W, Ayala, J 2, Imai, Y 2, Mapes, T
2, Vail, B 2, Prieto, N, Wouters, C, Freeman, J. BB--Beck, C, Freeman, J.
BF--Ratcliff, R 15 (130), Noto, M 14 (107), Puello, J 19 (89), Whitney, M
26 (175), Chumrau, A 7 (44), Kopp, C 5 (36). P-S--Ratcliff, R 59-35, Noto,
M 29-20, Puello, J 75-48, Whitney, M 80-65, Chumrau, A 21-17, Kopp, C
21-15.
T--2:42. A--1917
13 Braxten Vail = 43 tonight, Forgot Jersey
Weather: 26C; mostly sunny, wind 30km/h
Plate Umpire - Justin Anderson, Field Umpire #1 - Trevor Drury, Field Umpire #2 - Bobby Mark