In just their third year of existence, the Saskatoon Berries are champions of the Western Canadian Baseball League.

The Berries’ pitching dominated Sylvan Lake for a second straight game and the Saskatoon team, that came to be in 2024, walloped the Gulls 11-1 Sunday night before another record crowd at Cairns Field of 2,579. An iconic Saskatoon team, the 24-time Canadian Junior Football champion Hilltops, always say they don’t play a perfect game or their best game until they win the title game – and the Berries did that Sunday. Merek Yeager, Brooks Jones and Colin Plain limited Sylvan Lake to eight hits, first baseman Josh Henson highlighted a 13-hit attack with a three-run home run in the sixth inning that turned a 3-1 lead into a 6-1 advantage, and Saskatoon didn’t commit an error in the field. Saskatoon went 6-1 in the post-season to win the championship, including five straight wins to claim the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy. In the final, the Berries out-scored the Gulls 15-2 and only allowed 11 hits to Sylvan Lake, who lost in the W-C-B-L final for a second straight year. Besides the trophy presentation, the post-game ceremony saw Saskatoon relief pitcher Wesley Shackelford named the post-season Most Valuable Player. In four appearances, the Belleville, Texas, product had win and three saves, only allowed one hit in nine shutout innings and struck out 14 batters. Following are post-game ceremony, media scrum and Les Lazaruk interviews with Berries’ team president Steve Hildebrand, head coach Joe Carnahan, Shackelford, Henson, right fielder Ethan Murdoch and centre fielder Nathan Houston…..