Berries Claim First Place in the W-C-B-L’s East Division With Late Comeback and Extra Innings Win Over Mavericks

A stirring comeback allowed the Saskatoon Berries to out-last the Medicine Hat Mavericks 5-4 in 11 innings on Wednesday night at NexGen Patch at Cairns Field.

Trailing 4-0 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Berries only had one hit – but ended up with seven and a victory that gave Saskatoon a sweep of a mini, two-game series over Medicine Hat, take over sole possession of first place in the East Division and in the W-C-B-L overall plus maintaining their perfect record on their home diamond in 2025. In the end, the contradiction of baseball came into play. While the Berries made four errors, they scored the winning run in the 11th inning on the Mavericks one and only miscue in the field. Jalen Freeman laid down a bunt up the third base line, attempting to move courtesy runner Nomar Prieto from second to third base. However, new Medicine Hat pitcher Luke Barrientos threw the ball high over first base and into foul territory in right field, allowing Prieto to scamper home with the decisive score. Up until that point, Freeman had been hitless in four plate appearances. The four runs scored by Saskatoon over the seventh and eighth frames came because five players, who had been previously hitless on the night, came through with base hits. The result means the Berries are 9-2 overall and 6-0 at Cairns Field while the Mavericks drop to 9-4. Saskatoon hits the road Thursday and Friday for games in Brooks, Alberta, against the Bombers – before returning home to tangle with the Weyburn Beavers on Saturday night and Sundat afternoon. Following are post-game media scrums with head coach Jor Carnahan, Freeman and first baseman Ethan Menard plus the official box score courtesy the W-C-B-L website…..

Game Date: 06/11/2025
Medicine Hat Mavericks  4 AT Saskatoon Berries  5 (EXTRA INNINGS)

                                 YTD                                   YTD
MedicineHat        AB  R  H BI   AVG  Saskatoon          AB  R  H BI   AVG
Freeman Jr, J DH    6  0  0  0  .420  Beck, C CF          3  1  1  0  .480
Uzawa, Y CF         5  1  0  0  .250  Houston, N SS       4  1  1  0  .271
Vanneste, T SS      4  0  1  0  .339  Menard, E 1B        4  0  1  2  .286
Roth, C 3B          5  1  3  0  .509  Roell, M 3B         5  1  1  0  .360
Morrison, E 1B      5  1  0  0  .283  Sorensen, B C       4  0  0  0  .233
Vulcano, A RF       5  1  3  1  .259   Prieto, N PR       0  1  0  0  .000
Dale, B 2B          4  0  0  0  .150  Freeman, J RF       4  0  0  0  .250
Babiuk, J C         5  0  2  1  .409  Wouters, C DH       4  0  2  1  .366
Dvorak, M LF        4  0  0  1  .295  Janner, E LF        3  0  0  0  .000
                                      Wesslund, C 2B      3  1  1  0  .242
                                       Murdoch, E PH      1  0  0  0  .361
                                       Medina, A 2B       0  0  0  0  .375
                   43  4  9  3                           35  5  7  3

MedicineHat          0 0 0   1 0 1   2 0 0   0 0 -  4  9  1
Saskatoon            0 0 0   0 0 0   1 3 0   0 1 -  5  7  4
2B--Vulcano, A RF (4), Babiuk, J C (1), Menard, E 1B (1), Wouters, C DH
(2). RBI--Vulcano, A RF (10), Babiuk, J C (3), Dvorak, M LF (14), TOTALS  3
(0), Menard, E 1B  2 (3), Wouters, C DH (9), TOTALS  3 (0). SF--Dvorak, M
LF (2), Houston, N SS (1). SH--Dale, B 2B (0), Freeman, J RF (0).
SB--Freeman Jr, J DH (11), Uzawa, Y CF 2 (11), Babiuk, J C (2), Beck, C CF
(1), Janner, E LF 2 (4). CS--Vanneste, T SS (1). E--Barrientos, L P (2),
Houston, N SS (4), Menard, E 1B 2 (2), Roell, M 3B (2). 
LOB--MedicineHat 12, Saskatoon 9. DP--C. Roth(3B) - J. Babiuk(C). 
                                                                YTD
                                 IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR     ERA
 MedicineHat
Spruiell, T                     3.0   0   0   0   2   4   0    4.77
Diaz, L                         4.0   6   4   4   0   2   0    6.11
Doll, A                         3.0   1   0   0   3   4   0    4.50
Barrientos, L (L,2-2)           0.0   0   1   1   0   0   0    6.14
                               10     7   5   5   5  10   0
 Saskatoon
Yeager, M                       6.0   6   2   1   1   4   0    4.70
McCombs, N                      2.0   3   2   2   1   1   0    4.91
Hosick, T                       2.0   0   0   0   0   3   0    0.00
Laird, Z (W,1-0)                1.0   0   0   0   0   1   0    0.00
                               11     9   4   3   2   9   0
WP--Laird, Z (3). PB--Babiuk, J 3. SO--Freeman Jr, J 3, Roth, C, Morrison,
E 3, Vulcano, A, Babiuk, J, Menard, E, Roell, M 2, Sorensen, B, Freeman, J,
Wouters, C 2, Janner, E, Wesslund, C, Murdoch, E. BB--Uzawa, Y, Vanneste,
T, Beck, C 2, Menard, E, Sorensen, B, Janner, E. BF--Spruiell, T 11 (50),
Diaz, L 18 (74), Doll, A 13 (38), Barrientos, L 2 (31), Yeager, M 28 (70),
McCombs, N 9 (19), Hosick, T 8 (23), Laird, Z 4 (25). P-S--Spruiell, T
44-24, Diaz, L 74-47, Doll, A 39-23, Barrientos, L 4-2, Yeager, M 85-63,
McCombs, N 21-14, Hosick, T 25-21, Laird, Z 10-9. 
T--2:55.  A--1481

Weather: 23C, Smoke, Air Quality 9
Plate Umpire - Aaron Roberts, Field Umpire #1 - Scott Mills, Field Umpire #2 - Bobby Mark