Berries Clinch Playoff Berth With 20 Regular Season Games Remaining After Routing 57s

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