REGINA -- The Saskatoon Berries are one win away from officially becoming the best regular season team in Western Canadian Baseball League history.
The Berries recorded their 44th win of the season with a 10-3 victory over the Regina Red Sox in Regina on Thursday night, moving a single win away from 45 and eclipsing the 2024 Sylvan Lake Gulls for the most victories in the 56-game WCBL season.
Saskatoon still has four games remaining in the campaign with which to break the record, including a rematch with the Red Sox at Currie Field on Friday at 7 p.m..
Other WCBL action saw the Moose Jaw Miller Express close in on third place with an 11-8 win over the Weyburn Beavers while the Medicine Hat Mavericks took a 7-1 win over the Swift Current 57’s.
Saskatoon 10, Regina 3
The Berries put up a pair of runs in the third inning and added three more in the sixth for a 7-3 lead before tacking on a handful of insurance runs in the late innings.
Nate Houston and Ethan Murdoch were each 3-for-5 with a run and two RBI to lead the Berries offence, while Cory Wouters made his lone hit of the game count with a two-run home run in the sixth. Abiam Medina and Turner Zdunich each crossed the plate twice, with Medina also knocking in two runs.
Rafael Jackson and Dan Castellanos each hit home runs for Regina, Ian Montz picked up a pair of hits.
Matt Whitney was the winning pitcher, allowing two runs on four hits over five innings of work and striking out seven. Dallen Rude tossed the final three innings to earn the save.
Colton Bank took the loss after allowing six runs, four earned, on seven hits over five innings of work.
Regina falls to 26-26 and are three games up on Moose Jaw for third place in the East Division.
Moose Jaw 11, Weyburn 8
After falling behind 8-1 through four innings, the Express clawed their way back into the contest with a five-run sixth inning before taking the lead with a pair of runs in the seventh. Two more runs in the eighth took off the pressure and Moose Jaw would hold on for the comeback win.
Both teams were hitting the ball hard at Ross Wells Park, with each recording three home runs.
Austin Gurney homered for the second straight night for Moose Jaw and finished 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Eduardo Saenz and Tanner DeGrazia also had round-trippers and finished with a pair of hits each. Thomas Soto and Wil Edwards each had two hits and knocked in a pair.
Ryan Dauphinee, Ian Heck and Owen Mayencourt each hit home runs for the Beavers, with Mayencourt going 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Ryan Muizelaar also crossed the plate twice, Heck and Robert Gurney had two RBI apiece.
Kaden Noble was the winning pitcher, taking over in the fourth inning and holding Weyburn to a single hit over the next 3 ⅔ as the Express mounted their comeback. Nathan Pisio earned the save.
Moose Jaw improved to 23-29 and have four games remaining with which to try and catch Regina for third in the East. Weyburn fall to 13-39 and remain two games ahead of sixth-place Swift Current.
Medicine Hat 7, Swift Current 1
The teams found themselves tied 1-1 through three innings before the Mavericks took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth. There things would remain until Medicine Hat tacked on another three in the eighth to finish off scoring on the night.
Six players had a pair of hits each for the Mavericks, led by Carter Roth who went 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs batted in. Jaden Babiuk and Blale Dale each scored two runs, Aaron Vulcano knocked in a pair.
Wilmer Henriquez hit his 12th home run of the season in the first inning for Swift Current’s only run. Rydell Adair had two of the 57’s runs in the game.
Danny Retzlaff started for the Mavericks and allowed the single run on five hits over four innings, striking out eight. Garrick Levesque took over in the fifth and tossed three scoreless innings to earn the win.
Kyrell Adair was the losing pitcher, allowing four runs on eight hits in 3 ⅔ innings and striking out four.
The Mavericks improve to 34-17 and will finish second in the East, Swift Current drops to 10-40 and are sixth in the Division.
In addition to the potential record-tying game in Regina on Friday night, Swift Current is at Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat is at Weyburn, with both those games at 7:05 p.m.
