The Regina Red Sox attempt to repeat as Western Canadian Baseball League Champions was ended by the rival Saskatoon Berries in the division semi-finals. Regina forced a winner-take-all Game 3 in the best-of-three series with a win Saturday night. Sunday at Cairns Field in Saskatoon the Berries shut down the defending champs with a 5-3 win to take the game and series. Saskatoon jumped out in front with three runs in the third inning. Seventeen-year-old catcher Aiden Kilshaw kicked things off for the Berries with an RBI single. A few batters later Nick Stinson knocked in two more and Saskatoon led 3-0. Regina clawed their way back into the ballgame, scoring one run in the fourth. Down two in the fifth inning, senior second baseman Jalen Meyers drove a ball into left field for an RBI single and the Red Sox drew within one. Fifth-year Red Sox Brady Bye then tied the game with a single. Saskatoon swung the momentum back in their favour in the sixth inning. With two outs in the bottom half, Brock Laird smacked a ball into right centre field, driving in the go-ahead run and the Berries led 4-3. Stinson added a third RBI on the night with a solo homerun to lead-off the eighth inning, making it it 5-3. Closer Wesley Shackleford was clutch in the dying innings, pitching two hitless innings as Saskatoon eliminated the defending champions. The win sends the Berries to the WCBL East Division Final for the third time in three years since the franchise returned to the league. Saskatoon will take on the number one seed Moose Jaw Miller Express in a best-of-three series – a rematch of the 2024 East Division Final. Moose Jaw won that series before falling to the Okotoks Dawgs in the championship. Series schedule: Game 1: Tuesday, Aug. 11 at Ross Wells Park, Moose Jaw, Sask. Game 2: Wednesday, Aug. 12 at Cairns Field, Saskatoon, Sask. Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday, Aug. 13 at Ross Wells Park (times to be determined)
