Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look back at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
Standing 90 feet away from victory at Cairns Field with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Brock Laird had his eyes fixed on home plate.
In a split second, the infielder turned on the jets and made the dash for the game-winning run for the Saskatoon Berries on Saturday night.
“Honestly, I was just trying to run as fast as I can,” Laird said.
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Laird jumped on a passed ball from Regina Red Sox pitcher Jake Fowler, as he sprinted from third base to give the Berries a 3-2 walk-off win over their divisional rival on a cool, rainy night of baseball.
“That’s the one thing I was looking for, a pass ball right there,” Laird said. “We got it and came out with the ‘W.’”
The Berries struggled to get the bats going against Red Sox starter Daniel Crabtree, who pitched six innings of three-hit baseball and held Saskatoon to just two extra-base hits.
That included Laird, who went 0-for-3 at the plate with a handful of fly-outs which carried to the deepest part of Cairns Field but were ultimately caught.
“(Laird) had about three barrels today that just ran right into people,” said Berries starting pitcher Owen Stempel.
“He finally got the passed ball at the end and let him get across, it was great to see him get that.”
Saturday’s comeback victory put the Berries back in the win column after they dropped a 3-2 decision on Friday in Swift Current, despite solo home runs from Gavin Panks and Nash Nichols.
Head coach Joe Carnahan said his team is showcasing early in the Western Canadian Baseball League season they can pull through in games which aren’t tilting their way.
“We had kind of a tough one (Friday),” Carnahan said.
“To come back today, (we) stuck with it throughout the game. Their starter did a great job mixing speeds, commanding the zone and we just stuck with it.”
In his second start of the season, Stempel threw four complete innings for Saskatoon with two runs given up on three hits and five strikeouts on his night.
Stempel wasted no time with a quick three up, three down first inning to set the tone before Regina opened the scoring in the second inning with RBIs from catcher Matteo Pierre and second baseman Justin Simard.
“We had a quick six-pitch inning and then came out,” Stempel said.
“I had a little struggle in the second, gave up two runs, but was able to get out of it and settle down with two more innings after that.”
Willis Simair took over from Stempel on the mound in the fifth inning, though he pitched less than two innings in relief after being removed from the game after tweaking his leg.
Saskatoon got relief innings from Brooks Jones, Reid Beck and Tanner Hosick to close out the game, with the trio allowing just two hits against and zero runs.
The Berries’ offence finally woke up in the bottom of the sixth inning with a lead-off triple from Gael Salinas, who eventually scored on a wild pitch from Crabtree to make it a 2-1 game.
After a quiet seventh inning offensively, the Berries bounced back in the eighth inning with Nichols reaching second base on a throwing error before the outfielder stole third. Two pitches later, Panks singled to left field to cash in Nichols for the game-tying run.
Saskatoon ran into issues in the top of the ninth inning with Regina loading the bases after a Mason Tafoya single, a wild pitch by Hosick and a walk issued to Alex Roux.
With veteran slugger Brady Bye at the dish, Hosick managed to force the ground-out at third base to give Saskatoon a chance at walking off the game.
Following a Mason Gaines fly-out, Laird got on base in the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk which was followed up by an Erik Aguirre single.
Regina forced a Nichols fly-out immediately after to get their second out of the ninth, but two straight wild pitches with Gael Salinas at the plate allowed Laird to charge home and secure the win for Saskatoon.
“It shows that this team isn’t just a team that goes out there and gets bases every time,” Laird said. “When it doesn’t go our way, we find a way to scratch back and win.”
It’s the second late comeback by the Berries in a week, as Saturday’s game mirrored the team’s home opener on May 30 which included a game-winning RBI in the eighth inning by Nichols.
“It’s a good sign,” Laird said. “This group, we met each other two weeks ago. We’re already bonded so well, man. This team is awesome, I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
Saskatoon earned its sixth win through their first eight games of the 2026 WCBL season and now lead the East Division by 1.5 games over the Weyburn Beavers.
While the Berries’ big bats only managed six hits in the win, Carnahan said the team was opportunistic Saturday adding it was just enough to get the victory.
“That’s the way the game goes,” Carnahan said. “Some days you’re swinging it, some days you’re not. You got to find a way.”
The Berries (6-2) will close out four games in four days on Sunday at 1 p.m. as they’ll welcome Weyburn to Cairns Field.
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