By IAN WILSON
Baseball heroics are on deck.
The last time we saw the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) in action, Connor Crowson was stumbling around the bases of Seaman Stadium and arriving at home plate to a championship celebration in front of 6,341 screaming fans.
It was Crowson’s solo home run in the bottom of the ninth that served as a walk-off tiebreaker against the Moose Jaw Miller Express and delivered a three-peat title to the Okotoks Dawgs. The hometown hero made the final play of the WCBL postseason a decisive and memorable one in the 6-5 triumph.
Who will play the role of hero in 2025?
What team will lift the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy as the WCBL champion?
What batter will clobber the most home runs?
Who will rack up the most strikeouts?
These are just some of the questions that have yet to be answered about the 2025 WCBL season.
To help prepare us for these questions, let’s look around the WCBL at team previews for each of the league’s 12 franchises:
EAST DIVISION
MOOSE JAW MILLER EXPRESS
They were so very close.
Not only did the Moose Jaw Miller Express push the Okotoks Dawgs to a winner-take-all Game 3 of the WCBL championship series, the underdog squad scored a pair of late runs to even the score entering the ninth inning of that contest.
It took the homer heroics of Connor Crowson in the bottom of the ninth to break the tie, deliver the Dawgs a 6-5 victory, and secure a three-peat title for Okotoks.
The Miller Express were right there, when few expected them to be.
So, where do they go from here? … read more
SASKATOON BERRIES
They painted ‘Toon Town purple last summer, and the Saskatoon Berries are ready to do it all over again.
The 2024 season – the first for the Berries in the WCBL – was a smashing success for the expansion franchise, both on and off the field.
After stumbling out of the gate, the Berries turned their regular season around, finished with a winning record of 31-25, and punched their ticket to the WCBL playoffs.
Saskatoon upset the Medicine Hat Mavericks in the first round of the postseason and engaged in a wild best-of-three East Division championship series against the Miller Express, falling just short of advancing to the WCBL Final.
With one season in the books, the Saskatoon Berries now seem ripe for a run at a title … read more
MEDICINE HAT MAVERICKS
Seemingly a lock to make playoffs every year, the Medicine Hat Mavericks consistently field competitive teams each summer.
The Mavs squared off against the Okotoks Dawgs in the 2023 WCBL championship final – a best-of-three series they ultimately lost in three games – and they bowed out in the opening round of the postseason to the Saskatoon Berries in 2024.
Medicine Hat will seek to find the same winning formula they’ve applied to the regular season year after year and adapt it for success in the playoffs, where the team will push for a return to the WCBL final yet again … read more
REGINA RED SOX
It’s time for the Regina Red Sox to convert their regular season success into playoff wins.
The Red Sox have qualified for the postseason three straight years and finished atop the East Division after two of those regular seasons.
Despite the playoff appearances, Regina has not won a game in the postseason since 2019, when the Red Sox lost to the Okotoks Dawgs in the WCBL championship final.
The team has proven to be capable of building a roster that can claim victories with some regularity, but they need to pick up more wins when the games matter most … read more
WEYBURN BEAVERS
One log at a time.
There was slight improvement for the Weyburn Beavers last year.
The WCBL club went from consecutive to 14-42 campaigns in 2022 and 2023 to a record of 17-39 in 2024. Those added wins brought the Beavers out of the basement. Instead of finishing in last place in the WCBL, as the Beavers had in the previous two years, Weyburn finished in 5th in the East Division, ahead of the Swift Current 57’s, and 10th overall on the 12-team circuit.
Nonetheless, there is room for further improvement and the pitchers and hitters on the team will have to achieve better results if a spot in the postseason is a realistic goal.
For that, they’ll need to throw plenty more logs on the dam … read more
SWIFT CURRENT 57’s
The 57’s are hoping for a swift turnaround.
After finishing last in the East Division of the WCBL and outside of the playoff picture in 2024, the Swift Current 57’s will look to make it to the postseason, as they did in 2023.
That will be the first step in trying to find the championship form that delivered the franchise seven titles since 2000.
The 57’s were a force when the league went by the name of the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL), and before that as members of the Saskatchewan Major Baseball League (SMBL). But since the circuit rebranded as the WCBL in 2018, Swift Current has struggled to find success.
Looking to lead the bounce back is Jamie LeBlanc, the new president of the club … read more
WEST DIVISION
OKOTOKS DAWGS
The championship three-peat is complete.
So, what will the Okotoks Dawgs do for an encore?
The Dawgs showed grit and resilience in capturing the 2024 WCBL title, their third consecutive and eighth championship in franchise history. It marked the second time the Dawgs completed the three-peat feat. They achieved it initially between 2007 and 2009.
It’s unclear what the Dawgs will do next to top that … read more
SYLVAN LAKE GULLS
No team was hotter than the Sylvan Lake Gulls heading into the postseason.
The Lake Boys rattled off 10 straight wins and finished the 2024 regular season with a WCBL record 44 victories as they entered the playoffs. Sylvan Lake disposed of the Brooks Bombers in the opening round best-of-three series with two straight wins, yielding just one run in those contests.
From there, the Gulls dropped a West Division championship series to their rival, the Okotoks Dawgs. The playoff exit marked the third straight year that Sylvan Lake was eliminated by Okotoks. Any road to a WCBL championship seems certain to go through Seaman Stadium at some point.
Can the Gulls slay that beast and get past their top rival in 2025? … read more
LETHBRIDGE BULLS
Fans had plenty of drama and storylines to follow during the 2024 WCBL season.
The Okotoks Dawgs were in hot pursuit of a three-peat championship, the Sylvan Lake Gulls were putting together a regular season wins record and those two rivals were on a collision course in the postseason.
In the East Division, the Saskatoon Berries burst onto the scene with a memorable season for the expansion team and the Moose Jaw Miller Express were cooking up their own playoff magic.
Meanwhile, the Lethbridge Bulls were quietly turning in a solid campaign. The horned bovines finished 16 games above .500 in the regular season and faced off against the Dawgs in a best-of-three opening round series in the playoffs. That hard-fought matchup pushed both teams to the limit, with Okotoks pulling out a series win in extra innings.
The Bulls will see some key veteran players return to Spitz Stadium in 2025 to make a postseason push yet again … read more
BROOKS BOMBERS
Get in and win.
That’s the goal of the Brooks Bombers in 2025.
The Bombers have now experienced the playoffs in the WCBL on two occasions – in 2022 and 2024 – but Brooks has yet to win a postseason contest.
Can the “Bomb Squad” up their game this summer? … read more
FORT McMURRAY GIANTS
You’ll have to excuse coaches, players, personnel and fans of the Fort McMurray Giants if they’re caught singing “Get Back” this summer.
Vocalist Paul McCartney urged the protagonists of The Beatles song to “get back to where you once belonged.”
For the Giants, where they once belonged is the WCBL postseason. After consecutive playoff appearances, Fort McMurray narrowly missed the big dance last summer.
This year, Fort McMurray will look to get back and prove that their previous postseason pushes were no fluke … read more
ENERGY CITY CACTUS RATS
Things are going to get prickly in the Edmonton area this summer.
That’s thanks to a new WCBL team that will call Spruce Grove home.
The Energy City Cactus Rats, who will play out of a new state-of-the-art stadium, are the rebranded evolution of the Edmonton Prospects, a franchise that was originally formed in 2005.
The name “Cactus Rats” is a nod to the porcupine and the team logos – which include a high-visibility work jacket and a hard hat – symbolize the region’s blue-collar work ethic.
As much as the club has been working on their new identity and the construction of a premier stadium, there is also plenty of effort required to put a winning team on the field.
There are lots of moving parts in Spruce Grove this summer. Can a playoff-contending team be one of those parts? … read more
Opening Day for the Western Canadian Baseball League is Wednesday, May 28th. The defending WCBL champion Okotoks Dawgs travel to Medicine Hat to face the Mavericks at Athletic Park. The game time is set for 7:05 p.m.
The first action for Saskatchewan-based teams takes place on Thursday, May 29th when the Regina Red Sox host the Swift Current 57’s, the Saskatoon Berries visit the Weyburn Beavers and the Moose Jaw Miller Express take on the Medicine Hat Mavericks at Athletic Park.
Tales of Baseball 