The national medal haul might not have been as fruitful as past years, but Saskatchewan’s contingents at Baseball Canada events did the province proud.
Highlighted by the bronze medal-winning efforts of the 19U Women’s team on home turf in Saskatoon, each team played in exciting and meaningful games.
On each team, there were several standout performances worthy of recognition.
In the first of what we plan to make an annual retrospective, here’s a look at how each Baseball Sask team stacked up at national championships.
Women’s Nationals (July 9-12 – Winnipeg, MB)
Things started very well for the Baseball Sask Women’s team at nationals in Winnipeg as they slammed Nova Scotia 17-7 in their opener. Unfortunately, they ran into some stiff competition afterwards, falling 19-1 to the hosts and 7-2 to Quebec. Their round-robin came to a close with a 24-0 drubbing at the hands of Ontario, putting them into the quarterfinal with Quebec 2, who came away with a close 3-2 victory. In the 5th vs. 6th game, Saskatchewan faced the hosts from Manitoba again, who got their revenge with a 15-4 victory.
Placing: 6th
Overall record: 1-5
Top performers:
- Addie Ziebart – 6-for-14 with four singles, two home runs, seven RBI and a stolen base at the plate, while she was also the team’s workhorse on the mound with two starts totalling 8.1 innings and eight strikeouts.
- Braidy Birdsall – 5-for-14 with four singles, a double, four RBI and two stolen bases.
- Victoria Bateman – 2-for-10 with a single and double while leading the team with three stolen bases. She also pitched four innings, striking out three.
Morneau Cup (July 14-19 – Okotoks, AB)
The inaugural Road to Okotoks started strong for Team Sask but ended with a bitter taste in their mouths. The venture started in Alberta with the Regional Qualifiers in Lethbridge and Vauxhall, where the Saskatchewan contingent rattled off four-straight wins before falling to Vauxhall in the semi-finals. They punched their ticket to the main event, the Morneau Cup playdowns, in Okotoks in July, where they went 2-2 in round-robin action, only to be eliminated from quarterfinal contention because of the tiebreaker criteria. They picked up wins over the UBC Thunder (1-0) and the Ontario Terriers (14-0) and losses against the Mississauga Tigers (5-2) and the Abbotsford Cardinals (1-0). They wrapped things up with an 8-5 victory over the DT Selects in the consolation bracket.
Regional record: 4-1
Morneau Cup record: 3-2
Top performers:
- Kash Berg – 13-for-26 with 10 singles, two doubles, a triple, a stolen base and nine RBI in 10 games.
- Pryor Dyck – 11 innings pitched in two starts, allowing no runs on six hits and a walk while striking out 11.
- Mitchell Rauckman – 8.2 innings pitched in two starts, allowing one run on nine hits and a walk while striking out eight. He also had an RBI single and two walks in eight plate appearances.
19U Women (July 30-August 2 – Saskatoon, SK)
Saskatchewan’s lone medal in national tournaments in 2026 came on home turf as the 19U women repeated their bronze performance from a year previous. They opened up action with a decisive 11-1 win over Manitoba then won a 19-13 nailbiter of Alberta. Team Sask finished out their round-robin with an 11-2 drubbing of Newfoundland and Labrador, then suffered their lone setback – an 11-7 decision to Ontario – to land in the bronze medal game. They found themselves in a rematch with Alberta and put up a seven-spot in the second inning to not look back in a 15-5 triumph.
Placing: 3rd
Overall record: 4-1
Top performers:
- Braidy Birdsall – 14-for-20 with eight singles, six doubles, 17 RBI, 12 runs scored and three stolen bases to be named the tournament’s top offensive player.
- Makenna Dowbrowlsky – 6-for-15 with four singles, two doubles, seven RBI and a stolen base.
- Victoria Bateman – led the team with 8.1 innings pitched, allowing just two earned runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Baseball Canada Cup (August 5-9 – Summerside, P.E.I.)
It was an action-packed week for Team Sask in Summerside. It started off well enough with wins of 12-8 and 5-4 over Manitoba and Ontario, respectively. Then they ran into a string of bad luck with four-straight losses, including two to B.C. and a 10-2 quarterfinals loss to New Brunswick. The club bounced back with a 5-1 win over Manitoba to claim the 5th place game. One of the highlights of the event was early when slugger Rhett Cawood took home the Home Run Derby title.
Placing: 5th
Overall record: 3-4
Top performers:
- Nash Langton – 9-for-18 (.500 average) with three doubles, a homer, five runs batted in and a 1.360 OPS.
- Sean Coverett – 6-for-20 (.300 average) with a double, homer, six RBI and a stolen base.
- Pryor Dyck – 9.1 innings pitched in two games, allowing four earned runs on 12 hits and a walk while striking out eight.
18U (August 13-16 – Fort McMurray, AB)
In a tight field across the board, a couple of early losses proved to be the undoing for Team Sask, represented by the Saskatoon Diamondbacks. They fell 17-2 and 8-5 to Manitoba and P.E.I. to start off the 18U Nationals in Fort McMurray, then got on the board with wins of 16-8 and 14-7 over Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, respectively. That put them in the 7th vs. 8th game against the hosts, where they finished the event off in style with a 10-2 triumph.
Placing: 7th
Overall record: 3-2
Top performers:
- Kash Berg – 5-for-9 (.556 average) with four singles, a double and four RBI.
- Jett Donison – 8-for-20 (.400 average) with five singles, two home runs, three RBI, nine runs scored and two stolen bases.
- Carson McTavish – 4 innings pitched in win over the Alberta hosts, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out six.
15U Ray Carter Cup (August 20-23 – Summerside, P.E.I.)
It was an up-and-down tournament for Team Sask at the Ray Carter Cup. They ended up playing the most games of any team at the event as they took the long road to the final four. After losing 10-1 to Quebec, they bounced back with wins over B.C. and Alberta, then lost to Ontario and won a 1-0 nailbiter over New Brunswick to get into the semis. There, they lost 4-0 to Quebec before falling 2-0 to Nova Scotia in the bronze medal match.
Placing: 4th
Overall record: 3-4
Top performers:
- Lucas Lind – 7-for-18 (.389 average) with seven singles, a run batted in and four stolen bases – named the tournament’s Top Defensive Player.
- Nathan Fraser – allowed just one hit and no walks while striking out four in complete-game shutout win over New Brunswick.
- Jackson Dowie – allowed one run on four hits and no walks while striking out 13 in 5.1 innings of work in win over Alberta.
16U Girls (August 20-23 – Moncton, N.B.)
It was a tough road for Team Sask at the 16U Nationals. They started the tournament with an 8-2 loss to Alberta before getting shutout 18-0 by Ontario. They came back to pick up a 12-11 win over B.C. then ended their schedule with an 18-17 loss to Quebec, who ended up winning the event thanks to a 6-5 thriller over Alberta. Saskatchewan would have played in the 5th vs. 6th game, but it was rained out.
Placing: 5th/6th
Overall record: 1-3
Top performers:
- Paisley McHarg – 6-for-9 (.667 average) with four singles, two doubles and two RBI.
- Makenna Dobrowolsky – 6-for-13 (.462 average) with five singles, a home run and six RBI.
- Criseyde Borthwick – 5.1 innings pitched against B.C., allowing two earned runs on six hits and a walk while striking out eight.
Men’s Nationals (August 20-23 – Miramichi, N.B.)
It was a tough tournament for the Men’s National Team, represented by the Regina Trappers, in Miramichi. The team started things off with a 7-3 setback against Alberta before a pair of losses to B.C. (12-8) and New Brunswick (2-1). They wrapped up the round-robin by falling 16-6 to Ontario and didn’t take part in a placement game as the Sunday action was rained out, leading to some scheduling changes to work in quarterfinals and semifinals being played late-Saturday and the medal games taking place on the Monday.
Placing: 9th
Overall record: 0-4
Top performers:
- Jared Binsfeld – 5-for-15 with two singles, two doubles, a homer, four RBI and a stolen base.
- Griffin Keller – 3-for-12 with a single, two homers and six RBI.
- Logan Hofmann – led the team with 3.2 innings of work, allowing no runs on three hits and two walks while striking out four.
Check out the schedule for 2027 Baseball Canada events here.
