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Despite losing in the eastern final of the WCBL playoffs, people within the Saskatoon Berries organization are keeping their heads held high.
Their inaugural season in Saskatoon is being regarded as a tremendous success on and off the field.
“It was a fantastic year,” said Berries president Steve Hildebrand.
“I knew it would be good, I felt it was going to be a lot of fun at the ballpark, but it exceeded my expectations and I think the expectations of a lot of people in and around our organization and around the city. It was a fantastic year on and off the field and we’re looking forward to next season.”
Hildebrand felt the return of the Berries filled a missing void in the summer.
“I think the reason we wanted to bring it back because we felt it was a missing piece of baseball in the city,” he explained.
“I know the WCBL thought it was a missing piece in the league and I think it was great for people to have college baseball back in the city here.”
Hildebrand suggested it was cool to see how many people in the community gravitated towards the team.
“It was fun seeing all the kids at the ballpark, it was fun seeing all the seniors coming out to the ballpark. You go to different events in the city and everyone is talking about Berries baseball and how much fun they had at the ballpark. It makes you feel good,” he said.
“Our team here did a great job throughout the year on providing a good product off the field, and our head coach Joe Carnahan did a great job recruiting and providing really good entertainment on the field. Overall, a huge success for us this season.”
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(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)
If there was one thing that stood out off the field for the Berries this season, it was the amount of hats sold.
Hildebrand didn’t have a specific number, but he does know they sold a lot better than most.
“We had a call from New Era about midway through our season to let us know that we are selling more hats than most minor league baseball clubs in the U.S.,” he explained.
“That speaks volumes of where we are at with this. It was everywhere. I had people across Canada and North America texting me (pictures of the hats). We look forward to continue that.”
Hildebrand said the team is looking forward to getting ready for next season.
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