Riggers 5 Tigers Black 3
The Red Deer Riggers looked nothing like a team that had been idle for two weeks Friday night at Great Chief Park.
The host club got effective pitching performances from starter Colin Hodgson and Dustin Northcott and some timely hitting in a four-run second inning en route to a 5-3 seven-inning win over the St. Albert Tigers Black in the opening game of the Riggers tournament.
“We haven’t played for awhile (since the Kamloops tournament) and Colin hasn’t thrown for awhile, so it was good that he came out and threw strikes,” said Riggers manager Curtis Bailey.
“Colin got a bit around the zone in the middle innings, a little too much in the middle of the zone, maybe. He kept things up a bit but after that he settled down and threw well. Our pitching went well and offensively, for having such a long layoff, all the guys hit the ball reasonably well tonight.”
Down 2-1, the Riggers scored four runs in the second frame on a hit pitch and five singles off of Tigers pitcher Jarvis Grenier. Jason Chatwood drove in a pair of runs and Matt Fay and Jaret Chatwood each had an RBI hit.
The Riggers wasted opportunities in the fourth and fifth innings. Grenier fanned Jordan Weinkauf with two out and the bases loaded in the fourth, and Red Deer left runners at second and third with one away in the fifth when Grenier got Denver Wik on a pop up and Matt Fay lined out to centre field.
According to Bailey, the Riggers haven’t made a habit of stranding runners this season.
“We’ve done fairly well in scoring with runners in position,” he said. “When you have a chance to score and you don’t, it’s OK when you’re ahead like we were tonight. You kind of go out and wash it off and continue to play hard.”
Hodgson, who allowed eight hits and all three St. Albert runs over five innings, was relieved in the sixth inning by Northcott, who gave up just one hit — a double by Darren Adams in the seventh.
Grenier went the distance for the Tigers Black, giving up eight hits.
The scheduled tournament opener between the Red Deer Stags and the Calgary Gunz was called off due to the threat of rain and will be played prior to today’s 3 p.m. contest between the Stags and Fort Saskatchewan A’s.
The Riggers will return to action at 5:30 p.m. versus the Calgary Redbirds. In today’s other games, the A’s will face the Gunz at 10 a.m. and the Tigers and Redbirds will clash at 12:30 p.m.
Playoff games are set for 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Sunday, with the final to go at 3 p.m.
The championship team will win $1,200, while the runners-up will earn $800. The third- to sixth-place clubs will receive $600, $400, $300 and $200.
“We have league playoffs coming up next week so it’s nice to kind of get in a rhythm before the playoffs and the provincials in a couple of weeks (at Fort Saskatchewan),” said Bailey.
“It’s important that we get everyone involved this weekend, get some quality at bats, see some quality pitching and just start tightening up our game a bit.”
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com