After an entertaining weekend of baseball, the Red Deer Riggers came out on top in their 42nd annual home tournament.
On Sunday they defeated the St. Albert Tigers 7-4 in the tournament final at Great Chief Park to defend their home field.
"It's always a nice one ot win, the boys were playing great, and it was a beautiful weekend. It was a good way to end it," said Riggers manager Jaret Chatwood.
After the Riggers went up 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers applied some pressure scoring four straight in the top of the fifth.
However, after Kai Poffenroth was substituted in for starting pitcher Rees DeRuyter to begin the sixth inning the Riggers didn't allow another run in the final two innings.
The Riggers' fielding was also at the top of their game putting together five double plays in the final. Shortstop Matthew Murray was involved in all five.
Outfielder Ryley Doig recorded an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth to extend their lead 7-4. That would be all they needed to get the job done.
"Honestly, it was really good. It's been the same thing the last few weeks the pitchers have been really good and hitters have been getting the hits when we need them... We're clicking on all cylinders," he added.
To get to the final, the Riggers beat the St. Albert Tigers 9-5 in their first game of the tournament on Friday followed by a 13-2 victory over ATHX Performance out of Edmonton on Saturday.
Red Deer then beat the Edmonton Cubs 10-3 in the semifinals while the Tigers took down the Sherwood Park Athletics in the other semi-final game.
"It was a really great tournament and everyone was competitive. We had a couple of high school academies that came in and they were really good. They just didn't get the hits when they needed to but it was a solid weekend."
The Riggers finished regular season play in the Sunburst League last week and will now prepare for the playoffs.
They finished on top of the South division with a 13-5 record and will host a playoff game beginning on Tuesday, Aug. 6 to kick off the best of three semifinals series at Great Chief Park. Who they'll play will be determined this week.
