Riggers 9 Stags 6
The Red Deer Riggers spent the weekend winning the senior AAA provincials, now they’ve given themselves the chance to win a league title as well.
The Riggers beat the Red Deer Stags 9-6 on Wednesday at Great Chief Park to capture the Sunburst Baseball League South Division title.
“The big thing with provincials is that we learned that we are one of the best teams out here and we can win,“ said Riggers manager Jordan Weinkauf. “At the start of the Riggers tournament we started playing some real good ball with the whole team stepping up and guys doing their job no matter where they were put and playing good team baseball.“
The two teams traded blows until the fifth inning when the Riggers put up three runs to take a 7-3 lead and they never really looked back.
Mike Ronnie collected the win, pitching five innings and giving up three earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out four. Delton Kruk pitched two innings and gave up one earned run, and Jason Chatwood picked up the save going two innings and surrendering two runs while striking out two.
Davin Gulbransen started for the Stags and was saddled with the loss after giving up seven earned runs in five innings on 13 hits and one walk while striking out two. James Carr closed out the final four innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits and four walks while striking out three.
Denver Wik lead the Riggers at the plate going five-for-five with two RBIs while Jarret Chatwood was two-for-six and Jason Chatwood was three-for-six with an RBI.
Jarred Reiter went three-for-three with two doubles and an RBI for the Stags.
The Riggers will play the winner of the North final — between Fort Saskatchewan and St. Albert — later this week.