Sherwood Park 14 Red Deer 0
Without depth at pitching, winning a tournament is tough at the best of times.
By the Sunday final of the 39th annual Riggers Tournament, the Red Deer Riggers had essentially exhausted all their arms, while the Sherwood Park Athletics had an ace in the hole.
Jaret Chatwood struggled on the mound for the Riggers, giving up eight runs in the first two innings, before Austin Hammond took over.
On the bump for the Athletics, James Fischer sliced and diced the Riggers, allowing only two hits in the five-inning, 14-0 beat down of the host.
“We capitalized. There were some walks and hit batsmen, the boys just swung well and in the morning game we got 10 runs too, so we just carried the momentum from there,” Fischer said.
“When you score that many runs, it takes a lot of pressure off. Just try to throw first pitch strikes and go from there.”
Only Shayne Court and Ty Russell had hits in the loss.
Riggers second baseman Joel Peterman said they simply ran into a buzzsaw, but were appreciative of the fan support all weekend long.
“It was tough after a long weekend of ball, grinding out there a little bit in the heat,” Peterman said.
“You get behind early, it’s tough to come back. We gave it our all and we like that the fans came out and that’s all you can ask. That’s a good ball team and when you get behind early, it’s tough to come back.”
Sunday, Red Deer advanced to the final with a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Confederation Park Cubs. Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, Red Deer cashed four to take the lead. Jason Louis brought in one with a sac fly and Dan Zinger pushed another across with an infield single.
Peterman pitched six innings in the victory, allowing just two runs on six hits and while striking out five.
Saturday night, the Riggers also earned a win 4-1 win over St. Albert. Davin Gulbransen pitched a complete game, six-hitter and only let up one unearned run. Edwards had two singles in the victory.
Also Saturday, Riggers first baseman Jason Louis was crowned champ in the tournament’s inaugural home run derby. He hit five in the opening round and only needed one in the final to pick up the title.
Red Deer plays the Cubs Monday to determine first place in the Sunburst League. That was another big reason they decided to start Chatwood in the final.
“Gotta play for first place. The tournament is awesome to win and it’s awesome to have the fans out, but our main goal is to finish first. We have to come out and reset the mind, then go out and win it,” Peterman added.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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