The Red Deer Riggers bats were on fire over the weekend.
Starting with a dominant 11-2 semi-final performance over the Confederation Cubs and culminating with a tournament-clinching 11-1 over the Sherwood Park athletics, the Riggers would make a statement to the rest of the Sunburst League heading into the final phase of the season.
Jaret Chatwood, who hit a two-run homerun in the 5th inning of the finals to put the Riggers up 6-0, said the tournament win is a statement for his team.
“We needed it. We have battled with these guys all year, so it is nice to come out and put some runs up against them,” he said.
The Riggers started their home tournament with an 8-4 win on Friday against the Calgary Cardinals and followed that up with a 2-0 win Saturday night over the St. Albert Tigers, putting them on top of their pool.
Over the course of the four games, the Riggers allowed just seven runs and had three pitchers throw complete games.
“We are starting to come together,” Chatwood said. “Our pitchers threw really good and, as you can see, we are starting to hit the ball pretty good. It is a good time of the year to start playing our best ball.”
Chatwood added he was just trying to get a good swing on his thrilling homerun in the finals and that he got a little lucky with a tailing wind.
The Riggers now have four regular season games remaining this year, three of which will be at home.
Chatwood said Riggers pitching will be key heading into the rest of the season and Nationals, which start August 23rd.
“It is starting to get to crunch time with only four league games left. When guys can get complete games with only one run or a shut out — it is really good for our defence,” he said.