By Ian Gustafson

High expectations

Red Deer Riggers to begin 2025 campaign on Friday

May 8, 2025 | 4:54 PM

The Red Deer Riggers senior AAA baseball club has reloaded and is set to take another run at the Sunburst League championship title.

With a strong group of returners and an exciting addition of newcomers, the Riggers will look to bounce back after they were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs in 2024.

The Riggers finished on top of the south division with a 13-5 record last season but were sent home early by the Calgary Rockies, who went on to win the league title.

Riggers manager Jaret Chatwood said this year the goal is to win it all.

“We had their number all year and then in playoffs they just got really hot. We hope to get some momentum early in the year and then just keep it going,” he said.

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Among the returning players includes pitcher Josh Edwards, closer Kai Poffenroth, pitcher Jay Kirkham, infielder Matthew Murray, first baseman Tyler McWillie and shortstop Mason Love-Hollman to name a few.

The only players they lost were second baseman Corbyn Shields, outfielder Zach Olsen, outfielder Derrick Chapman and pitcher Rees DeRuyter.

Among the new faces includes outfielder Maguire Grant who’s from the St. Joseph Baseball Academy in Red Deer.

Former Sylvan Lake Gulls catcher Ben Prediger will suit up for the Riggers as well as outfielder Noah Geekie who played for the Okotoks Dawgs of the Western Canadian Baseball League.

Infielder Chayse Marion, who played minor baseball in Red Deer, will play for the first time in a few years. Chatwood explained there are still a few players who are considering to play.

“Right now, I don’t see any huge weaknesses in our batting lineup,” Chatwood added. “Any guy can hit in any position, so we’re going to be pretty solid offensively. With our younger guys we’ve got a bit of speed so we’re going to try to be aggressive on the bases. Defensively, we’re going to be solid again and in our pitching staff we didn’t lose anyone so as long as guys stay healthy, we’re going to be solid. Pitching success was a key for us last year.”

Red Deer will begin its season this Friday, May 9 in Calgary against the Rockies at 7:30 p.m. followed by the home opener at Gulls Stadium on Wednesday, May 14 against the Edmonton Cubs at 7:30 p.m.

They’ll host their annual Riggers home tournament from July 18-20.

The Riggers will play the majority of their home games out of Great Chief Park with some scheduled at Gulls Stadium in Sylvan Lake.

Last year, they split time between Sylvan Lake and Red Deer but after some reflection they decided to play more at home.

“We look pretty good but we never really know until the first time everyone gets outside but our practices have been pretty good so far. We have a bunch of college guys coming back so I think we’re going to shape up to be pretty good.”

The Riggers full schedule can be viewed on GameChanger.