Riggan coaching for Alaska GoldPanners

Jerrod Riggan, Brewster, is the pitching coach for the Alaska GoldPanners baseball team, which plays in the Alaska Baseball League in one of the National Baseball Congress Premier Leagues.

There are 12 leagues throughout the country that are part of the NBC Premier Leagues with teams from Alaska, California, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Illinois, Washington, Arizona and Oklahoma.

Riggan was asked to be the pitching coach for the GoldPanners by his former college coach, Jim Dietz, from San Diego State University.

"The head coach, Jim Dietz, was my college coach at SDSU back in the day and he called me during the last couple weeks of the season about being the pitching coach up here," said Jerrod Riggan, Brewster High School head baseball coach. "This league used to be the finest in the land and now the Cape Cod League has taken over that title, but is considered a pampered league because of more days off and is called a 'dog and pony' show. The Alaska League is designed to give kids a chance to learn how to play the professional game and the rigors involved with that. We play almost every day with only a few days off here and there for travel."

The GoldPanners are in first place in the Alaska League with the last league games set for July 31. If they remain in first place they will qualify for the NBC World Series held at Wichita, Kansas, against the top teams from the NBC Premier Leagues, with the tournament beginning soon after league play and possibly lasting until early August.

Riggan has been head coach at Brewster for the last two years after playing collegiate baseball, Minor League Baseball, Major League Baseball and professional baseball in Japan.

The GoldPanners play out of Fairbanks, Alaska, and is the home of the Midnight Sun Baseball Game where the GoldPanners play on June 21 every summer with a 10:30 p.m. start. This is a celebration of the summer solstice with the game running until early morning because the sun never sets and is played without lights.

The Alaska League has plenty of collegiate players from throughout the nation and has sent nearly 200 players to the Major Leagues.

"The guys playing are of college age and some have been drafted," said Riggan. "Some are college freshmen and sophomores who aren't draft eligible yet, but the cream of the crop in the country. The quality of guys we have is fantastic. We have kids from programs like USC, Rice, UC Irvine, UC Bakersfield, Loyola Marymount and Gonzaga. They are hand picked by our coach from all over the country. Not just anybody is invited to play in the Alaska League - it is a pro-potential type of kid who comes and plays here."