The Vipers earned their playoff berth by virtue of their first half North Division Pennant. Their opponents will be defending champion Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks winners of the second half and owners of the best overall record in the Northern League.

Calgary boasts the most potent offence in the league with a team batting average of .307. Their attack is led by Darryl Brinkley the first player in Northern League history to hit .400 in a season. Brinkley shattered the league record of .376 held by Adam Olow of the Saint Paul Saints in 2004 by going three for three on Sunday afternoon in the regular season finale. Brinkley also eclipsed the Northern League record for hits finishing the season with 150. That’s seven more than Lincoln’s Brian Warner in 2005. The veteran centre fielder also led the league in runs scored with 88 and on-base percentage at .456. He was second in the league in slugging percentage at .603.

Three other Vipers regulars put up impressive numbers in 2007. First baseman Jason Colson is the 2007 RBI king with 89. Nelson Castro led the league in doubles with 38. All-Star third baseman Carlos Duncan put up numbers that would have placed him in line for league MVP honours were it not for Brinkley. The third year Viper from the Dominican Republic hit .350, third in the league, knocked in 82, third in the league, scored 77 runs, fourth in the league and collected 139 hits, second to Brinkley. The Vipers also had five players with 10 or more home runs led by Colson and Kyle Nichols with 16 each. Brinkley added 14, Duncan 13 and league iron man Drew Miller had 10. Miller has not missed a single game in his three year Northern League career.

With regular catcher Mitch Evans off to Europe and backup Kevin Price out with a torn oblique muscle the Vipers have been allowed to add a rookie catcher for the playoffs. Twenty-four year old Buddy Morales will start behind the plate in the post-season. Morales was a high school team-mate of Vipers left handed pitcher Scott Sarver and played on the same Golden League team as right hander Jeff Groeger last season. Coincidentally Sarver and Groeger will be the Vipers starters in games one and two.

Fargo-Moorhead will respond with two of the best in the Northern League. Dane Renkert with an incredible record of 13-1 will go in game one for the Hawks while Joe Sergent who is 7-1 will start in game two.

The Vipers also announced their post season award winners on Sunday. Brinkley and Duncan will share the 2007 MVP honours. Rookie Kazu Minami from Tokyo was named pitcher of the year after becoming the first player in Vipers history to win 10 games in a season.

Good tickets are still available for both games by calling 277-BALL (2255).