The Pretenders win the Season Opener 2021

Rommen, Oslo, June 27th 2021

By Mullah.

Yes! The Season Opener was finally here after almost two months of waiting due to the Covid-19 situation in Oslo/Norway and what a start we got. One no-hit shut-out, one immaculate inning, two bombs and a team that was ready from the get go!

Game 1: 10-0

With two of their elite arms out for the entire season due to injuries (Alex and Matt), there were many speculations on how the Pretenders would attach this upcoming season, if not how to even survive. But the Pretenders always adapt and managed to bring out some unexpected Ace from their sleeves on Sunday.

In game one Joe Rollwagen got the ball for the Pretenders and what a performance he gave us: 6 IP no-hitter with 15 Ks (with 3 BB 2 HP). In the 2nd inning he even managed to complete an immaculate inning (9 pitches 3 strikeouts). Joe - who was scheduled to only go 60 pitches in the game - pitched the entire game to complete both the no-hitter and the shut-out.

At the plate Joe went 2-4 with a home-run and by getting labeled as the new "two-way star" for the Pretenders, it didn't take long before the spectators started chanting: Joe-tani, Joe-tani!

In addition to Joe's great game, three other batters had a multi-hit game as Enrico Guerrini (2-3), Pat Gunn (2-2) and Alberto Danzie (2-4) all contributed in a big way with several extra base hits to give the Pretenders a stunning 10-0 win in the Opener.

Note: In the past two Season Openers vs the Royals the Pretenders have over-powered them with a 14-0 score on two no-hitters with 34 Ks in 13 innings.

Game 2: 9-5

In the 2nd game of the day the Pretenders used a borrowed arm from the Suns - Jonathan Whistler - to start the game and he gave us a solid 3.2 IP with 6 Ks and kept us in the game. This was a much tighter game as the lead went back and forth between the two best teams in Norway.

The ever-young Terje Hoaas started the show with a 2-run double in the bottom of the 2nd inning to take a 2-1 lead. In the 3rd Joe hit his 2nd homer of the day to tie the game up at 3-3. But the Pretenders were hungry for more and scored three more runs in the frame on Nate Peterson's rbi-single followed by a couple of wild-pitches.

In the top of the 4th inning Whistler got in some trouble and with the bases loaded on two outs, Nate took over the job on the mound and got us out of a huge jam. Nate pitched the rest of the game to earn his first save of the season by going 3.1 IP with 4 Ks 1 BB and no runs scored.

The entire team contributed in both wins on Sunday. A great team effort. Go Pretenders!

Best of the best:

- Joe Rollwagen: 4-7 with 2 HR 5 RBIs and 6 IP 15 Ks

- Alberto Danzie: 3-7 with 4 R 3 RBIs

- Pat Gunn: 3-6 with 4 RBIs

- Enrico Guerrini: 3-6 with 1 R 1 RBI

- Nate Peterson: 2-5 with 2 R 2 RBIs and 3.1 IP with 4 Ks