

OSLOPRETENDERS
The Pretenders win two - barely

Rommen, Oslo, Aug. 7th 2021
By Mullah
The Pretenders were back in action after the Summer break and showed up ready to rumble. The game against Royals went as well as anybody could’ve expected, but the Earls from Trondheim gave us once again some real fight and had a 10-4 lead going into the bottom of the 6th..
Game 1, 16-0 shut-out vs Royals:
In the first game of the day Joe Rollwagen once again showed greatness on the mound going 6 IP with 14 Ks and two BB. His outing wasn’t as “outstanding” as the season-opener, but hey! Another shut-out against the NM champions from last year is always welcome!
At the plate the Pretenders waisted no time as they scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st on hits by Ai Narita, Joe Rollwagen and Ryan Goedecke. In the 3rd inning the Pretenders really put the game wide open as they score no less than 9 runs. Half of them due to some really bad errors from the Royals, but the other half on great hits from Nate Peterson, Darren McKellep, Ai and Joe.
Game 2: 12-10 vs Earls
After the first game, the Pretenders went on to battle against the Earls from Trondheim. A team that on paper should be a much “easier” opponent than the Royals, but in reality has turned in resent years into a somewhat of a nightmare for the Pretenders as they have played some really good and close games against us. This game was on that note, no exception.
The Earls took a 5-1 lead after the 2nd inning and the Pretenders had to refocus and start the hunting. But with good pitching and great defense from the Earls, the runs didn’t come as expected. After the 5th inning the Pretenders had narrowed the gap to 4-6, but they still had a long way to go as the Earls were no way finished with their plan to spoil our day.
I the top of the 6th Darren McKellep took over the mound from Nate Peterson - who started the game - and got a rough start as he surrendered two bloop hits before Torgeir Osvik hit a moon-shot over the left field fence for a 9-4 lead. The Earls continue to attack and score one more run in the frame, leaving a stunned Pretender squad with a 4-10 deficit going into the bottom of the 6th.
With their back towards the wall and nowhere to hide the Pretenders regrouped, refocused and showed once again why they are the best team in Norway - they never give up. Alberto Danzie started the inning with a hard grounder to left filed. 6 of the following 7 batters all got on with either on a walk or an error. Then followed a doble by Joe, and another single by Alberto.
All of a sudden, the Pretenders had scored 8 runs in the frame to take a somewhat lucky 12-10 lead. Darren closed the door in the top of the 7th to once again become the oldest pitcher ever to get a win in the Norwegian Elite series in Baseball.
Best of the best:
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Joe Rollwagen: 3-8 with 3 RBIs and 6 IP with 14 Ks
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Ai Narita: 3-7 with 3 RBIs
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Nate Peterson: 2-7 with 2 RBIs and 5 IP with 7 Ks





