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Rob Guenter, a Saskatoon-born pitcher,
achieved his greatest softball dream when he pitched Canada to a 1-0
victory over the United States in a 14-inning gold medal game at the
1979 Pan-American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
One of Rob’s early successes was in 1972
when he pitched the Saskatoon Roadrunners to victory at the Saskatchewan
Summer Games.
As a rookie in the Saskatoon senior men’s
league, Rob pitched three no-hit games in 1973 and led K&K Olson to the
provincial title. He also won Saskatchewan championships with Olsons in
1976 and Saskatoon All-O-Matics in 1978 and 1979.
He was picked up by Victoria to pitch at the
Pan-American Games and he allowed only five hits and struck out 18 in
beating America’s top pitcher, Ty Stofflet, in the final.
Rob pitched in five
Canadian finals, winning with Victoria in 1981 and 1982. In 1977, he
pitched for the Interstate Batterymen of Worcester, Mass., winning 33
and losing nine in the Atlantic Seaboard League.
In 1980, Rob pitched
for Team Canada at the world championships and pitched three victories,
striking out 40 and giving up only two runs in 24 innings. After
retiring from competitive softball in 1990, he joined a Canadian team in
1994 for the world masters and pitched his team to a gold medal.
In 1979, he was
selected Saskatoon’s athlete-of-the-year and twice since, has been
selected Victoria’s athlete-of-the-year. |