Rob Guenter (2003)
Rob Guenter enjoyed a stellar fastball career and has the word
"perfect" attached to his name more times than most. The
Saskatchewan-born fastball pitcher recorded 23 perfect games
between 1973 and 1990 and many no-hitters. These career marks
earned him admission to halls of fame for Softball Canada,
Saskatoon and Softball B.C. Rob honed his craft on the prairies and
he joined the Saskatoon K&K Olson's, later the All-O-Matics, in
1973 and as an 18-year-old rookie threw three no-hitters in his
first season. He faced the powerful Victoria Bates at the national
championships in 1973 and 1976, when the defending champs needed a
late rally to defeat the young ace in the final. He was one of the
country's top pitchers with Saskatoon but enjoyed his greatest
success with Victoria. After the Budgets won their fourth Canadian
championship in 1978, they picked up Rob for the 1979 Pan-Am Games.
There he threw a one-hitter and a perfect game before outduelling
legendary Ty Stofflet of the USA for a 1 - 0, 14-inning, gold medal
game victory. Rob moved to Victoria and led local teams to two more
national crowns and Canada to a Pan-Am victory in 1983. Rob's
stellar status was solidified in the 1983 Canadians, when he threw
five games in 24 hours to carry Payless to another national title.
He was named Victoria's male athlete of the year for 1982 and 1983.