LEVAENWORTH, Kan. – Nearly 162 days after the field of dreams baseball was back in action. The Norse were eager to get back to the diamond and opened the 2023 season splitting the doubleheader with Saint John's. With the first game going to extras Luther fell 9-10 but rallied back with a shutout 8-0 victory.
 
GAME 1
St. John's piled on four right off the bat but this game was just getting started. The Norse responded with a big inning of their own as Peyton Lindmark (Bettendorf, Iowa / Pleasant Valley) singled for the first hit of the season. Cullen Stamp (Plymouth, Minn. / Wayzata) followed with an RBI triple giving Luther its first run of the game. A sac fly, from Mark Prince (Encinitas, Calif. / La Costa Canyon) gave way for the second run. Two more runs would come from an Aiden Michna (Moline, Ill. / Morline) double and with Anthony Esposito on base from a walk tied it all up after Charlie Rubendall (Minneapolis, Minn. / DeLaSalle) reached on an error from Saint John's. Within one inning the game was knotted at 4.
 
The Jonnies added a run in the second but the Norse got two runs to score off two hits in the bottom half of the inning for a 6-4 lead. Noah Sebben (Moline, Ill. / Moline) launched a solo home run for the first of the season for the team. And Luther found themselves in a two-run lead of 7-5.
 
Saint John's slowly chipped away at the lead adding runs in the top fourth and in the top of the sixth tied the ball game for the second time at 7. But an RBI double from Joshua Matanich (Lake City, Minn. / Lincoln) brought home Stamp gave Luther back the lead 8-7 after six complete innings.
 
The game was far from over with the Jonnies adding two runs in the top of the eighth to take their first lead of the game since the top of the second with 9-8. Down by one in the eighth and another Stamp hit led the inning off.  Michna hit the RBI single to tie the game at 9.
 
Luther had the chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth but no dice. So, the game headed to extras. Free bonus baseball in the season opener. The Jonnies got lucky with a solo home run shot to go up 10-9. The Norse once again tried to answer but came up empty. Luther had nines off of 13 hits with one error and Kaleb Thiesse received the loss.
 
GAME 2
After dropping the opener, the Norse said we're not letting that happen again. The team refocused and came out with a vengeance. After a scoreless first inning and solid defense from Luther with three easy groundouts. The bats of the Norse turned into Thor's hammer in the following inning. With one out three runners were on base. A walk to Sebben gave him the RBI scoring the first run of the game. Kyle Morony (Spencer, Iowa / Spencer) singled driving in two runs and was followed by singles from Peyton Lindmark and Stamp for a 4-0 Norse lead. With two outs Joshua Matanich reached on a fielding error by the Jonnies while Lindmark and Morony took advantage to score for a 6-0 score line.
 
Ryan Manternach (Monticello, Iowa / Monticello) on the mound for the Norse kept the Jonnies at bay with another quick three batters up and down in the third inning earning his first strikeout of the season. Another wild pitching inning from the Saint John's led to two runners on base. Sebben laid down the sac bunt to advance the runners into scoring position. Anthony Esposito came across the plate for the Norse for a 7-0 advantage.
 
The final run came in the bottom of the fifth with Luther adding an insurance run. Sebben doubled and Morony gave way to advance him over to third. Lindmark got his second hit of the day with his single that allowed Sebben to come home. The Norse were feeling pretty comfortable and in the driver's seat the rest of the way.
 
Manternach went the distance in the complete game going all seven innings. He allowed on three hits, only two walks while striking out three in the 8-0 shutout. Luther had eight runs off of seven hits and no errors.
 
TOP NORSE

• Ryan Manternach (Monticello, Iowa / Monticello) got his first win of the season for the complete game in the second game of the double header.
• Cullen Stamp (Plymouth, Minn. / Wayzata) in ten at bats had four runs off six hits with a triple and two RBIs.
• Noah Sebben (Moline, Ill. / Moline) had three runs, three hits with a double, a home run and two RBIs. He is the first Norse to hit a home run this season.

UP NEXT
The Norse will look to take the series on Sunday, February 26^th in Leavenworth, Kansas with first pitch at 11:00 a.m. CT.  

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