White Sox coach rues Dutch loss
Coach Kevin Gettins lamented a lost opportunity after the White Sox crashed out of the world women’s softball championships.
New Zealand had five consecutive wins in the tournament at Surrey, near Vancouver before backto-back losses to world champions Japan (9-2) and the Netherlands (8-2).
Gettins said the Dutch defeat on Saturday was a heartbreaker.
‘‘The reality was we got ourselves into a really good opportunity to push on,’’ Gettins said.
‘‘The draw probably favoured [the winner of the Netherlandsnew Zealand game] going through, because the Netherlands beat Venezuela 8-1. We worked hard to get into a good position, but we fell down at the next hurdle.’’
The White Sox produced seven hits against the Netherlands, including a solo shot home run to captain Ellie Cooper, who had three hits from four at-bats.
Top order sluggers Lara Andrews and Hailey Breakwell also slammed doubles and young outfielders Mikayla Werahiko and Kingsley Avery swatted singles.
But Gettins admitted New Zealand’s three pitchers were unable to assert dominance over a very aggressive Dutch batting lineup.
‘‘We gave them good hit counts and they got extra base hits, not just singles. We couldn’t get any momentum.’’
The White Sox did not help their cause by conceding six walks and a hit pitch to give the Netherlands free bases. They also walked in a run with bases loaded.
‘‘As you move up the ladder, walks and mistakes really come back to haunt you,’’ Gettins said.
But he said there were some positives from the campaign.
The White Sox, ranked eighth in the world, had closed the gap on Australia and beat Chinese Taipei, the world’s fifth-ranked team.
Gettins said some individuals also had excellent tournaments, singling out Ellie Cooper, Mikayla Werahiko, Lara Andrews and Hailey Breakwell.
Gettins said the White Sox had plenty of potential, but the ‘‘challenge for New Zealand softball is how do we take the next step’’?
‘‘The top teams all have strong domestic leagues and competitions that we don’t have have.
Professional leagues exist in the United States, Japan and parts of Europe, including Italy and the Netherlands.
‘‘Chinese Taipei are implementing a semi pro league next season in anticipation of softball getting back into the Olympics. So they’re going to get better,’’ Gettins said. ‘‘We are playing at home and head away a couple of times a year [for overseas competition].
‘‘It’s pretty tough, but I’m not sure what the answer is.’’
Twelve of the 17-strong White Sox squad have played college softball in the United States, but the challenge for Andrews, Breakwell and pitcher Taylorpaige Stewart, who have all graduated, is to find high-level teams and competitions to maintain their standards for international play.