Sox downed in final

The Black Sox lost the Challenge Cup softball final 3-1 to Japan at Albany yesterday. After five scoreless innings, Hikaru Matsuda cleared the fence to give Japan a 2-0 lead and the visitors added another run at the top of the seventh to leave New Zealand with just one inning to save the game. The Black Sox closed the gap back to two runs and then loaded the bases but couldn’t pull off a late comeback. New Zealand finished the tournament, which also featured Australia and the Black Sox B team, with five wins and two defeats, both to Japan.