Black Sox upstaged by Japan

The Black Sox surrendered their Challenge Cup tournament title after a big home run by Japan’s ‘‘hometown’’ hero and a virtuoso pitching display.

Hikaru Matsuda – who has spent a couple of seasons with a North Harbour club – smashed a two-run hit at Albany’s Rosedale Park yesterday to give Japan a 3-1 win in the grand final.

The Black Sox – winners of the inaugural TAB Challenge Cup in 2017 – finished the weekend with five wins and two losses.

Matsuda was the master blaster, but young pitcher Reo Koyama was the undoubted star.

The 21-year-old continued his role as New Zealand’s nemesis – two seasons after pitching Japan to the gold medal over the Junior Black Sox at the world under-19 championships in 2016.

Koyama held the vaunted Black Sox batters to four safe hits with a masterly display of deception, control and speed.

Daniel Chapman – in his first Black Sox tournament on home soil – made a statement in the first inning by striking out three Japanese top order batters.

Kiwi leadoff Ben Enoka singled to centrefield in the bottom of the first inning, but no other New Zealander got a hit off Koyama till Thomas Enoka led of with a hit up the middle in the fourth. Japan got their break in the top of the sixth.

With one down, Seii Kuroiwa got a free base after being hit by a Chapman pitch and stole second base after a poor throw by Kiwi catcher van Lieshout.

That brought up Matsuda, who picked Chapman’s slower delivery and deposited the ball over the leftfield fence for a 2-0 lead. Japan added a buffer run in the top of the seventh after back-toback singles by Daishi Uramoto and Tomonori Inoue. Kotaro Yasumi sacrificed to centrefield to score Uramoto from third base.

Koyama gave the Black Sox a lifeline when he walked Cole Evans in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch hitter Reilly Makea beat out a base hit single despite an acrobatic attempt by Une to get the out at first base.

Ben Enoka used all his experience to drive his second hit of the game to centrefield, to score Evans.

Japan’s coach then replaced Koyama, who had taken six strikeouts for five hits and three walks. On came closer Hiroki Ikeda, who got Joel Evans to fly out to centrefield, but then walked Nathan Nukunuku.

Then came cleanup hitter Jerome Raemaki, with six hits and five RBIs for the tournament. But Raemaki swung at a peripheral pitch and was struck out.