Aust prevail in international series
Australia claimed the honours in the international invitational series men’s softball contest in Palmerston North.
They beat Japan 4-0 in the final of the tournament involving the world’s leading six teams, as a leadup for the world cup, which begins this weekend in Auckland.
Despite battling inclement weather across the weekend, which washed out the first day’s play, teams were universal in their support for the tournament.
New Zealand coach Mark Sorenson was emphatic in his praise for the concept, as a shakedown before the world’s 12 best men’s teams do battle at North Harbour’s Rosedale Park, starting this Saturday.
‘‘The best thing for us is we got games. It’s the first time in 31⁄2 years that the Golden Homes Black Sox have played another country, so any time we can do that has got to be a positive,’’ he said.
‘‘The Manawatū Softball Association, in conjunction with Softball New Zealand, did a really great job.’’
With Friday washed out, the six teams played five games plus a final in two days at the world-class facilities at Palmerston North’s Colquhoun Park.
Sorenson said the upcoming world cup was shaping up as arguably the most even in recent memory.
‘‘The great thing about the Manawatū event is that nobody went through unbeaten. It is really competitive, which is great.
‘‘Every game is putting our guys under different pressures than what they have encountered before,’’ Sorenson said.
‘‘You can also throw in USA and Venezuela who were not here and there is more than a handful of nations who are going to legitimately compete for this title in Auckland.
‘‘I am sure there’s not a lot of sports in the world that could say there is a handful of teams that come into a world tournament with a fair bet of competing for the title.’’
The Australian combination, led by
powerful displays from pitchers Michael Kronk and Joshua White, began with a 3-2 win over world No 1 Argentina, then lost to the Czech Republic 8-1, before a close win over Japan 5-4.
They lost 6-5 in a thriller to New Zealand, but handed Canada their second loss 2-0 to earn a place in the final.
Kronk, who was named the most valuable player of the tournament, led the way with an outstanding performance on the mound, going the distance and had 17 strikeouts.
In Japan’s other games, they beat the Czech Republic 3-0, the Black Sox 6-0 and lost to Canada 7-1.
The New Zealand team took the opportunity to play several combinations over the two days, emerging from opening day with losses to Canada (4-2) and Japan (6-0) countered with wins over Argentina (3-2) and Australia before finishing with a 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic.
‘‘I would have liked a few different performances on the diamond and a few different results,’’ said Sorenson. ‘‘We rotated the players, and just about everyone got a decent amount of game-time.
‘‘We showed some resilience. After we got beaten twice on Saturday, we showed resilience to come back against the current world champions in Argentina and we had a great game with them.
‘‘We backed that up on Sunday to beat Australia who went on to win the tournament final. The potential is there. We just need a bit more consistency in our application, that’s all.’’
The six teams head to Auckland to join the United States, Venezuela, Philippines, Cuba, Denmark and South Africa for the world cup.
Teams compete in two pools over the first five days, before the top three teams in each group advance to the super round (and remaining six teams compete in the placement round).