Black Sox see future hope
Joel Evans – the Black Sox’s best batter at the Softball World Cup – will take time to evaluate his own future , but he’s convinced the young team will bounce back from current disappointment.
The Black Sox finished eighth – outside the medals for the second successive series – at the World Cup in Auckland.
Evans topped the team’s batting averages with .467, a home run, two doubles and six RBIs (runs batted in) and he also made a successful transition from second base to third.
The 31-year-old Hutt Valley stalwart, who hit the final-winning grand slam home run in New Zealand’s last title victory in 2017 – admitted he had earlier been thinking about hanging up his Black Sox cap at the end of this tournament.
‘‘Before this, the cards were on not to come back, but it’s got a bit of a sour taste now. I don’t know, I’ll have to think about it,’’ he said after the Black Sox ended the tournament on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Denmark.
Evans’ experience and his ability to spark the Black Sox batting attack would be assets going forward, but he now has business commitments after ‘‘going out on my own’’ as a digger operator/ drainlayer.
Evans said he ‘‘just tried to do my part this week’’ but, he admitted the Black Sox ‘‘as a unit, weren’t quite up to par’’.
He thought they were still potentially a top side, but ‘‘when we weren’t playing our best game, we’re way below where we should be.’’
He felt part of the answer was getting more high-calibre play to prepare themselves for the big tournaments.
But Evans said the Black Sox were a young side with ‘‘a lot of talent too’’ and ‘‘a lot of learnings come from’’ their struggles in Auckland.
‘‘Obviously it’s losing, but it’s learning too.
‘‘This is an experience moment, hopefully the boys take it on board and learn from the things that have gone wrong.’’
As for his own game, Evans said he ‘‘lost about 13 kilos this year and got into some good shape’’ and he had put a lot of work into his hitting.
That paid off with seven safe hits – including a home run – from 15 at-bats.
He was also unfazed by the move to third base, saying he had ‘‘played there a few times for the Black Sox’’ in the past.
‘‘Tane Mumu played his way into second base on the pre-tour, and all credit to him. So I was over a three, it’s good being there.’’
Evans led the way in the batting averages, followed by Rhys Evans (4 hits from 11 at-bats, .364) and Reilly Makea (6/17, .353).
It was the second time Makea had batted over .300 at a world series – he registered .333 at his rookie tournament in Prague in 2019.
He led the Black Sox for home runs (2) in Auckland and collected four RBIs.
The 23-year-old impressed coach Mark Sorenson with his hitting, slick outfield play and his growing confidence in the group.
Sorenson has also said Daniel Chapman had the talent to become the best pitcher in the world and that Mumu, 19, had a promising debut. The Hutt Valley middle infielder batted .222 but slugged three doubles, utilising his baserunning speed.
Pita Rona displayed promise as a relief pitcher and his hitting also steadily improved (.286), culminating in a home run in the 7-4 Friday night loss to Japan.
Rhys Evans, largely used as a substitute third baseman, had four hits from 11 at-bats for .364 at his first World Cup.
The Black Sox’s team batting average was .243. They had eight home runs, two triples (both by Rhys Evans) and 11 doubles.