Black Sox catcher played ball with TJ Perenara
Black Sox catcher Te Wera Bishop’s path to his first Softball World Cup began with playing softball alongside future All Black TJ Perenara.
The pair grew up together in Porirua, a hotbed of sport where rugby codes prevailed in winter and softball in summer.
‘‘He’s just a year older than me, and his parents [New Zealand softball internationals Thomas and Fiona Perenara] were our coaches growing up for all of the age grades,’’ Bishop said.
‘‘TJ is an amazing athlete, and he was a really good softballer as well. A lot of people don’t know that about him. His whole family were huge in softball, a big influence on my life growing up.’’
Bishop was a budding catcher while Perenara was ‘‘a middle infielder, he was a tough, grindy little player, he was pretty good’’.
While Bishop, 29, played rugby league in winter, Perenara – now 31 – ‘‘chose to go to union’’.
‘‘I don’t know how that ended up turning out?,’’ Bishop quipped.
Bishop comes from a prominent softball whānau himself – his mum, Betsy, was a world championship bronze medallist in 1986, and his dad, Les, played for Wellington and became a prominent coach.
His seven siblings have all played softball and by the time he was 17 Te Wera made his Black
Sox debut at a 2011 tournament in Canberra. Then he went down the baseball route, initially for a Boston Red Sox farm team. That led him to the New Zealand Diamondblacks and several seasons for the Auckland Tuatara.
Last weekend Bishop was playing for the Black Sox at the Softball World Cup, while just a long fly ball away in the same Albany, Auckland, suburb where the Tuatara were embroiled in their first Australian Baseball League home series for almost three years against the Sydney Blue Sox.
Such was his focus on his softball commitments, Bishop said he ‘‘forgot that they had a home series this week’’.
‘‘I only just realised when I saw a couple of their players here watching us and supporting us. It was a huge thing to see them out there supporting us.’’
The Wellington stalwart said it was ‘‘a dream come true’’ to be at a Softball World Cup.
‘‘Obviously I played for [the Black Sox] when I was younger and this was always a dream to play for them at a world series with the Black Sox on my chest, let alone being at home where I can do it in front of my family. It’s pretty amazing.’’
The Black Sox had one win and a loss on the first two days of the tournament and Bishop produced two of the few Kiwi highlights in a 7-0 loss to the United States on Sunday night when he threw out two Americans attempting to steal second base.
It’s a part of his game he prides himself on. ‘‘I’m a guy that loves throwing. If I see any opportunity that I can take I’ll definitely use it because it’s something that’s going to benefit us immensely in the long run, especially if we can stop the momentum in an innings with one of those plays.
‘‘But the guys up the middle [shortstop Cole Evans and second baseman Tane Mumu] did a helluva job. They make my side of it look better every time they do something.’’
Behind the dish – home plate – catcher Bishop has the best view in the house of the Black Sox pitching and he remains ‘‘100%’’ convinced that they have the arsenal to still be a force at the World Cup despite the shock loss to the United States.
‘‘Our pitching staff are some of the best in the world. At the end of the day we just have to tip our cap [to the Americans] at some of those pitches they hit [for two home runs].’’*