Sorenson delays decision on coaching
Mark Sorenson will delay any decision on his Black Sox coaching future until after the World Cup – and a duel with an Argentinian coach he roomed with in the United States almost 20 years ago.
Sorenson and Julio Garmaci – who coached Argentina to their first world title in 2019 – were teammates on a Black Soxstacked County Materials team in Wisconsin in 2003-04.
‘‘We lived together in America and played on the same team. Heumul Mata, the ace [pitcher] on the [current] Argentina team, his brother Lucas, and Juli played with me, Thomas [Makea], Brad [Rona[, Donny Hale … we had a lot of fun together.
‘‘I’ve got a lot of time for Juli, he’s really committed to driving Argentina softball. We’ve stayed in touch periodically, just checking in.’’
The pair will be in opposite dugouts at the World Cup – starting on Saturday in Auckland – and have been pitting their wits against each other as world championship head coaches since 2015.
Garmaci was a star-struck catcher at County Materials when he found himself living and playing with Sorenson and the other Black Sox greats.
‘‘It was a great, great time,’’ he said in Auckland on Friday. ‘‘I learned a lot from him [Sorenson]. In some of the games I was overwhelmed. When I saw it in a retrospective way, I was standing on the shoulders of giants. At some times, I didn’t feel like I belonged on that big, big team, but they made me feel one of them. They were all superstars … all Hall of Famers.
‘‘I learned much much more than I knew I was learning. That helped us [Argentina] to earn the first bronze medal at the Pan American Games.’’
It’s all been upwards and onwards from there for Argentina and Garmaci, who guided his country to two junior world titles in 2012 and 2014 before taking over the senior team.
He said he and Sorenson still have a good relationship and ‘‘play the cat-and-mouse game’’ with plenty of banter from their respective dugouts.
Their rivalry will continue on Monday when the Black Sox host Argentina at Auckland’s Rosedale Park in a game that could go a long way to determining the winner of Pool A.
Gamarci is excited at the chance of playing the Black Sox in New Zealand, saying it was ‘‘the soil of champions.’’
Sorenson is in his 10th year as Black Sox coach and helming his fourth World Cup campaign, but is not confirming it will be his last.
‘‘You then start looking at it in a different way,’’ he said. ‘‘I want to be all in here, I don’t want to be all in because it’s my last one. I want to be all in for the right reasons, and then we’ll assess things afterwards.’’
He is determined to do his best to deliver the Black Sox back to the podium after missing a medal in 2019 for the first time in 39 years. ‘‘I did feel a responsibility [to stay on], and I’m not one to walk away from a challenge … I’ve got great pride in this jersey and this team from the length of time I’ve been involved and I didn’t feel right packing the tent up at that time. It just didn’t sit right.’’
Sorenson is confident the Black Sox can be contenders but isn’t driven by the need to atone for the fourth-place finish in Prague.