New Zealand Black Sox head coach Mark Sorenson has confirmed a NESIAN laden 17-player team for next weeks ISF qualifying series against Australia and Samoa, where two teams will qualify for the World Championships in Saskatoon, Canada next year. New Zealand is ranked first, Australia third and Samoa seventh after the 2013 World Championships held in Auckland, and Sorenson is mindful Australia will be at full strength and Samoa a tough team to beat. “Samoa are going to be no slouches. We’re not taking them lightly, we know most of their players well. Australia have recalled a lot of their 2009 world champs-winning team and have great experience in their side across the park. We saw them earlier this year and it was a closely contested series. This will be a strong Aussie team,” says Sorenson. Regarding his own team, Sorenson has named one new cap, Hutt Valley’s Cory Timu. Returning to the team is Jeremy Manley from the United States, who won the top pitcher award at the last world champs. Hutt Valley infielders Joel Evans, back after previously being part of the Black Sox squad, and Tyson Byrne a member of the world championship-winning team, return as well. Sorenson is at pains to point out the seriousness of the tournament. “There’s no second chances in this tournament. It’s going to be tough. There’s going to be some quality softball and some really competitive play.” The ISF Qualifier will be the highlight of this summers softball calendar and broadcast by SKY Sports. The series is to be held December 12-13 at Rosedale Park, North Harbour. Tickets are now available from iticket.co.nz. Tournament draw: Friday, December 12 2pm: Samoa v Australia. 5pm: New Zealand v Samoa 7.30pm: New Zealand v Australia Saturday December 13 12.30pm: New Zealand v Australia 3pm: Australia v Samoa 5pm: New Zealand v Samoa 7:30pm. Playoff/Final Golden Homes Black Sox team: Nik Hayes(Hutt Valley) Tyson Byrne (Hutt Valley), Joel Evans (Hutt Valley), Cory Timu (Hutt Valley), Heinie Shannon (Auckland), Kurt Schollum (Marlborough), Stephen Ratu (Canterbury), Thomas Enoka (Auckland), Tyron Bartorillo (Canterbury), Nathan Nukunuku (Auckland, captain), Josh Harbrow (Canterbury), Jerome Raemaki (Wellington), Ben Enoka (Auckland), Wayne Laulu (Wellington), Campbell Makea (Wellington), Donny Hale (Auckland), Jeremy Manley (United States based). #ISF #BlackSox #TanifaSamoa #NesianSports
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 01:18:27 +0000
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