[Alsfastball] Black Sox claim Evodrive Series title

[Al Doran]

Received: 2/6/05 1:00:27 AM 
From:  SNZ Web-master <snz-webm at vanf-graphics.co.nz> 

Subject:  Black Sox claim Evodrive Series title  
  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Black Sox claim Evodrive Series title
Sunday February 6th 2005, 7:00pm

A clinical display from the New Zealand Community Trust Black
Sox hasseen them take out the inaugural Evodrive Series with
a 6-0 victory overJapan in the final at Rotorua International
Stadium today.

The world champion Black Sox are renowned for their power batting
andwhile they didn’t demolish Japan in the final the home side
were alwaysin control of the game as they picked up one run in
each of the openingfour innings and then another two in the sixth.

While his team mates were doing the job with the bat Black Sox
pitcherMarty Grant was in command on the mound as he refused
the give theJapanese hitters any chances. 

With speed and movement Grant deceived the Japanese hitters as
he faced24 batters giving up just four hits while taking ten
strikeouts.

When the Black Sox claimed their third consecutive world title
inChristchurch last year Grant suffered the disappointment of
having towatch from the sidelines after an injury two days out
from the tournamentruled him out. 

Given those disappointments Grant had greater resolve going into
theEvodrive Series with a point to prove in front of a home crowd.
And provea point he did as he was strong throughout the series
giving up no runsin the four games he played picking up the top
pitcher award for thetournament.

After the game Grant was not surprisingly a happy man but was
quick todeflect any credit believing he was just doing his job
for theteam.

“Going into the series I just wanted to make sure I could represent
theteam well. I felt really good on the mound this week but it
is all justabout doing your job for the team,” said Grant.

While Grant had control on the mound his team mates had control
in thegame as they hit the front in their first at bat when lead
off hitterThomas Makea picked up a walk, stole second and then
scored on a hit by Patrick Shannon.

The Black Sox went further ahead in the second inning when Brad
Ronacrossed home plate and then scored again in the third through
Makeaagain. A big automatic from Donny Hale over the centre field
fence in thefourth inning secured the game for the Black Sox
as there was no way backfor Japan at 4-0 down.

There was no stopping the Black Sox though as they added another
two runsin the bottom of the sixth when Rhys Casley and Brad
Rona bothscored.
A feature of the Black Sox hitting was the pressure they put
the Japaneseunder in the field as the home side did the job with
the bat to advancetheir runners around the bases.    

The Japanese team tried to stem the flow of runs in the fourth
inningwhen starting pitcher Tatsuya Hamagughi was replaced on
the mound byKadataka Murasto. It had little impact though as
Donny Hale smashedMurasato’s first pitch over the centre field
fence. Murasato didn’t lastlong he was taken out of the game
in the top of the fifth inning replacedby Kunihiko Ida who pitched
out the game for Japan.
   
Japan won their way through to the final when the defeated Samoa
earlierin the day 4-0. Just like the Black Sox performance in
the final theJapanese side won their semi final with controlled
hitting and strongpitching.

Results Day Five - 
Final: New Zealand 6 Japan 0
Semi final : Japan 4 Samoa 0.
4th / 5th Playoff: Australia 8 All Stars 5.

Award Winners ­ 
Tournament Top Pitcher: Marty Grant, era 0.00 (New Zealand),
Tournament Top Batter: Brad Rona, average .643  (New Zealand
),
Tournament MVP: Patrick Shannon (New Zealand).

Final Placings ­ 
1 New Zealand, 2 Japan, 3 Samoa, 4 Australia, 5 All Stars. 



By SNZ Media Liaison: Kelly Mitchell
* mailto:kelly.mitchell at xtra.co.nz 

http://www.softball.org.nz/
*mailto:snz at softball.org.nz 


Cheers Vance 
Softball New Zealand web master.
* mailto:snz-webm at vanf-graphics.co.nz 

 

Als Fastball List
*Email: aldoran at pmihrm.com
Website: http://www.pmihrm.com
VIA http://www.webbox.com