International exposure 'vital' for Black Sox

Softball great Mark Sorenson says it is vital the new breed of Black Sox gain international exposure if New Zealand are to grab another gold medal.

The four-time world champion did it tough watching live internet coverage of the Black Sox's 5-0 defeat to Australia in the world men's softball championships final in Canada on Monday.

It was the first time Sorenson had not been at a world series since he won gold as a 16-year-old in Michigan in 1984.

The 41-year-old turned down an approach this year to come out of retirement to play in Saskatoon because he is now focusing on a business career.

Sorenson's heart is still very much with the Black Sox and he was "still gutted" yesterday at the result. But he felt it was important to acknowledge it had been "a golden era" for New Zealand softball, with the Black Sox involved in the past seven world championships finals.

The former catcher, who captained New Zealand to the 1996 and 2000 titles and retired after hitting a three-homer in the 2004 final, said he thought the Black Sox had not got enough recognition from the media and sporting public for their success over the years.

"I don't think people realise that these guys are great athletes. I still think hitting a round ball with a round bat is one of the most difficult things to do in sport."

Sorenson thinks it is inevitable that some of the senior Black Sox, now in their mid-30s, will hang up their gloves now.

"But I think it's good that Eddie [Black Sox head coach Eddie Kohlhase] has encouraged the guys to take their time to reflect. They don't need to make a hasty decision."

Sorenson hoped a nucleus from this year's team would be back to bid for gold in 2013. "But we need to identify areas where we've got gaps and put in place strong development programmes."

Pitching was one critical area where New Zealand needed to develop depth, said Sorenson, a former New Zealand Junior Black Sox (under-19) coach. "I know we've got a good crop of kids coming through, but we need to maybe look at getting them some short-term scholarships to play in places like Japan, and they need to understand the work ethic needed to succeed at the top level."

Sorenson is a strong advocate of young New Zealanders playing in North America in the off-season to improve their skills. "That's the reason that the current crop of players, and the guys in my era, reached the level they have because we had an opportunity to play 11 months of the year and were up against the best, week in and week out. The US is a great development ground."

He hoped funding would still be available to send the Black Sox on overseas tours.

"We've virtually created competitions like the South Pacific Classic. They've been our innovations. The guys have toured Argentina and played against Venezuela there and they went to Botswana a couple of years ago.

"Those tours have served a number of purposes. They're great for world softball and they've helped our development as well."

Sorenson was full of praise for the pitching performance of his former team-mate, Marty Grant, in the playoffs phase in Saskatoon and felt outfielders Daniel Milne and Rhys Casley established themselves in their first world series.

- © Fairfax NZ News