Editor’s note: Six international squads just completed the TAB International Men’s Softball Challenge at AWF Sports Stadium in 5 days of world class softball including some of the top ranked teams in the world, New Zealand, Japan, Argentina, Australia, Czech Republic and Samoa (12). The New Zealand Black Sox came away with the win in the Grand Final yesterday, a convincing display of offensive power and dominant pitching. Details below.
New Zealand Black Sox vs. Argentina (Softball – Challenge Cup Grand Final 2017)
A spectacular home run by Wayne Laulu with bases loaded gave the New Zealand Black Sox a 9-0 win over Argentina in the international TAB Challenge Cup softball final in Auckland on Sunday.
New Zealand had a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning and already had a further two runs on the board when outfielder Laulu smacked his home run over centre field.
Pitcher Josh Pettett won the tournament MVP award after shutting out the Argentinians, with coach Mark Sorenson praising him for his development during the tournament, which also featured teams from Japan, Australia, Czech Republic and Samoa.
“Big ups to Josh. He came into this tournament as a young rookie and came out of it as an established man.”-New Zealand skipper, Mark Sorenson
Click here to continue reading at stuff.co.nz
More coverage of the Grand Final win here at the New Zealand Herald.
Cap tip Kyle Smith: “Here’s the video recap from the last round robin game with the dramatic bottom of the 7th comeback by New Zealand vs Argentina that included the bench clearing brawl”
Editor’s note: Following the brawl, Ben Enoka of the Black Sox was ejected, and replaced by Issac Fletcher, setting the stage for a dramatic end to the game:
Black Sox hero Isaac Fletcher smashes huge homerun to cement NZ’s final spot
Video from earlier games below:
New Zealand Black Sox vs. Samoa (Softball – Challenge Cup 2017)
(With Haka by the Black Sox at the start of the video)
New Zealand Black Sox vs. Australia (Softball – Challenge Cup 2017)
Leave a Reply