Softball career kicks into gear with Black Sox
By SHANE HURNDELL
New Black Sox softballer Aaron Kuru pictured in his part time job as a horse trainer for John Bary of Hastings.
New Black Sox softballer Aaron Kuru pictured in his part time job as a horse trainer for John Bary of Hastings.
Aaron Kuru knows his part-time horse training job is a risky one.
A fall from a horse or kick from one has the potential to either end his hopes of playing for the Black Sox softball team or delay his debut for New Zealand’s most successful sports team on the international stage.
“I’m a little more cautious now … I know I have to look after the body,” said the Fast Pitch infielder who will join Maraenui Pumas pitcher Regan Manley as the two Hawke’s Bay players in the Black Sox side which will play a three-test series against world champions Australia across the Tasman next month.
“A few weeks after coming back from the Black Sox training camp in September I had a fall and I had to wear a neck brace for a little while,” recalled Kuru.
At the same he appreciates the horse training compliments his fitness training for softball. It wasn’t so long ago Kuru, 19, was eyeing a career as a jockey.
“Then my weight went up to the 65kg mark and I realised it wasn’t an option. To do well as a jockey you don’t really want to be too much over 52kgs,” Kuru explained.
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His Black Sox selection which was announced last month suggests his softball career is on the right track.
“To be honest it was a surprise. I thought I still had a bit much to work on and I was a few years away from getting the nod,” said Kuru.
His Fast Pitch team is unbeaten after three weeks play in the Hawke’s Bay premier men’s competition and is almost as dominant as the star studded 1995-96 season Fast Pitch outfit was. Kuru pointed out the side is displaying the benefits of some “gutbusting” winter training sessions under player-coach Rayner Te Wake and Hawke’s Bay-based Black Sox pitching coach Chubb Tangaroa.
“My selection shows if you put in the hard yards you will get the results,” said Kuru, the fastest base runner in the Bay, and the second fastest in the Black Sox side.
During the Black Sox camp his best time for the run from first base to third out of six attempts with a 30s break in between was 5.39s.
That sort of pace is exactly what Black Sox coach Eddie Kohlhase needs as he looks to combine speed with power in his batting line-up.
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Editor’s note: Unrelated directly to the above story, but if you didn’t see the feature on 60 minutes Sunday night about the racehorse, Zenyatta, it’s worth a look. She’ll be in the Breeder’s Cup this weekend.