New Zealand softball great Mark Sorenson named next Black Sox coach.
The four-time world champion, who hung up his glove in 2004, will take over from his former teammate Eddie Kohlhase, whose nine-year coaching tenure ended in triumph after the Black Sox won a record sixth world title in Auckland last March.
Sorenson’s appointment will be confirmed by Softball New Zealand tomorrow but Fairfax Media understands he has accepted the post and provincial softball associations were notified accordingly today. He will lead the Black Sox’s title defence at the 2015world championships in Saskatoon, Canada.
The Hutt Valley stalwart beat two members of Kohlhase’s world championship-winning staff, assistant-coach Dave Workman and pitching coach Chubb Tangaroa, for the head coach’s job. Longtime former Black Sox coach Marty Grant, who challenged Kohlhase for the post in 2009, was the other unsuccessful applicant.
Sorenson’s availability will be seen as a real coup. The 45-year-old coached the Junior Black Sox at the under-19 world championships at Prince Edward Island, Canada in 2005 but has been focussing on family commitments and his business career in recent years.
Sorenson was involved as tournament ambassador at the recent world championships in Auckland and also served as an expert television analyst for Sky TV. It is understand that tournament got his coaching juices flowing again and he was approached to consider taking over from Kohlhase, who confirmed his retirement in May.
Revered at his peak as the best softballer in the world, Sorenson played in six world championships, his first as a 16-year-old in 1984 at Midland, Michigan and his last 20 years later at Christchurch in 2004. He played on four gold medal winning teams, in 1984, 1996 (again at Midland, Michigan), 2000 (East London, South Africa) and 2004 and captained the Black Sox between 1989 and 2001.
Sorenson was acknowledged as one of the most dangerous hitters in the softball world and a smart catcher able to get the best out of his pitching staff. His encyclopaedic knowledge of opposition hitters and innate understanding of game situations enabled him to guide Black Sox pitcher Michael White to a perfect game (no hits, no walks, no runners on base) in the 1996 world championship final against defending champions Canada. Sorenson was also behind home plate when Marty Grant threw a no-hitter in the 2000 final against Japan and helped soothe Jimmy Wana’s nerves in the 2004 tournament decider against the Canadians. Wana and Sorenson had been the pitcher-catcher combination when the Junior Black Sox won their first world under-19 title in 1985.
Sorenson’s status in New Zealand softball is akin to Colin Meads’ or Richie McCaw’s in rugby. He is widely respected as one of the sport’s top strategic thinkers.
Coaching runs in his blood. His father Dave Sorenson _ New Zealand’s captain at the 1976 world championships in Lower Hutt _ was the Black Sox’s assistant-coach at the 1992 world championships in Manila and was a highly successful coach of the Cardinals club and Hutt Valley province.
Mark Sorenson’s elevation to the Black Sox helm follows the recent appointments of fellow four-time world champions Thomas Makea (head coach) and Jarrad Martin (assistant) to the Junior Black Sox coaching staff.
Softball New Zealand now has its three most decorated players in charge of its flagship male national teams. The trio were teammates on the 1996, 2000 and 2004 champion squads.
Don Tricker, who coached the Black Sox to the 2000 and 2004 gold medals, told Fairfax this year that he rated Sorenson and outfielder Makea as New Zealand’s two greatest players.
Hail Brutus!