The Black Sox strolled to qualification for next year’s world championships in Canada, giving them a chance to claim back-to-back titles.
The Sox earned their spot after a convincing overall display in the Oceania Softball Series at Albany’s Rosedale Park, despite narrowly losing last night’s series final to Australia 1-0.
The series functioned as a three-way playoff between New Zealand, Australia and Samoa for the two available Oceania places.
It started in inauspicious fashion for the Kiwis, losing veteran pitcher Jeremy Manley to injury before proceedings got under way. But the setback didn’t bother them, with Bayley Pearson-Hoani, Nik Hayes, Heinrick Shannon and Kurt Schollum stepping out of the bullpen to pick up the slack.
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