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Black Sox captain Rhys Casley was likely to miss last night’s international quadrangular men’s softball final in Canberra with a back injury.
Softball New Zealand general manager Dane Dougan said from Canberra that Casley, who had been in fine batting form, pulled a muscle in his back on Thursday.
The skipper missed the Black Sox’s 11-4 win over Australia Green yesterday afternoon and Dougan said “at this stage he is out” of the starting lineup for the final against Australia Gold, the host nation’s top side. But there was some hope the 31-year-old infielder might be able to adopt a pinch-hitter role, if required.
Wellington outfielder Wayne Laulu hit a three-run home run for the Black Sox against Australia Green and North Harbour’s Brad Rona, playing in the unaccustomed position of first base, also put the ball out of the park in the same inning. Left-hander Heinie Shannon (Auckland) threw the complete game and overpowered most of the Australian batters.
Dougan said Hutt Valley’s Shaun Jamieson was due to start the final, which started at 9.30pm (NZ time).
The Black Sox lost 2-9 to Australia Gold on the opening day but were unbeaten for the remainder of the round-robin phase and Dougan was confident they could carry that momentum into the final.
Coach Eddie Kohlhase’s New Zealand team had two good wins on Thursday after play resumed following a lengthy delay due to torrential rain in Canberra.
The Black Sox beat Australia Green 12-7 and then backed up that performance with a 9-1 win over Argentina to stay in contention for the final.
Against Australia Green, considered to be the weaker of the two Australian national teams involved in the tournament, Casley led the way with three hits from his four turns at bat.
Casley’s hit in the fourth inning was a home run which also scored Ben Enoka and Tyson Byrne as New Zealand stretched their lead to 9-1. Young Wellington catcher Te Wera Bishop, 17, came into the game and hit a triple to score Rona.
Australia Green hit back in the next inning when Black Sox pitcher Thomas Cameron gave up four hits, including a home run.
Against Argentina, who had beaten Australia Gold 3-0 earlier yesterday, the New Zealanders had their opponents on the back foot from the first inning when they scored three runs through Byrne, Laulu and Rona. Four innings later the game was over with the Black Sox scoring five runs.
Australia Gold’s leading pitcher, Andrew Kirkpatrick, did not play the two games against Argentina and was expected to be fit for the final.