{"id":32112,"date":"2018-03-19T17:02:07","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T00:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=32112"},"modified":"2018-03-19T17:45:45","modified_gmt":"2018-03-20T00:45:45","slug":"new-zealand-golden-home-black-sox-name-new-squad-for-2018-intercontinental-cup-in-prague","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=32112","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand Golden Home Black Sox name new squad for 2018 Intercontinental Cup in Prague"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click link for official press release from Softball New Zealand:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Click logo for press release at New Zealand Black official website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GOLDEN HOMES BLACK SOX NAME NEW SQUAD FOR PRAGUE TOURNAMENT<\/a><\/p>\n

Text of the press release (link to original above):<\/strong><\/p>\n

20 March, 2018<\/p>\n

Six new players have been named for the GOLDEN HOMES NEW ZEALAND BLACK SOX\u2019S next tour but head coach Mark Sorenson and some of his senior world champions are taking time out.\u00a0 Sorenson, captain Nathan Nukunuku, infielder Tyron Bartorillo and outfielder Wayne Laulu will stay\u00a0behind when the Black Sox play at the Intercontinental Cup tournament in Prague from August 28 to\u00a0September 1.<\/p>\n

Black Sox assistant-coach Daryl Marino will guide the 17-man team in Sorenson’s absence with New\u00a0Zealand under-23 Major Sox coach Steve Deans as his assistant.\u00a0Experienced outfielder Ben Enoka will take over as captain.\u00a0Softball New Zealand chief executive Tony Giles said Sorenson \u201chas accepted an offer to take a\u00a0sabbatical\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst Mark will not be physically in attendance, he has already set the benchmark high for the tour by not only selecting an exciting and youthful squad but selecting a new management line-up also,\u2019\u2019\u00a0Giles said.\u00a0\u201cSuccession planning is key, both on and off the diamond and this is an area where Mark is very\u00a0astute. His attention to detail in all aspects of campaign planning, including identifying talent, sets\u00a0him apart in the international game.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Black Sox assistant-coach Daryl Marino will guide the team in Sorenson’s absence with New Zealand\u00a0under-23 Major Sox coach Steve Deans as his assistant. Former Black Sox catcher Casey Eden takes\u00a0over as manager with Jayden Moore ending his 12-year involvement.
\nSorenson said his sabbatical allowed the Black Sox \u201cthe opportunity to develop the next tier of\u00a0coaches\u2019\u2019.\u00a0\u201cWe just felt they would develop better if I am not there. I\u2019ve been part of everything and will\u00a0continue to be, I just won\u2019t be getting on the plane. The work we\u2019re doing will continue, just with a\u00a0slightly different flavour.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Sorenson \u2013 a four-time world champion in a 20-year career as a Black Sox player \u2013 has been coaching\u00a0the national team since 2013.\u00a0He loves the role but also has a lot of business responsibilities as central regional manager for the\u00a0AWF recruitment company. \u201cI haven\u2019t had a family holiday in five or six years as all my leave is taken\u00a0up with my softball commitments.\u2019\u2019
\nSorenson believes taking a break will freshen up his coaching and is convinced it will do the Black Sox\u00a0players some good to hear \u201csome new voices\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n

He has confidence in Marino to take over and said it was logical to have under-23 coach Deans\u00a0assist.\u00a0Sorenson said the selectors know what Nukunuku, Bartorillo and Laulu \u2013 all proven world\u00a0championship players \u2013 can do and it made sense to spell them to blood others and further develop\u00a0the Black Sox\u2019s depth.<\/p>\n

GOLDEN HOMES BLACK SOX SQUAD<\/strong><\/p>\n

PITCHERS<\/strong>
\nNik Hayes (Hutt Valley), Daniel Chapman (Auckland), Campbell Gibson (Auckland), Eru Drage
\n(Auckland).<\/p>\n

CATCHERS<\/strong>
\nKallan Compain (Auckland), Zane van Lieshout (Auckland)<\/p>\n

INFIELDERS<\/strong>
\nPita Rona (North Harbour), Joel Evans (Hutt Valley), Cole Evans (Auckland), Rhys Evans (Auckland),\u00a0Jerome Raemaki (Wellington), Joe Ferriso Jr (Hutt Valley).<\/p>\n

OUTFIELDERS<\/strong>
\nBen Enoka (Auckland, captain), Thomas Enoka (Auckland), Campbell Enoka (Auckland), Reilly Makea\u00a0(Canterbury), Jackson Watt (Canterbury).<\/p>\n

(Staff)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Head coach: Daryl Marino. Assistant-coach: Steve Deans. Battery coach: Jim Wana. Video analyst:\u00a0Jamie Frisby. Manager: Casey Eden.\u00a0Scorer: Ian Ditfort.<\/p>\n

NEW PLAYERS \u2018DESERVE PROMOTION<\/strong>\u2019<\/p>\n

The BLACK SOX\u2019S six new players had all earned their spots after proven performances in the
\ndomestic season, head coach Mark Sorenson said.<\/p>\n

DANIEL CHAPMAN<\/strong>, a former Junior Black Sox pitcher, has earned promotion after pitching Mt Albert
\nRamblers to the national interclub tournament.
\n\u201cHe threw two no-hitters on the penultimate day and took 28 strikeouts in 12 innings and he only\u00a0gave up two hits in the final.\u2019\u2019
\nERU DRAGE<\/strong> offers the Black Sox \u201ca left-handed hitting and pitching option and can also play first\u00a0base\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n

RHYS EVANS<\/strong> had emerged from younger brother Cole\u2019s shadow this year with consistent defensive
\ndisplays in the infield and \u201cbatted. 400 [four hits out of every 10 at-bats] at most events\u2019\u2019.
\nJOE FERRISO JR<\/strong> is an athletic, young infielder who has benefited from a break from the game and
\n\u201chas come back a better, all-round player\u2019\u2019.
\nTeenage outfielder REILLY MAKEA<\/strong> \u2013 the son of four-time Black Sox world champion Thomas Makea\u00a0\u2013 \u201cobviously comes from good stock\u2019\u2019, Sorenson said. \u201cWhich isn\u2019t a selection criteria, but it helps.\u00a0He\u2019s been around the ballpark since he could walk and is a young, exciting talent, coming through.\u2019\u2019
\nJACKSON WATT<\/strong>, a Canterbury outfielder, has impressed Sorenson with his batting consistency. \u201cHe\u2019s\u00a0a tough out at the plate and has fully earned his spot in the line up.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

KEY RETURNEES<\/strong>
\nWellington infielder JEROME RAEMAKI will return after missing the 2017 world championships\u00a0following knee surgery.\u00a0\u201cHe\u2019s a world-class hitter,\u2019\u2019 Sorenson said. \u201cHe\u2019s not totally back where he was, but he\u2019s an offensive\u00a0threat every time he goes to the plate and we wanted to take him to get him fitter and stronger so\u00a0he\u2019s able to withstand the rigours of a tough internal tour.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

PITA RONA<\/strong> \u2013 first selected for the Black Sox as a 16-year-old in 2011 \u2013 is back as a first baseman and\u00a0back-up pitcher. The son of Brad Rona (another four-time world gold medallist), Rona \u201cwas top\u00a0batter at the National Fastpitch Championships with a .619 average and he threw a game against the\u00a0Czech Republic where he took 17 strikeouts\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n

OTHER SELECTION NOTES<\/strong>
\n\u00b7 The squad includes two sets of brothers – COLE and RHYS EVANS ; and BEN, THOMAS and
\nCAMPBELL ENOKA (all from Auckland).
\n\u00b7 Wellington infielder JEROME RAEMAKI returns to the Black Sox after missing the 2017 world
\nchampionship victory following knee surgery.
\n\u00b7 REILLY MAKEA will be playing in two international tournaments in successive months. He
\nwill pitch for the Junior Black Sox (coached by father Thomas) at the 2018 under-19 world
\nchampionships in Prince Albert, Canada, in June.
\n\u00b7 JACKSON WATT will make his Black Sox debut – two years after he had to miss the junior
\nworld championships with a broken arm.
\n\u00b7 Hutt Valley infielder JOE FERRISO JR is the second NZ softball international in his family. His
\nsister, DANICA FERRISO, has represented the NZ White Sox at the last two women’s world
\nchampionships.<\/p>\n

TOURNAMENT DETAILS
\nThe Black Sox -ranked No 1 in the world \u2013 will play Japan (2), Argentina (3), USA (6), Czech Republic\u00a0(7), Denmark (11) and Botswana (12) in the five-day Intercontinental Cup series in Prague from\u00a0August 28-September 1.<\/p>\n

MEDIA CONTACTS
\nBlack Sox acting head coach Daryl Marino (021) 11014689.\u00a0For player interviews please call Black Sox manager Casey Eden (021) 496740.\u00a0Softball NZ CEO Tony Giles (021) 763822.<\/p>\n

Regards
\nTony Giles
\nCEO
\nSoftball New Zealand<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SOFTBALL IS A CHAMPION SPORT ON AND OFF THE DIAMOND<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Softball.org.nz<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Pinterest<\/a><\/p>\n

New Zealand Black Sox World Champions: 76, 84, 96, 00, 04, 13, 17<\/p>\n

New Zealand White Sox World Champions: 82<\/p>\n

New Zealand Junior Black Sox World Champions: 85, 89<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click link for official press release from Softball New Zealand: GOLDEN HOMES BLACK SOX NAME NEW SQUAD FOR PRAGUE TOURNAMENT Text of the press release (link to original above): 20 March, 2018 Six new players have been named for the GOLDEN HOMES NEW ZEALAND BLACK SOX\u2019S next tour but head coach Mark Sorenson and some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,28,35,21],"tags":[884,885,401],"class_list":{"0":"post-32112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-europe","8":"category-featured","9":"category-oceania","10":"category-teams","11":"tag-blacksox2018","12":"tag-intercontinentalcup2018","13":"tag-softballnewzealand","14":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32112"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32117,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32112\/revisions\/32117"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}