The Black Sox have overcome some tricky pitching from the Czech Republic and nervy pitching of their own to secure a win in their opening game of the Softball World Cup in Auckland this afternoon.
After getting some much-needed international experience under their belt in the last fortnight following a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Black Sox opened their campaign for an eighth world title at Rosedale Park this afternoon but were made to work by the up-and-comers from Europe.
The Czech Republic threw the first curveball of the game before the first pitch had even been thrown, making a late change to their lineup which saw young pitcher Jakub Osicka take the mound ahead of named starter and ace Michal Holobradek.
Initially it looked as though the Black Sox took the late swap in their stride with second baseman Tane Mumu getting a leadoff double to start the game.
However, Mumu was left stranded as Osicka settled in to his work, getting the Black Sox batters to chase his rise ball out of the zone time and time again as he racked up three strikeouts to start the game; in the end he'd rack up nine strikeouts in the loss.
In contrast, Black Sox starting pitcher Daniel Chapman struggled at times throughout the match, walking the leadoff hitter on three separate occasions in the first four innings to put early pressure on the New Zealand defence.
The team got around him though, including some impressive work from behind home plate by Te Wera Bishop to block up wild pitches as they bounced in to the plate.
The scoreline remained locked at 0-0 until the top of the third innings when Joel Evans lead off the Black Sox's third at-bat with a single to centrefield after holding his hands back on change-up.
That brought Mumu back to the plate and he immediately laid down a bunt to move Joel over to second however his speed was enough to force an error from the Czech Republic and allowed him to reach base also.
With runners on first and second and the heart of the lineup approaching, captain Cole Evans then faked a bunt as well which created another error; the two runners advancing to third and second with none down and a tonne of pressure now on the Czechs.
Cole then hit a hard ground ball to Czech shortstop Marek Maly forcing a second error, allowing Joel to score.
Ben Enoka then grounded into a double play to ease up the pressure but in doing so scored Joel, allowing the Black Sox to take a 2-0 lead.
The Czechs bounced back with a run of their own in the bottom of the innings though, capitalising on multiple wild pitches from Chapman which eventually allowed them to steal home.
Despite the Black Sox leading, the game remained tense as Osicka's rise ball continued to lure the New Zealand batters out of their zones.
That was until the top of the sixth innings when veteran outfielder Ben Enoka, playing at his sixth world championship, lead off with a deep drive to left-centrefield for a solo homerun.
Enoka's blast saw the Czech Republic make an immediate change as Holobradek came in for Osicka as relief.
The change worked as the Black Sox were unable to grow their lead any further heading into the bottom of the sixth inning with Chapman still on the mound and still struggling to find his rhythm with a fourth leadoff walk.
After striking out the next batter, Chapman just missed the strike zone to give up another walk and put runners at first and second with one out.
However Chapman managed to settle down once more, racking up two more strikeouts to get out of the jam and take his game total to 13, keeping the lead heading into the final innings.
The Black Sox couldn't add to their lead in their final at-bat - although pinch hitter Rhys Evans almost added another with an inside-the-park homerun had a pinpoint throw to home not gotten him out - leaving them three outs to seal the game.
Wellington hurler Josh Pettett come in to close the match and did just that, striking out the side.
With their first win secured, the Black Sox return to Rosedale Park tomorrow to play USA at 3pm.
New Zealand 3 [Ben Enoka 1-3, HR, RBI / Daniel Chapman 6.0 IP, 13 Ks, 5 BBs, 2 H, 0 ER, W]
Czech Republic 1 [Tomas Klein 1-3, 2B, R / Jakub Osicka 5.0 IP, 9 Ks, 1 BB, 3 H, 1 ER, L]
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