Black Sox win big to reach World Cup final
- Dave Worsley
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
The Black Sox are through to the WBSC Softball World Cup final in Canada after a comprehensive 8-3 win over Japan in the Super Round.
The New Zealand side will play Venezuela in the championship game on Sunday (8am Monday NZ Time) a rematch of the 2013 world championship final, where the Black Sox came out on top.
LATEST HEADLINES:
The Black Sox are the world's most decorated softball team, with seven world titles under their belt.
Against Japan, two homers from first baseman Seth Gibson lifted New Zealand past Japan 8-3, in the last game of the Super Round. Gibson's dinger in the top of the seventh gave the Black Sox the necessary winning margin to advance to the final.
New Zealand jumped ahead in the first inning with four quick runs, and they never looked back. Cole Evans and Gibson hit a two-run homer each to give their pitching staff a key advantage in the game.
Pita Rona was credited with the win after a great outing in relief, pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out three. He gave up only two hits.
This year’s final will be New Zealand’s 10th appearance in a world championship final. They have won the title six times (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2013, and 2017), and finished runners-up in four editions (1988, 1992, 2009, and 2015).
In 1976, they shared the gold medal with Canada and USA, as the playoffs could not be completed.
Between 1984 and 2017, New Zealand reached every Softball World Cup final (10 in total). They now return to the title game after an eight-year, two-tournament absence.