Softball: Black Sox star pitcher in doubt

By JULIE ASH

The Black Sox find out this morning whether star pitcher Marty Grant will be ruled out of the world series which opens in Christchurch tonight.

Grant, a veteran of three world championships, strained a calf muscle on Wednesday.

The Black Sox lineup must be registered at 9am today, and if Grant is not registered he cannot play in the tournament. If he is registered and unable to play, a replacement cannot be called in.

Black Sox coach Don Tricker said Grant would stay in the squad if there was a chance he could play later in the 10-day tournament.

"Marty is in very good spirits and his injury is improving all the time so we will see how he is [today]," Tricker said.

Even if he is registered, Grant will almost certainly be ruled out of the team's opening match against Samoa tonight.

To make matters worse, Grant is the second member of the squad's pitchers to be injured. Michael Gaiger aggravated a groin injury during a lead-up game against Canterbury last week.

Auckland pitcher Thomas Cameron is on standby and would be an obvious backup option if either Grant or Gaiger did not recover.

The Black Sox also have Jim Wana, captain and first baseman Jarrad Martin and newcomer Karl Gollan who can step up to the pitching plate.

"We have always had five there," Martin said.

"So if one was to break down that was pretty much our plan, to go to the other two. I still think the team is pretty comfortable in knowing what the possibilities are."

Striving to become the first team in history to win three consecutive world titles, Martin said the Black Sox couldn't be any more prepared heading into the Samoan match.

"If we are not ready now, then we are never going to be ready," Martin said.

"We have worked hard for four years. Now all of that hard work and all the sacrifices we have made, come down to these next few days.

"You can't go to war without having a plan and if you are not ready then you are going to get shot down."

Samoa, making their world championship debut, are captained by former All Black Jeremy Stanley, and consist entirely of New Zealand-based players.

"They are going to be a scrappy team and we know that," Martin said.

"They are a good overall team in that they have got speed and they play the short game well and they hit the long ball as well. They will use all their offensive and defensive tools.

"We have just got to try and combat that and we've actually got to try and work ourselves ahead right from the start of the game. If we can do that, I think we'll have no problems."

The match will be an interesting one for the Shannon family, who have Patrick in the Black Sox and his twin Heinie in the opposition.

"They are pretty reserved kind of guys and I don't think they share too much knowledge between them especially being in opposing teams," Martin said.

"But I know that Patrick will be trying to rark his brother up a bit and get in his ear."

A capacity crowd of 7000 people is expected at the park for the opening ceremony and parade of teams, starting at 5:30pm.

New Zealand and Samoa square off at 7.35pm.

Black Sox schedule

* Today: v Samoa, 7.35pm

* Tomorrow: v South Africa, 5pm

* Saturday: v Australia, 3pm

* Sunday: v Netherlands, 3pm

* Tuesday: v Philippines, 5pm

* Wednesday: v Venezuela, 5pm

* Thursday: v Canada, 5pm

* Feb 6-7: Playoffs

* Feb 8: Final