Softball: NZ softball great Herlihy dies

New Zealand softball great Kevin Herlihy died last night at the age of 58, in Waikato Hospital.

Herlihy had suffered two heart attacks within a fortnight and underwent bypass surgery at the weekend.

The lanky pitcher, whose laid-back appearance on the softball diamond belied his thundering deliveries, dominated batters for nearly 20 years and helped steer the national team to world titles in 1976 and 1984.

While playing in the United States, he was twice a member of national champion teams, twice named most valuable pitcher and was named in five All-American teams.

He was New Zealand player of the year three times and pitched teams to New Zealand titles six times.

His impact on the game during his heyday led to Herlihy being compared with Richard Hadlee in New Zealand cricket.

Herlihy, who was one of the original 75 inductees voted into the Sports Hall of Fame in 1990, grew up in Wellington but moved to Hamilton to work and play softball in the 1970s.

He was picked out as a rare pitching talent while at school and picked for the Wellington senior team at the nationals the month after he left school.

He recalled during an interview 10 years ago that he had expected to be the third-string pitcher at that tournament, but ended up on the mound against Auckland.

"The first indication I had was when our coach hustled over to me and asked me if I'd prefer to pitch into the wind or with it. You could set up the diamond to suit your pitchers in those days," he said.

"I must have done okay, because I found myself pitching for The Rest to play New Zealand. The next thing I knew I'd been named in the New Zealand team which was off to Mexico City for the first world champs, in 1966. I was only 18."

Herlihy recalled his New Zealand debut for many reasons.

"I'd had chicken pox and couldn't leave with the team. I arrived a week later and joined the team in San Antonio, Texas.

"I had 14 strikeouts and hit the winning run. I thought, 'This is pretty bloody easy.

"In the next match I was pulled out after three innings when we were down 6-0. That brought me back to earth with a thump."

By 1968 Herlihy was clearly New Zealand's top pitcher. He felt he reached a peak in the Philippines in 1972, but the game he was best remembered for occurred in 1976, when New Zealand met the US at the world championships in Lower Hutt.

Or rather, Herlihy, touted as the world's best right-handed pitched, met Ty Stofflet, the world's best lefthander.

They battled it out until nearly 2am, over 20 innings, the longest softball game ever played in a world series. The US won 1-0.

Herlihy and Stofflet clashed on seven occasions and the American came out ahead 4-3. Only one of the seven matches didn't go to extra innings.

Strangely, what should have been the high point of Herlihy's career - captaining New Zealand to a world title in 1984 - had bitter-sweet memories.

"To be honest, that was an anti-climax for me because I wasn't pitching the final. My form fell away."

Herlihy was noted for his pinpoint accuracy, as well as his speed, but thought he did not fully develop his skills until playing in the US.

"Like most pitchers, I had the rise ball, but when I got to America I found that was pretty standard. They used to hit my rise ball out of the park, so I changed it around and ended up pitching about 90 percent drop balls.

"The weakest part of my game was that I never had a really excellent change-up."

His playing career ended when he broke his thumb in 1988 but he went on to be a national selector and coach.

But a darker side to his life, a gambling addiction, led to him being jailed in 1996 after admitting 27 charges of fraud totalling $145,000.

He had fed a $100-a-day gambling habit using his insurance clients' funds and served nine months of a two-year sentence. His crime also cost him his Hamilton home and business.

After prison he recovered from his disease through Gamblers' Anonymous.

He is survived by his wife Sandra and children Chris and Michelle.

- NZPA