Softball: Three in a row for Black Sox

9.00pm - By HARRIS CHOY

UPDATED REPORT - New Zealand won the world men's softball championship for the third consecutive time in Christchurch today with a magnificent 9-5 victory over Canada in the final.

It was their fourth championship win since the world series began in 1966 but both former and current players said today's was by far the sweetest as it was achieved at home.

Coach Don Tricker dedicated the victory to former Junior Black Sox player and film maker Cameron Duncan, who recently died of cancer.

"Cameron always wanted to have a world championship team, this was his team," Sorenson said.

Tricker enjoyed simply standing back and watching the emotions flow from his players when the Black Sox ran out Canadian batter Rob Gray in the seventh inning to seal victory.

Celebrations erupted both in the stands and on the field and the Black Sox celebrated and paid tribute to Cameron Duncan with a haka in front of the stand named after him.

Although the Black Sox won the 1976 championship in Lower Hutt, it was a shared title as rain prevented the playoffs.

The Black Sox won the championship in Michigan in 1984 and repeated the feat when the tournament returned there in 1996. They successfully defended it in South Africa in 2000.

"It's pretty special when you win a world championship in front of your own people," match-winning pitcher Jimmy Wana told NZPA.

"It's made all the sacrifice really worth it.

"This is it for me. I'll be spending more time at work and with my wife and family," the Wellington-based 36-year-old said.

Wana had come out of retirement two years ago in an effort to play in his first world series this year.

He played for the Black Sox between 1988 and 1996 but quit before the 1996 world series.

"This is my first, and we've become the first team to win it three in a row -- what better way to go out than this."

Wana's Wellington teammate Mark Sorenson was another to come out of retirement to play because the championship was being staged at home. This was his sixth championship.

He said he wouldn't make a hasty decision about going back into retirement but has told close friends and family he was stepping down again from international level.

Though New Zealand ripped Canada apart with teamwork today, Wana and Sorenson, also 36, were the most influential players in the victory at Smokefree Ballpark.

The Black Sox came from 0-3 down in the first inning to not have to bat in the seventh after Wana slammed the brakes on Canada's top order batters.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's much vaunted hitting power tied the score at 3-3 in the second inning and then went ahead in commanding fashion.

With two runners on base, Sorenson smashed the ball out of the park over centre field to give New Zealand a 6-3 lead and they never looked back.

Patrick Shannon and Dion Nukunuku also blasted the ball beyond the fence for automatic home runs in the match.

- NZPA

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