Softball: Four carry Bay banner to World Series

Melanie Gettins, (left) and Rita Hokianga will be two of four Hawke's Bay players in the White Sox team at the July World Series. Photo / Duncan Brown

The selection of Hailey Breakwell means Hawke's Bay will have its biggest White Sox softball representation at a women's World Series in July.

Shortstop Breakwell will join pitchers Rita Hokianga and Courtney Gettins and catcher Melanie Gettins as the Hawke's Bay players at the July 15-24 event in Surrey, Canada.

A daughter of Olympic show jumper Peter Breakwell, who has lived and worked in California since 1983, Breakwell, has been based in the Bay for most of the summer staying with relatives.

This has allowed her to train with Melanie Gettins and Hokianga and also play alongside them for Hutt Valley.

Breakwell, 22, is a graduate of Idaho State University.

Three players in the team will play at her fourth World Series, including Melanie Gettins, 26. Auckland infielder Katrina Nukunuku and US-based outfielder Lara Andrews are the others.

Only two New Zealand women, International Softball Federation Hall of Fame members Rhonda Hira of Central Hawke's Bay and Lesley Monk, have played in five.

Courtney Gettins, 19, will play at her second senior World Series. Her selection comes five days after she was named pitcher of the week in the National Junior College Athletic Association's division one competition in the United States.

Breakwell and Hokianga, 22, will be one of four players who will make their senior World Series debuts. Auckland's naturalised American catcher Stefanie Smith and Wellington outfielder Mereana Makea are the others.

Ngati Kahungunu's 2015 Junior Sportswoman of the Year, Makea, is a daughter of former Hawke's Bay and Black Sox player Fabian Makea and grand-daughter of Hawke's Bay's multiple national title-winning age group coach Tom Makea snr.

Hawke's Bay's White Sox head coach, Kevin Gettins, has named Florida State University outfielder Ellie Cooper, 22, as captain.

Cooper, the daughter of former Wellington pitcher Russell Cooper, was in the 2014 world championship squad after graduating from the Junior White Sox programme.

Andrews, the White Sox skipper at the 2014 world championships, and Katrina Nukunuku, who captained the team at the Down Under series in Sydney this season, are still in the squad, but Gettins said the selectors have gone "for a totally new captain" with an eye to the future.

He said Andrews and Nukunuku would remain senior players, but it was "time for a change"'.

"Ellie is 22. It's a snapshot of the future coming through. It's a pretty important next four years for the women's game and Ellie has done very well as a leader at Florida State. She brings a lot of intensity, drive and high standards.

"It was a very tough team to pick, which reinforces the fact our depth is getting stronger," coach Gettins said.

Six of the squad are on American college scholarships with Andrews playing in the United States Pro League.

The full White Sox squad is:

Pitchers: Jennifer Feret (Auckland), Courtney Gettins (Florida South Western College), Rita Hokianga (Hutt Valley), Taylor-Paige Stewart (University of Wisconsin).

Catchers: Melanie Gettins (Hutt Valley), Stefanie Smith (Auckland), Kyla Bromhead (Auckland).

Infielders: Katrina Nukunuku (Auckland), Danica Ferriso (Midland College, Texas), Hailey Breakwell (Hutt Valley), Mikayla Werahiko (Florida South Western), Kuraroa Ratu-James (Hutt Valley), Mereana Makea (Wellington).

Outfielders: Ellie Cooper (Florida State University, captain), Charlotte Pointon (Hutt Valley), Lara Andrews (Pennsylvania Rebellion), Kingsley Avery (Ave Maria University, Florida).

Non-travelling reserves: Keri Simeon (Wellington), Tyneesha Houkamau (Colorado Mesa University), Gillian Wills (Auckland).

Head coach: Kevin Gettins. Assistant-coach: Tony Simpson. Manager: Aroha Metcalf.