Softball: Hero Sorenson to quit the diamond

The curtain came down on one of New Zealand's most illustrious sporting careers yesterday when Black Sox captain Mark Sorenson announced his retirement from softball.

Sorenson, aged 33, will stop playing at the end of the Wellington-Hutt Valley club competition next month, although he will make an appearance with the County Classics team at the prestigious International Softball congress tournament in Wisconsin in August.

Although the decision to retire was made public yesterday, it was taken last July, minutes after New Zealand had won their second consecutive world series title in South Africa.

On that day, Sorenson was sitting alongside two other eminent veterans, Kere Johanson and Dean Rice in the dugout watching team-mates celebrating on the diamond.

Between them, the had trio won seven gold and six silver senior world championship medals.

Sorenson had played in an unprecedented five world series; the others had each been to four. Sorenson and Rice had also been in New Zealand's 1985 world champion under-19 team.

"We were emotionally drained and posed the question of each other as to whether this was to be our last [world series]," Sorenson said.

"The answer was not long coming. We all felt we had done our bit. We had also seen the look in the eyes of some American players who had gone one series too many.

"What we did not want was for someone to see that same look in our eyes four years on.

"I certainly did not fancy playing at that level at 37."

There was also the little matter of Sorenson's body being held together by tape in the world championship final. A body that had been more durable than most was finally beginning to show the wear and tear of 18 years in senior softball, 16 of them in the international arena.

For someone who had been remarkably injury-free until 12 months ago. the alarm bells began to ring.

Those same bells were ringing before the tournament when Sorenson for a while doubted whether he was still sharp enough to produce the goods at the highest level.

In retrospect, says Sorenson, he realises the doubts only surfaced because he was rusty after coming out of a New Zealand winter, a feeling borne out by the fact that he went on to produce close to his best batting performance at a world series.

Since making his senior debut as a 14-year-old for perennial Hutt Valley champions Cardinals, and being picked for New Zealand's 1984 world series winning team at 16, Sorenson has been an outstanding performer at club, provincial and international level.

A New Zealand captain since 1989, Sorenson has always been a team player, but it is now time to be a little selfish; to spend more time with wife Jane and children Jaimee, 11, and 26-month-old Grayson.

After enjoying a high-profile period in the 1980s, softball's popularity plummeted, but Sorenson believes it is now getting back on the right track, thanks to the Black Sox's deeds.

Softball has not seen the last of Sorenson. There is little doubt he will eventually move into coaching, but not immediately.

"I will always be involved in some way," he said.

"I'll probably help out next year, but I don't want to go into fulltime coaching. If I was going to be at the park every week, I might as well be playing."

- NZPA