Softball: Martin leads Black Sox to win over S Africa

8.25pm

NZ 11 SOUTH AFRICA 2

The bat of New Zealand softball captain Jarrad Martin proved to be a lethal weapon as the Black Sox hammered South Africa 11-2 on day two of the world series in Christchurch today.

With two powerful swings of the bat, Martin picked up two automatic home runs to score six runs and effectively end the match as a contest.

In the fourth inning, Martin smashed the ball over the left field fence to score himself and Clayton Willocks from second base.

Then in the fifth inning when Martin smashed a grand slam home run over the centre field fence to score himself, Brad Rona, Clayton Willocks and Roman Gabriel.

It was a day to remember for Martin who picked up seven RBI's (runners batted in), a feat he couldn't recall ever achieving.

Martin felt he needed a big effort today after a quiet game last night when a nervy Black Sox beat Samoa 3-1 in the tournament opener.

Today's game only went five innings as the mercy rule was invoked which sees a game end early when a team is up by seven or more runs in the fifth inning.

The relentless hitting of the Black Sox caused the South Africans to call on three pitchers in the game. The New Zealanders picked up six hits and nine walks in the five innings.

Black Sox coach Don Tricker was happy with the performance from his team.

"The pleasing thing for us today was that we applied pressure in every inning and we created opportunities in the first inning," said Tricker.

Along with Martin the game was also a special one for 22-year-old pitcher Thomas Cameron, who started on the mound in his first world championships after only being called into the squad yesterday for the injured Marty Grant.

Cameron admitted he was nervous for much of his time on the mound and felt he didn't get into any groove until the last couple of innings.

"The nerves were the worst it has ever been, it was the biggest crowd I have ever thrown in front of," said Cameron.

In his five innings on the mound Cameron faced 20 batters for five strikeouts, two walks, two hits and two earned runs.

Another player who will remember tonight's game fondly is Karl Gollan who made his international debut for the Black Sox when he entered the game in the fifth inning at right outfield.

Next up for the Black Sox are their trans-tasman rivals Australia tomorrow at 3pm.

Meanwhile, second seeds Japan made an impressive start to their world series.

Japan, who lost to New Zealand in the 2000 final in South Africa, scored a 9-2 win over Great Britain in their tournament opener, out-hitting their opponents by 10-5.

They did most of their scoring in the second and third inning, with right fielder Shigeyuki Nishida hitting four from four and Yasutoshi Yamasaki picking up two hits from two.

Australia also scored a win in their first game, but only just, as they edged out the Philippines 2-1.

Australia scored their two runs in the bottom of the second innings through safe hits by veteran Peter Clout, Joel Southam and Nathan Jones.

The Philippines replied in the top of the third with Manuel Bacarisas hitting a triple and scoring on a wild pitch.

That triple was the only hit given up by young Australian Andrew Kirkpatrick who faced 24 batters and took 17 strikeouts.

The United States had a closer than expected run with Botswana, winning just 2-0.

In other games, there was heartbreak for Samoa as they came agonisingly close to scoring a crucial win over the Netherlands, only to lose 8-10 in the bottom of the seventh inning.

In a game that see-sawed throughout, the Samoans had an 8-7 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, and were looking good for their first win at a world championship.

Julius Veeris then came up with a huge home run that cleared both fences at Smokefree Ballpark to score three runs and win the game.

In pool B, Canada were kept honest by Venezuela for five innings, before the Canadians blew the game open to win 4-0.

- NZPA