Softball: Perfect comeback after 15 long years

Rotorua completed a fairytale comeback to provincial men's softball yesterday when they beat Wellington 3-1 in the final of the New Zealand Provincial Cup in Wanganui.

The tournament was created two years ago as the tier below the National Softball League and it is the first time in 15 years that a Rotorua representative team has been fielded.

League players under the age of 23 were still eligible for the competition and this season dispensation was given to Black Sox back-up pitchers to play as pick-ups for minor association sides to help them prepare for the world championships.

One of those, Aucklander Karl Gollan, played a big part in Rotorua's victory just a 10 days after being a big contributor with the bat in Auckland's National League win.

Wellington coach Paul Stockford praised the left-handed Gollan's ability to keep Wellington pinned down.

"We didn't get enough runners on bases to pressure him, so we had no option but to swing at him," Stockford said.

But Gollan was not a one-man band, and one of those swings could have changed the face of the game had Phil Ngawaka not taken a diving screamer of a catch in the right outfield as a high ball came down in the swirling wind.

It was Wellington's third out of the sixth innings and put a stop near third base to runner Wayne Walker, who earlier at the top of the fourth had smashed a home run over the fence.

That came as an immediate reply to a pair of Rotorua runs at the bottom of the third.

Power hitter Shane Hunuhunu came to the plate with two runners on bases and he smashed them home with a drive which ricocheted off the tip of a stretching infielder's glove as it headed to right outfield.

That brought Hunuhunu's runners-batted-in tally to nine, the best of any batter at the tournament.

The play prompted Stockford to switch his pitching-and-catching combination from Frank Pointon and Kevin Stockford to Craig Gibson and Aaron Neemia, but the damage had already been done.

Gibson was also latched onto at the bottom of the sixth by Ngawaka, with a field high ball which dropped out of the swirling wind into space between two outfielders and brought a runner home from second for the third run.

"We had planned to hit it in the air if we could because of the swirling wind," Ngawaka said.

Former Otago veteran Ngawaka, who spent 10 years travelling to the United States to play, said the victory was great for softball in Rotorua, where he was enjoying helping the redevelopment of the game.

Coach Jimmy Natana, who was also honoured as coach of the tournament team, said that despite 8-0 and 4-1 defeats to Auckland in qualifying when they rested Gollan, he was confident that they could make and win the final.

The weather could have foiled his plans because rain forced the abandonment of other playoff games for minor places after the final three qualifying matches were completed in atrocious conditions in the morning.

Gollan said he was thankful Rotorua had given him the opportunity to prepare for the world championships in Christchurch in a month.

"I started the tournament with my focus on the world championships, but by halfway through I had made 20 great friends and was focused on doing it for Rotorua," said Gollan, 24, who will make his Black Sox debut in Christchurch.

- NZPA