In a fiercely fought contest, the New Zealand team were edged by two runs in a ninth inning tie-breaker, losing 1-0 to Cuba in the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup in Auckland.
It means the Black Sox, who have never finished worse than fifth in 16 previous appearances in theWBSC Men’s Softball World Cup, miss out on the Super Round of the world championship for the top-six teams and will play in the Placement Round for the bottom six teams at Rosedale Park in Albany.
It was a bitter pill for the Black Sox who had the better of the encounter but could not strike the winning blow to take the last spot in the Super Round.
“In critical situations we never got a hit. We struck out I don’t know how many times. We got runners on base and you don’t get a lot of opportunities in big games like that,” said coach Mark Sorenson.
“Unfortunately, we could not get that guy across the line. It was quite critical because Daniel (Chapman) threw a hell of a game. It is one of the best games I have seen from a New Zealand pitcher. He was outstanding and I feel for him because it really left it all out there.
“We have a job still to do for the next few days. It will take a bit to get over this but we are back out here tomorrow.”
Earlier in New Zealand’s group, Argentina grabbed top spot after a 5-3 victory over USA to remain unbeaten, while the Americans go through in second spot with a 3-2 record.
Third spot went to Cuba after their 1-0 win over New Zealand with a 3 win, 2 loss record.
New Zealand (2-3), Czech Republic (2-3) and Philippines drop to the Placement Round from Group A.
On the other side of the draw, Canada smashed their way to a 9-2 win over Japan to complete the round play with five straight victories at the top of the group. They are joined by Australia, who cleaned up South Africa 15-0 in just three innings, to finish second with four wins.
The final spot went to Venezuela after a hard-fought 8-3 win over Denmark, leaving the dangerous Japan out of the top group after they were beaten by Canada.
Japan join Denmark and South Africa in the Placement Round.
Today the competition splits into two groups – with the top six going to the Super Round. The teams play against each of the three teams qualified from the other group, but they carry through the results accrued against the two teams they have already played.
The playoffs begin go through to Saturday with the top two teams playing off for the world title on Sunday.
