Take away the New Zealand national anthem, the indecipherable Kiwi softball chatter, and the conspicuously large 500-strong crowd, and it could have been any other night at the ballpark in Alvinston.
The Alvinston Indians battled to a tough 5-1 loss, in a game where the better team won, but not by much.
But instead of battling their usual St. Thomas and District Men’s Fastball League foes, the Indians were playing one of the top fastball teams in the world.
The New Zealand Black Sox came to Alvinston Monday night, the first game of a six-stop southwestern Ontario tour gearing up for the 2012 Legends Fastball Tournament this weekend in Kitchener.
The Indians struggled at times to keep up with the stellar Black Sox pitching, but held their own and rarely looked outmatched.
“This is their country’s best,” Indians coach Paul McCart said after the game. “We were in the game the entire game.”
Alvinston knocked five hits on the night, but committed three costly errors. The scrappy Black Sox used their good baserunning to take advantage of every mistake.
New Zealand also showed some power, including a Thomas Makea opposite-field homer which started off a three-run second inning - one of two Black Sox blasts on the night.
Alvinston’s offence sputtered most of the game. But their lone run came in exciting fashion on Alix Chisolm pinch-hit, inside the park home run. Chisolm drove one down the third base line which took a few favourable hops on its way to the left field corner. His Indians teammates erupted as Chisolm chugged across home plate.
“It got pretty competitive, and that’s the way it should be,” McCart said.
The Black Sox have toured North America and Australia leading up to next year’s ISF Men’s World Softball Championships. About 90% of the team that visited Alvinston is expected to make the world championship roster.
The tour has served to scout other countries’ talent, and help showcase the sport, said Black Sox pitching coach Chubb Tangaroa.
“It’s important to grow the sport,” said Tangaroa , who spent 15 years playing in North America in the International Softball Congress, including a stop in Saskatoon.
Small communities like Alvinston are the roots of the sport, he added.
“We all know it starts from here,” he said. “These younger ones here could be future Canadian softball players.”
The Black Sox also took on a team of St. Thomas and District league all-stars in the second game of their Monday night doubleheader. The Black Sox won that contest 8-1.
