Black Sox hitters can tame flamethrower - by Tony Smith

February 23, 2013

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ORIGINAL STORY by Tony Smith

World softball's best slugger, Donny Hale, is sure the  Black Sox batters won't be psyched out by Australia's pitching ace at  the upcoming world softball championship in Auckland. 

    Australian flame-thrower Adam Folkard hurled a no-hitter to beat the  Kiwis 5-0 in the 2009 world championship final in Canada and scuttled  their dream of a fourth successive title. 

    The right-hander had the wood on Hale, Jarrad Martin, Brad Rona,  Thomas Makea, Travis Wilson and Patrick Shannon - some of the greatest  batters in the world. Not once, but twice, the Kiwis had collectively  failed to score off the Canberra pitcher after a 7-0 thrashing in the  first round of the playoffs. 

    Folkard has been hailed as the best pitcher of the 21st century, a  throwback to past greats like Kiwis Kevin Herlihy and Michael White, the  United States' Ty Stofflet and Canada's Darren Zack. 

    But Hale, who's won batting titles in three countries, knows from  first-hand experience that Folkard can be vulnerable. He, Rona and Black  Sox outfielder Ben Enoka helped their Canadian club team Jarvis Ontario  Travelers beat Folkard's Hill United Chiefs in the International  Softball Congress (ISC) tournament final in Michigan last September. 

    Hale hammered a home run and a single off Folkard and Rona had three  hits from four at-bats as Jarvis became the first team in 55 years to  win three back-to-back titles at the ISC event, world softball's most  prestigious club tournament. 

    Asked if the Black Sox now believed they could beat Folkard in a big  final, Hale said: "Definitely. Obviously we had some good at-bats  against him. We [Jarvis] touched up for 13 runs in one game and eight in  another. It gives you a big boost going into these world championships  knowing that we didn't fear him as we did in '09. 

    "He's four years older and he's not throwing as hard, although he  might get sharper [by the time the world championship starts]." 

    But Hale insists the Black Sox aren't solely obsessed with Australia  at the world championship, beginning at Albany's Rosedale Park on March  1. 

    "Japan are right up there along with Canada, and Argentina is now  producing some very good pitchers." 

    The championship will be Hale's fourth since he won the first of two gold medals at East London, South Africa, in 2000. 

    The 37-year-old Aucklander first played for the Black Sox in 1994 as a  teenage pitcher. He reckons a four-year stint in Japan has "definitely  extended" his international career. 

    Hale plays for the Osaka Momojiro club in Japan's lucrative Top  League. He's one of only four foreign players. Ex-Black Sox pitcher  Thomas Cameron played for his club this year while Australian pitcher  Adam Kirkpatrick pitched to another former Black Sox, Nathan Nukunuku,  on an opposition team. 

    "It's a pretty good standard," Hale said. 

    "It's their culture that  anything they do, they do well. They train hard, as you can see from a  lot of their sports." 

    Hale reckons it's been a "two-way learning" process. He's Momojiro's  technical adviser and has helped them - "when the language barrier  doesn't get in the way" - tactically while "the training regime has  really helped my game". 

    Recognised more as a designated player or DP, a spot reserved for a  slugger who rarely fields, Hale plays in the outfield for Osaka and said  he was capable of playing there again for the Black Sox. 

    He won a Japanese championship in 2009 which helped "soften the blow"  of losing the world series to the Australians. One season he also took  out "the triple crown", winning the league awards for top batter, most  RBIs (runs batted in) and home runs. 

    Hale shattered a 14-year-old North American record last year for the  most RBIs (17) at an ISC tournament. He also tied the home runs record  with six, to share the pedestal with Black Sox buddies Martin and  Shannon, and took home the MVP award after 11 hits from 19 at-bats for a  .579 average. 

    No wonder pitchers break out in a sweat and outfielders retreat to the perimeter fence when Hale enters the batter's box. 

    He said he was a smarter hitter now than when the Black Sox won a  third consecutive world title in Christchurch in 2004 with a batting  lineup regarded as the greatest seen in world softball. 

    "I believe I'm definitely mentally better now, that's probably the  biggest thing. As I've said to a lot of younger players, I've had a huge  number of at-bats and been through every situation, as opposed to the  younger guys coming through now." 

    Playing at home brings its own pressures and Hale said he "will still  be nervous" under the first high ball in the outfield, "it doesn't  matter how long you've been playing". 

    But he fondly remembers the highs of winning a world title before a  home crowd in 2004. It's an experience he's anxious to repeat nine years  on.