25 Jul 2009

Black Sox get a workout from Japan

5:07 am on 25 July 2009

The New Zealand men's softballers have had a tough workout from Japan in their last pool match at the world championships at Saskatoon in Canada before winning.

The Black Sox led 2-0 after the first inning when Brad Rona safe hit to score two runners.

And they led 5-1 after the second, looking set for another big win.

But Japan pitched and hit well to take the defending champions to seven innings for the first time at the tournament.

The playoffs start on Saturday.