Black Sox captain Cole Evans is eager to show how much softball has changed in New Zealand over the last few years. Photo: William Booth
Black Sox captain Cole Evans wants to put New Zealand softball back on the world map in a commanding position.
New Zealand finished the last world cup in fourth which was a disappointing result for a side that had won the world title seven times.
The Black Sox have never lost a home Softball World Cup, lifting the trophy in front on home fans in 1976, 2004 and 2013.
Over the next two weeks at Rosedale Park on Auckland's North Shore the Black Sox have an opportunity to get back to the top of the world - a position Evans acknowledges won't be easy to attain.
Until last week the Black Sox had not played an international game in four years - since the 2019 world cup in Czech Republic.
Covid had prevented the Black Sox touring or hosting any international sides and limited the amount of time the national team could spend together as they battled lockdowns.
With the world's 12 best teams now in New Zealand for the world cup Evans says picking a title favourite was difficult.
"It's very balanced. I'll almost go out and say it's some of the most competitive international events in world sport there's probably nine or 10 teams out of the 12 that are legitimate contenders to win the tournament it should make for some interesting watching."
However Evans is confident the Black Sox have a playing group that is "second to none" and are in the right frame of mind despite a challenging build-up.
"Obviously our finish at the last world cup wasn't our best so I'm just really looking forward to being able to put softball back out there and hopefully the New Zealand public can see the growth that we've had in the sport over the last years because it's in quite a healthy position in New Zealand."
The Black Sox's home world cup record is not a burden for the current side.
"There's a bit of expectation, the Black Sox do have a wonderful history and a big legacy but the support we receive through New Zealand and those ex-players is massive. The softball community in New Zealand it's a very family feel and it's quite a good pressure actually it's a lot of support."
A warm-up tournament between the top six nations in Palmerston North last week didn't go New Zealand's way but Evans says it was a learning curve for the team.
"On a global scale you don't get to see too much of these other countries playing so it was good to see any new up and coming teams or players within those quality sides and it was nice to shake out some cobwebs internationally for us and get some repetitions in."
The Black Sox open their world cup campaign against Czech Republic on Saturday.
Followed by games against USA, Argentina, Philippines and Cuba over the next four days.
The play-offs start on 1 December.