Softball’s “Mr Cool” back on course for fifth world series

Press, 7 March 1984, Page 30

Softball’s “Mr Cool” back on course for fifth world series

By

TIM DUNBAR

Dennis Cheyne, the “Mr Cool” of New Zealand softball, takes disappointment well

Cheyne has been a members of New Zealand softball sides since 1968 and the captain since 1981, but he was not included in the national training squad of 28 named in January for the forthcoming world series in the United States. That label was attached to Cheyne years ago because of his demeanour in the batter's box with runners on base. But over the ChristmasNew Year break Cheyne’s form with the bat for Wellington in the Rothmans national inter-provincial championships at Hastings was nothing short of disastrous.

In the whole tournament Cheyne managed only about two safe hits off the opposing pitchers. He says now that he had been batting .400 - a very healthy average — before Christmas and might have been “trying too hard” at the nationals.

Whatever the reason for his batting failure Cheyne was dropped from the national squad and his familiar tall, lean figure was missing from the four-test series against the visiting Canadian-American All Stars. The final New Zealand squad for the world series in July will consist of only 17 players and less determined men than Cheyne might have given up on that trip after his initial setback.

In the last two months, though, the 37-year-old Wellington outfielder has been putting in even more work into hh fitness training, especially on the road. Last week the Miramar team arrived in Christ-

church for the Pan Am club nationals with Cheyne, its captain, eager to convince the New Zealand selectors that he was still a formidable batter. “It was my last shot,” he said. Miramar failed to retain the Pan Am Trophy, but otherwise the tournament could hardly have gone better for Cheyne. He won both major tournament awards — top batter and most valuable player. Cheyne was back doing what he does best — batting in runs, eight of them, in fact — and he picked up 10 safe hits in the process for an average of .556.

“I felt a lot more confident this week,” Cheyne said. “I was relying on experience, I think.” That experience is something that the New Zealand coach, Mr Mike Walsh, and his co-selectors, Messrs John Leeney and Graham Hilton, will not be able to throw away lightly when they name the final world series squad on Monday. Cheyne has been to every previous world series apart from the first one in Mexico City in 1966. He was at Oklahoma City in 1968, Manila in 1972, Lower Hutt in 1976, and Tacoma, Washington, in 1980. If Cheyne regains his place, one of his teammates will be Kevin Herlihy, another survivor of that 1968 world series team. Indeed, there is speculation that John Lowes (also in the 1968 team) might be recalled as the designated hitter in Midland, Michigan. New Zealand has never won a men’s world series title outright though, in a

controversial decision, it shared championship honours with the United States and Canada in the rainedout series at Lower Hutt in 1976. “I think we can win it this year with the pitching and batting we’ve got,” said Cheyne.

The Pan Am tournament made it clear who the three pitchers will be — Herlihy, Michael White, and Steve Jackson. It is not so obvious who

will get the jobs on the catching staff, but the maturity, batting power, and catching skills of Hutt Valley’s Mark Sorenson should demolish the argument that, at 16, he would be too young to go away. The Canterbury women’s pitcher, Cheryl Kemp, first picked for New Zealand at the same age, would no doubt be one of Sorenson’s supporters. Sorenson, whose father and coach, Dave, represented New Zealand at four world series (1966, 1968, 1972, and 1976) should have Carl Gould and lan Stringer as his fellow catchers in Michigan. Graham Kenny, who used to catch for Herlihy and now does so for White, is also well in the running. One of the Canterbury hopefuls, Jimmy Hall, performed below par with the bat at the Pan Am, though an automatic home run against Dodgers (Otago) was a bright spot. Auckland’s Brett McKenzie will be one of the players pushing Hall hard for one of the short-stop jobs. John Joyce, the New Zealand captain for the test series against the CanAms, is certain to be the No. 1 choice.

Hall, aged 21, will be

hoping that the selectors remember his performance for Canterbury at the nationals when he won the Worth Batting Trophy. Another Bumside and Canterbury player, Ray Marsh, picked up a safe hit off most of the top pitchers at the Pan Am tournament and must still be a strong contender for one of the positions in the outfield. The fact that he is a left-hander might help, though Cheyne’s mighty form with the bat makes the competition tougher.

The world series team named on Monday might be something like this: Pitchers:' Kevin Herlihy (Auckland), Michael White (Wellington), Steve Jackson (Auckland). Catchers: lan Stringer (Auckland), Carl Gould (Auckland), Mark Sorenson (Hutt Valley). Infielders: Murray McLean (Counties), Cliff Joseph (Hutt Valley), John Joyce (Wellington), Darryl Stratford (Nelson), Wayne Nichols (Wellington), Brett McKenzie (Auckland) or Jimmy Hall (Canterbury). Outfielders: Jimmy Cotter (Hutt Valley), Jeff Strom (Wellington), Michael Nichols (Wellington), Dennis Cheyne (Wellington, captain), Ray Marsh (Canterbury).