Sorenson has stamp of class

Press, 17 January 1986, Page 19

Sorenson has stamp of class

At the age of only 18 there seems to be little left for . Mark Sorenson to achieve in the softball world. He is shown above on his way to first base during the second final between Hutt Valley and Auckland in the Rothmans national interprovincial championships at Porritt Park. The youthful captain led Hutt Valley to a last-gasp 6 - 5 win and retention of the Rothmans Cup. As a catcher and power batter, Sorenson already has few equals on the national

softball scene. Mature beyond his years, Sorenson seems certain to emulate his father, Dave, who captained the 1976 New Zealand world series team. The Rothmans Cup victory ended a great year for Sorenson, who had been one of the six finalists in the New Zealand “Sportsman of the Year” award for 1985.

In July Sorenson led the New Zealand under-19 boys’ side to Fargo, North Dakota, where it won the world youth series with backtio-back victories over the United States on the

final day. Sorenson, who had been injured, came back to hit the home run which gave New Zealand a 1-0 success in the first final against the Americans. ' Earlier in . the year, Sorenson was a member of the Cardinals team from Hutt Valley which won the Pan Am national inter-club title in Hamilton.

When he was still aged only 16 —“too young,” said some — Sorenson had been included as an outfielder in the New Zealand senior men’s side to contest the 1984 world series in the

United States. Such was his batting form that, when the former soccer international, Jeff Strom, injured a shoulder, Sorenson came into the “top 10” for the big games against the United States and Canada in the medal round. Sorenson batted in two runs when New Zealand came from behind to beat the United States in the preliminary final and was on the diamond again in Midland, Michigan, when the team shaded Canada to win the gold medal and the International Softball Fed-

eration trophy. At the recent national tournament, Sorenson topped the A section batting figures with the outstanding average of .484 (15 hits from 31 turns at bat) and he was also named “player of the tournament.” It was the second consecutive year that he had won the twc major individual trophies. The Hutt Valley playei has achieved so much in a short time that one provincial coach suggested jokingly that the next step foi Sorenson was becoming Prime Minister. 1 TIM DUNBAR