Auckland Tuatara baseball catcher Beau Te Wera Bishop is to play in the Black Sox trials – 12 years after his national softball team debut.
The 28-year-old was named on Monday to take part in the Wellington leg of three regional trials to be staged in late January and early February.
Bishop was first selected for the Black Sox as a 17-year-old Porirua schoolboy for a tour to Canberra in 2010.
He was signed soon after by the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball franchise and spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons in their minor leagues farm system. He also played for Adelaide in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) and joined a Milwauke Brewers minor league team in 2015.
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The Auckland Tuatara signed Bishop for their inaugural ABL season in 2018. He played through to the end of the 2019-2020 season. The Tuatara have not played since, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but have listed Bishop on their proposed 2022-23 roster.
Bishop comes from a strong softball family – his mother, Betsy, was a world women’s softball championship bronze medallist in 1986, and his father, Les, was a longtime Wellington representative.
He has been playing softball for Porirua City United, catching to Black Sox pitcher Josh Pettett.
Black Sox coach Mark Sorenson has welcomed Bishop’s availability for next weekend’s Wellington trial.
“Porirua are the form team in Wellington with Josh Pettett pitching and Te Wera behind the dish, that’s a pretty good battery,’’ Sorenson said.
“Te Wera’s technically an outstanding catcher and since his first time with us he’s matured a great deal. He calls a great game and handles pitchers really well.’’
Bishop will be joined at the Wellington trial by his younger brother, Faenza, an infielder.
The trials – involving around 80 players – are the first stage of a selection process for the 2022 World Cup tournament to be held in Auckland from November 26 to December 4.
Sorenson said the triallists had all “self-nominated’’ with the national coaches selecting only from players who met the registration deadline.
Ten of the 17 players from 2019 squad will trial, with absentees including captain Nathan Nukunuku, who has retired, veteran outfielder Wayne Laulu (back injury) and catcher Kallan Compain and infielder Josh Harbrow, who did not nominate. Pitcher Nik Hayes and catcher Zane van Lieshout are based in Australia.
Sorenson will coach teams at all three events, and assistant-coach Darryl Marino will be on the diamond in Wellington and Christchurch as part of a plan to get them up to 30 games before the World Cup. They have not coached, due to the pandemic, since the last world championships over two years ago.
The squad for the Auckland trial includes captain Cole Evans, ace pitcher Daniel Chapman and star outfielder Ben Enoka, who first played in a world series in 2009.
Sorenson was impressed with the lengths some players were going to. Wellington infielder Dante Matakatea, who is returning from Brisbane, will play in the Auckland trial after completing MIQ. Experienced Black Sox slugger Thomas Enoka can’t make the trial in his Auckland hometown so is travelling to Wellington.
Pettett, Joel Evans, the grand slam home run hitter in New Zealand’s last world championships final win in 2017, the 2019 tournament find Reilly Makea and experienced infielder Jerome Raemaki anchor the Wellington trial list, along with regular Black Sox slugger Thomas Enoka, who is travelling from Auckland.
Seasoned Canterbury infielder Tyron Bartorillo is back for the Christchurch trial, with fellow 2019 tourist Jackson Watt . A three-time world champion with Australia and New Zealand, Bartorillo was omitted from recent national training squads with Sorenson wanting to run the rule over younger players. But he was apparently one of the first players to nominate for the trials.
Mitchell Finnie (Otago) and Braeden Heslip (Southland) are among those commuting long distances to the Christchurch trial.
The Black Sox still hope to tour Australia in May, depending on trans-Tasman border rules and the New Zealand government’s Managed Isolation Quarantine (MIQ) requirements.
Performances at these trials, the National Fastpitch Championships provincial tournament, national open interclub series, the Australian tour and a further national trial will be evaluated before Sorenson names his World Cup squad.
AT A GLANCE
Black Sox national men’s softball triallists
Wellington (January 21-22, Fraser Park)
Adam Woon, Andre Hart, Caleb Taylor, Cory Timu, Dallas Clifton, Damon Creasy, Jack Rennie, Jayden Stratford, Joel Evans, Joel Harris, Josh Merritt, Joshua Pettett, Mardi McBride, Matthew Lowe, Reilly Makea, Tane Mumu, Thomas Enoka, Zachary Boyd, David Rodgers, Beau Jordon Te Wera Bishop, Zane Siolo, Faenza Bishop, Brad Carson, Dallas Amai, Jerome Raemaki.
Auckland (January 28-29, Rosedale Park)
Alfons Oveinikovas, Andrew van Stipriaan, Ben Enoka, Bradley Bennett, Brock Attewell, Brock Evans, Campbell Enoka, Cole Evans, Connor Peden, Daniel Chapman, Danté Matakatea, Dylan Tonkin, Floyd Nola, Harrison Wildbore, Hohepa Monk, Isaac Fletcher, Jerome Haretuku, Joshua Kingi, Liam Twigden, Maddix Rice, Max Earley, Pita Rona, Rhys Evans, Rueben Topia, Ryan Earley, Ryschan Thompson, Seth Gibson, Taine Slaughter, Tamihana Nau, Te Kirika Cooper-Nicola, Traye Wildbore.
Christchurch (February 4-6, Mizuno Ballpark)
Ben Watts, Braeden Heslip, Caleb Bennett, Callum Bishop, Cameron Watts, Dru de Lautour, Fletcher Due, Harrison Bruhns, Jackson Watt, Jacob Davidson, Kereihana Keepa, Kevin Papuni, Leon Lumb, Levi Beattie, Liam Potts, Matthew Dougherty, Mitchell Finnie, Reuben Elkins, Scott Tansey, Tyron Bartorillo, Antony Stuart, Jacob Neale, Callum Muir, Cortia Holmes-Hurst, Josh Lubiejewski.
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