2013 New Zealand Men's Softball National Team among nominees for nation's Favourite Sporting Moment of the Decade

The 2013 New Zealand Men’s National Softball Team has been nominated as a candidate for New Zealand’s Favourite Sporting Moment of the Decade, one of the award categories of the ISPS Handa Halberg Awards Decade Champion. The 2013 Black Sox claimed their sixth Men’s Softball World Championship in the nation’s history in front of a fully packed Rosedale Park in Auckland.

The finalists for New Zealand’s Favourite Sporting Moment of the Decade are previous winners of the Halberg award category from achievements in 2010 to 2019.

On 10 March 2013, New Zealand faced Venezuela in the final of the 13th WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship. A go-ahead, three-run homer by Black Sox captain Rhys Casley in the third frame was the key moment of the match to secure the world title for the host team, with a 4-1 victory. Jeremy Manley pitched a complete game, allowing four hits and one run, while striking out six Venezuelan batters.

The 2013 Black Sox world champions are competing for the award with the 2011 All Blacks Rugby World Cup winners, Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan’s London 2012 Olympic gold medallists, Eliza McCartney’s Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medal winner, among other top sporting moments. You can vote for the Black Sox here.

The ISPS Handa Halberg Awards Decade Champion ceremony to honour and celebrate New Zealand sporting excellence will be held on Thursday 18 February 2021 at Spark Arena in Auckland.