BSX International Records
ISF & WBSC Men's World Championships
| Year | Venue | Winners | NZ Standing |
| 2022 | New Zealand | Australia | 8th |
| 2019 | Czech Republic | Argentina | 4th |
| 2017 | Canada | New Zealand | 1st |
| 2015 | Canada | Canada | 2nd |
| 2013 | New Zealand | New Zealand | 1st |
| 2009 | Canada | Australia | 2nd |
| 2004 | New Zealand | New Zealand | 1st |
| 2000 | South Africa | New Zealand | 1st |
| 1996 | USA | New Zealand | 1st |
| 1992 | Philippines | Canada | 2nd |
| 1988 | Canada | USA | 2nd |
| 1984 | New Zealand | New Zealand | 1st |
| 1980 | USA | USA | 4th |
| 1976 | New Zealand | NZ, Canada, USA | 1st equal (rained out) |
| 1972 | Philippines | Canada | 3rd |
| 1968 | USA | USA | 5th |
| 1966 | Mexico | USA | 3rd |
Manila, Philippines
Year 1992
Participating Countries (17): Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Canada, Chinese Taipei, CNMI-Saipan, Czechoslovakia, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Guinea, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, USA
Finals: Canada 5, New Zealand 3
Gold Medal: Canada
Silver Medal: New Zealand
Bronze Medal: United States
Canada Reasserts Its Position As World's Top Men's Team
Canada reasserted its position as the men's number one fast pitch team in the world with an impressive handling of the competition at the ISF Men's World Championship March 20-28 in Manila, Philippines.After winning the gold medal in the Pan American Games last August, Canada claimed the world title in Manila with a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over New Zealand in the gold medal finals.
While defending champions USA was overpowering its opponents, the real drama was actually unfolding in the other tournament bracket, which featured international powerhouse teams from Canada and New Zealand.
Canada hammered its opponents and posted five shutouts and two one-run games. Canada survived a game three scare from Australia, 5-4, and coasted to a perfect preliminary round record, outscoring its opponents 72-6.
The USA had similar preliminary round statistics, 8-0, with 76 combined runs - against two by its opponents - but found themselves outgunned against Canada, 7-2, in the semi-finals and settled for the bronze after losing to New Zealand 4-1.
The tournament is being judged as a major international softball success. A record 18-team field participated, including Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Chinese Taipei, Czechoslovakia, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Saipan and Singapore, in addition to the three medal winners.
The tournament was opened by Philippine President Corazon Aquino, who tossed the ceremonial first pitch before a crowd of more than 25,000. Crowds of 15,000 per day were common during the events.The event garnered daily top story coverage on the sports page of the Philippine Sun and residents filled the streets in carnival fashion to welcome visiting athletes.
"We are very pleased with the development of international competitions such as the ISF Men's World Championship. The increasing size of the field of teams and the growing international spectator interest demonstrates that the sport of softball is on the rise internationally. We only expect this interest to continue to grow as the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta grow closer," said Don Porter, President of the International Softball Federation.
Midland, Michigan (USA)
Year 1996
Participating Countries (22): Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Botswana, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mariana Islands, Mexico, Netherlands, New Guinea, New Zealand, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa, USA, Venezuela
Final: New Zealand 4, Canada 0
Gold Medal: New Zealand
Silver Medal: Canada
Bronze Medal: Japan
New Zealand defeats Canada for ISF men's world crown
New Zealand pitching ace Michael White knew he had his work cut out for him against a powerful Canadian batting order.
White was up to the challenge, retiring 13 batters on strikes and not allowing a runner on base to lead New Zealand to a 4-0 win over Canada to claim the gold medal at the 1996 ISF Men's World Championship.
White understood fully what lay ahead of him, especially after losing to Canada at the 1992 ISF World Championships. "I came in in relief at the 1992 final and gave up a three-run homer to Jody Hennigar in the bottom of the seventh to give the title to the Canadians. I ended up the loser then. I'm glad the 1996 championship had a different ending," White said.
In the title game, pitching took center stage with two of the sport's top performers in White and Darren Zack (Canada) squaring off in a shootout for the gold.
Zack looked impressive early, recording three fly-outs and a ground out before settling down and retiring nine of the next eleven batters on strikes. White also started strong with seven strikeouts in the first four innings. New Zealand was the first to punch a hole in their opponent's defense when Taifau Matai started the fifth with a triple. Dean Taikato followed, punching a ball past a drawn-in shortstop Chris Jones, scoring Matai.
New Zealand scored again in the sixth on a two-run homer by Paul Walford and once again in the seventh to insure the 4-0 win and New Zealand's claim to the number one spot in men's fast pitch softball.
White jammed the big, left-handed Canadian batters inside and allowed only four lazy grounders that first baseman Jarrad Martin easily handled unassisted.
"Jarrad took away three hits himself," White said. "Canada's got great power-hitters. My object was to keep the ball down, and on the ground." Despite a solid offensive and defensive performance, the USA succumbed to stronger pitching, including a 4-2 loss to Japan, who took the bronze. It was the USA's worst finish ever in ISF World Championship play and the only time the program has not produced a medal.
"We worried coming in that our pitching might not be up to the level of Canada and New Zealand. We felt if we could hold the teams down and just outscore them with our offense, we still might have a legitimate shot," said USA coach Tom Wagner.
But, in the end it was Japan that held down the USA hitters, allowing only five hits and snuffing each threat with sparkling defensive play.
"This is the biggest win in Japan's history. Our goal was to become one of the Big Three and we have achieved it," said Japan coach Hidetomi Ikawa.
East London, South Africa
Year 2000
Participating Countries (16): Australia, Botswana, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Japan, Lesotho, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, USA, Venezuela
Final: New Zealand 2, Japan 1
Gold Medal: New Zealand
Silver Medal: Japan
Bronze Medal: USA
New Zealand Retain World Softball Title
An exemplary display of power-pitching from Marty Grant of New Zealand led the defending world champions to a hard-earned 2-1 victory over Japan in the final of the 10th World Men's Softball championship at the Phillip Kahts Stadium, East London, South Africa. The final day of the championship began with a playoff between New Zealand and the United States to earn the right to face Japan in the final. In the group stages earlier in the week, New Zealand had inflicted a 10-0 defeat on the USA, so the Kiwis were quietly confident of making it through to the final. In the final, New Zealand pitcher Marty Grant was the hero, striking out 17 of 25 batters, and achieving complete shutouts in three frames. Despite this control, Japan battled bravely and was still in with a chance with the score locked at 1-1 at the end of the fourth inning. Both sides had chances in the fifth and sixth innings to wrest some control of the game, but neither was able to capitalize on promising situations.
Japan, New Zealand, and USA Set for Finals
The penultimate day of the X Men's softball world championships was packed with drama and tension as the eight teams that had qualified from the group stages battled each other to make it through to the final day. A complicated knockout system gave everyone the chance to be one of three teams to progress through to the Finals on July 15. The day got off to a flying start with an eagerly awaited clash between defending champion New Zealand, and the Japanese, who had been in tremendous form in finishing second in Group B. Japan upset the form book and sneaked a tight 1-0 win over the reigning world champions, to inflict on them their first defeat of the championships so far. The United States and Venezuela were next up, with the Americans coming out on top, 6-2. The Czech Republic also had a good start to the day with a close 4-3 triumph over the Dominican Republic in the third match of the day. South Africa took to the field in front of a packed crowd to play Canada. The match finished with Canada the victors by 7-0. The afternoon session began with New Zealand returning to its winning ways, and ending the Czech Republic's presence in the championships, with a close 1-0 win. Venezuela was next to bow out, suffering a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Canada. Japan secured their place in the final day's action with a 2-0 win over the USA. New Zealand scraped into the final day with a narrow 3-2 win over the Canadians.
In Other Action
South Africa advanced to the playoff stages of the Men's World Championship following a thrilling one-run win over Mexico in an incident-packed match. Canada and Japan opened proceedings on day seven of the East London tournament. The Japanese sneaked home a 1-0 win in a tight encounter, and were left to await the outcome of the highly anticipated New Zealand/USA clash later in the day to confirm their playoff opponents. In Group A the Philippines overcame Lesotho 5-0, while in Group B Australia's stark decline continued as they suffered a 10-1 thrashing at the hands of Venezuela. The Dominican Republic finished the group stages on a high, beating Chinese Taipei 4-2, and moving into the playoffs courtesy of fourth place, also in Group B. The Czech Republic and Denmark opened the afternoon session, and the Czechs booked their place in the knockout rounds with a 3-0 win to take third place in Group B. The Netherlands saw off the challenge of Chinese Taipei 6-5 to record their first win of the week, though the result only affected minor placings in Group B.
by Rob Burgess
Christchurch, New Zealand
Year 2004
Final: New Zealand 9, Canada 5
Gold Medal: New Zealand
Silver Medal: Canada
Bronze Medal:
New Zealand's Black Sox have achieved an historic three-peat at the ISF XI Men's World Championship in Christchurch.
The Black Sox beat Canada, 9-5, to win their third consecutive title, after wins in Michigan (USA) in 1996 and East London (South Africa) in 2000.
It was a fitting farewell for several veteran players who will be retiring, including Mark Sorenson, Marty Grant, Jim Wana, and Jarrad Martin.
Earlier in the day, Canada had sealed their place in the final with a one-sided 7-0 win over Australia. Despite that loss it was a great day for Australia, claiming their first medal at an ISF Men's World Championship in taking the bronze.
Canada made the better start to the final, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. New Zealand's starting pitcher, Michael Gaiger, had given up two hits and a walk at that point, and after giving up a walk to the first batter in the top of the second, he was replaced by Jimmy Wana, who'd pitched both the shutout against the United States and the previous night's win against Canada.
The Black Sox had scored one run in the bottom of the first inning and then tied the game up in the bottom of the second when Patrick Shannon hit a two-run homer after Donny Hale had been walked.
That forced a Canadian pitching change with starter Gerard Muizelaar pulled and Nick Underhill coming in. But the Black Sox bats continued to blaze and they scored three more runs in the bottom of the third. Stacey McLean hit safely, Jarred Martin joined him on base on a high hopper, and Mark Sorenson stepped up with a huge home run over both fences at Smokefree Ballpark. It was a significant moment that signaled the end of a great career. Sorenson has played at six world championships, winning gold four times and silver twice.
Canada pulled one run back in the top of the fifth to make it 6-4 when Rob Grey batted in Jody Eidt who'd been walked. But the Black Sox took it out to a four- run margin again in the bottom of the fifth when Sorenson hit safely again and scored on an error, and Thomas Makea hit safely and scored on a wild pitch. That forced another pitching change, with Dean Holoien – coming back from a one-game suspension – coming into the game.
But, in the bottom of the sixth, Dion Nukunuku put the icing on the cake with a home run over the centerfield fence. After that the Black Sox were always in control and Canada's late run in the top of the seventh was a mere consolation.
Sorenson went 3-for-4 while Nukunuku went 2-for-4 including a home run, and Patrick Shannon went 2-for-4 including a home run.
For Canada, Ron Grey had three hits in four at-bats while Holoein had two hits in three plate appearances.
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by: Andrea Blackshaw
