Local travel softball team gets crack at international competition

Before the first pitch was thrown in a doubleheader at Lakewood Ranch Park on Tuesday, the team from the visiting dugout made its way to the third-base line and organized itself in front of the Tampa Mustangs’ home bench.

The visitors, who had traveled 20 hours to reach Florida, lined up and stomped their feet, clapped their hands and shouted in rhythm.

The haka, a traditional Maori war cry/dance, is a fixture for New Zealand national teams, popularized by New Zealand’s national rugby union team. With the New Zealand women’s U-19 national softball team visiting Manatee County for a pair of scrimmages against the Mustangs, the Florida residents had a chance to witness firsthand the New Zealanders’ iconic pregame ritual.

“I guess it’s like their greeting or something, but it’s also kind of intimidating,” said shortstop Kinsey Goelz, who recently graduated from Lakewood Ranch High School was playing with the Mustangs on Tuesday. “That was really cool and different. Not a lot of teams— no, no one does that over here.”

The Mustangs, a team mostly drawn from players from Manatee County, are getting a rare treat. The have lined up a handful of scrimmages against some of the 26 international teams that are in the region preparing for the U-19 Women’s Softball World Championship, scheduled for July 24-30 in Clearwater.

After a doubleheader against New Zealand on Tuesday, Tampa is scheduled to face the Great Britain women’s junior national team at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Lakewood Ranch. The Mustangs plan to host a postgame barbecue with the visitors.

The scrimmages serve a dual purpose for the Mustangs, who are scheduled to compete in the USA Softball 14U national championship beginning July 30. The players are gaining exposure to international level competition and athletes who are as much as four years older. They’re also gaining cultural exposure. Though time for interacting with the national teams is limited, opportunities exist for the girls to learn similarities and differences.

“We had to literally pull the teams apart,” said Kiri Shaw, an assistant coach for the New Zealand national team. “Just because the girls are so friendly and all happy to be here.”

The Mustangs showed off their hitting while sweeping the doubleheader against the team seeded fifth in the upcoming world championships. Then the two teams posed together for a postgame picture and spent another 15 minutes or so sharing Snapchat names and connecting on other social media platforms.

They eventually headed out to right field with a couple of metal bats in their hands. A few minutes later, Tampa head coach T.J. Goelz turned around and saw two of his players spinning around the bats with their faces pressed to the nubs as everyone else laughed.

“Oh boy,” Goelz said.

The games came together through some of Goelz’s connections with college coaches. The opportunity to play Tuesday’s games, for example, was mentioned by Florida head coach Tim Walton, who communicates with some of the national teams. He came to Goelz and asked if the Mustangs would be interested in giving New Zealand a tune-up.

“Absolutely,” Goelz told Walton. “This was a good way for us to get a good look at some older girls and some good pitching, and see how it goes.”

And a good way to get an experience to remember.

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Local travel softball team gets crack at international competition."