Sox Ink Cox

but where's the sticks?

If the old adage is true that good pitching beats good hitting then the defending Canadian champion Vancouver Grey Sox are runaway favourites to repeat as National champs.

The Sox brass dropped the bombshell today (March 1) that Frank Cox (left) has been signed as an out of area pitcher to compete for the Vancouver club in the Nationals this year in Saskatoon.

This gives the Sox the top three pitchers in Canada.

Cox is currently ranked #2 in the nation and the Sox already have #1 Korrey Gareau and #3 Nick Underhill locked up. Rounding out the staff is #10 ranked Mike Piechnik and the veteran lefty may come in handy in special situations.

Clearly the Sox have put a lot of their eggs in the pitching basket but local fans are wondering where the offense will come from. Last season the Sox struggled at times to score and ultimately needed a clutch hit by Doug Cain to win the final game of the season 1-0 and claim the national title.

This year the club will be without their regular hard hitting shortstop Kevin Shellenberg and thus far have only added local player Brian Mayson, who hasn't been a regular producer for several years.

Imports Brian Ree and Kevin Rasmussen will not be eligible to play in the Canadian Nationals as they are residents of the US, so the Sox may be hard pressed to score runs come time for the Canadian nationals.

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