Black Sox stand in way of Giant killers

Giants have already made history by reaching the semi-finals of the Inter-City men's softball series, which draws the top club sides from both Wellington and Hutt Valley, but they aren't intending to stop there.
A win over Porirua at Petone tomorrow night would earn them a grand finals berth on Saturday and coach Tony Nixon sees no reason why that shouldn't happen even if the trip over the hill for the 6.30pm start means warm-up time will be limited.
"It'll basically be off the bus and onto the diamond but that's something we've learned to live with," Nixon said. "It's not ideal but there's no point worrying about it. We just have to go out there and do the business, simple as that."
Nixon respects Porirua as a team capable of dominating any opposition with bat and ball but he takes confidence from the fact Giants have already beaten them once this season.
And also through their win-loss record in clashes between the two sides over the past three to four seasons probably sitting at about even stevens as well.
"We've had our share of wins over them and vice versa, there wouldn't be a lot in it in that respect," he said. "So really it will come down to who plays best on the day, neither of us will be favourite."
Three Black Sox players are the danger men for Porirua. Tane Richardson is their first string pitcher with a wide range of deliveries in his armoury while the Makea brothers, Thomas and Fabian, can smite the ball a country mile in the batting box.
Nixon says Giants are, however, well used to coming up against players of their calibre and they won't be overawed by them in any way, shape or form.
"There are Black Sox players right through this competition but like everyone else they are only human," he said. "They can be pressurised into making mistakes too and that's where our focus will be. We don't intend to let them get on top of us, that's for sure At this level you fight fire with fire otherwise you are a goner."
Nixon is confident his batters will handle anything Richardson throws at them, a confidence borne from stats which show that only twice in about 50 matches this season Giants have failed to score at least one run, and often their score has run into double figures.
"The depth in batting has to be one of our main strengths and very few sides have managed to contain us," he said. "If we get on a roll we can be unstoppable and hopefully that'll be the case tomorrow night."
Having Joseph O'Leary on deck should be a boost to the Giants's batting performance. He resides in Hawke's Bay and often misses Thursday night games because of work commitments but happily he will be making the trip for a match of this importance.
Just who will have the pitching duties for Giants tomorrow night won't be decided until nearer match time with Ritchie Clarke, Justin Karaitiana and Mark Quinn all in fine form.
Whoever gets the nod though will need strong support from his fielders to keep the Porirua batters in check and coach Nixon believes Giants's effort in this department could actually decide their fate. "One mistake can be all it takes to bring two or three runners home and that's what we have to avoid," he said. "In games like this fielding is huge, you have to be right on the ball there."