Gaunt in as Clarke departs

There was good and bad news for the Masterton-based Giants Softball Club yesterday.
The good news was the naming of talented young catcher Campbell Gaunt in the New Zealand junior team to compete at the Southern Cross Challenge tournament in Christchurch later this month.
Gaunt was always regarded as a front-runner for the national squad after performing well for them at the Friendship Series in Sydney last July and starring for the Hutt Valley side which were beaten semifinalists at the New Zealand under-19 interprovincial series earlier this year. Not only did he star in the catching role there but he also had the third-best batting stats.
The bad news was confirmation that Giants pitcher Ritchie Clarke, who has played at the top provincial level for Hutt Valley, Canterbury, Auckland and the Southern Pride, is moving to Canada, probably in May.
Clarke, 28, whose wife Nicole is Canadian, first played for Giants at premier level at the age of 16 and has developed into one of the best pitchers in the country. He is now club president for Giants and has been heavily involved in coaching the club's age-group teams as well.
Canada is a softball stronghold and Clarke said he would "very definitely" be linking up with a club there.