Giant Clarke named pitcher of tournament

Giants pitcher Ritchie Clarke was in outstanding form at the Vic Guth men's softball tournament played in Auckland last weekend.
So much so he was named pitcher of the tournament, an achievement made more notable by the fact that no fewer than four Black Sox pitchers, Jeremy Manley, Heine Shannon, Karl Gollan and Marty Grant, took part in the same event.
And as they are all in the process of preparing for next month's Pacific Series in Apia, Samoa their final international competition before the world championship in Canada in July they were holding nothing back.
It wasn't as if Clarke had the luxury of playing for one of the serious contenders for the overall title either.
He was an "import" for Eden Roskill, a team which is ranked sixth on the Auckland club scene and whose mid-table finish in the Vic Guth, which is one of the most prestigious club tourneys in the country, was way above expectations.
One of their three victories was over the always powerful Poneke-Kilbirnie side.
Typically, Clarke was more inclined to deflect praise onto his team-mates when asked yesterday to reflect on his performance.
"I was happy with how I went but really a pitcher is only as good as the support around him," he said "And sometimes you can get too carried away with stats, they don't always tell the whole story."
This weekend will see Clarke continue his association with Southern Pride in the national league when the second round of the round-robin series is played in Christchurch.
Southern Pride currently sit fourth on the points table behind Wellington, Auckland and Canterbury so are still in with a good chance of making the top three playoffs.
Facing a more difficult task are a Hutt Valley side which includes another Giants player in Blair Thompson.
They are at the bottom of the points table and would probably need win all five of their games over the next two days to keep themselves in the playoffs frame.
The Giants premier men's team is not involved in inter-club action this weekend because because of the clash with the national league.