Giant killers have new target in sight

Giants will be relying on their batting depth to provide two wins over the powerful Hutt City United line-up in premier league men's softball matches to be played at South Park in Masterton tomorrow.
The first of the games counts towards the Hutt Valley competition and will get under way at 1pm while the second, starting at 3pm, will count towards the Inter-City series.
Giants have won two from two in the Hutt Valley competition and are close to the pace in the Inter-City series as well.
Hutt City United, on the other hand, have recorded one win and two losses in the Hutt Valley competition but have won all three of their Inter-City games.
While brimming with confidence after their efforts of last weekend which saw them crush Cardinals 16-2 and Hutt Valley Marist 7-0 Giants management are well aware Hutt City United will be a tougher assignment - much tougher in fact.
In the strongly-built Jeremy Manley they have a pitcher who has benefitted immensely from playing in the United States in the off-season and they also have a number of players who are part of Hutt Valley's top provincial line-up
"They (Hutt City United) don't have many weaknesses and we know it will take a big performance to beat them once, let alone twice," Giants assistant coach Russell Thompson said "We can do it but we can't afford to take anything for granted."
Having scored a massive 62 runs in their last six games - all of which have been won - Giants have taken batting to a level not reached before in their history and Thompson is optimistic that not even the pitching skills of Manley will stop them dominating in that department.
"The good thing for us is we are not relying on just one or two batters to come to the party, just about everybody in the squad have been putting bat to ball with real effect," Thompson said.
"This fellow (Manley) is top class but we won't be imtimidated ?.rather we'll be looking to put the heat on him."
Spearheading the Giants batting effort will be the Karaitiana brothers, Corie and Justin, both of whom have an uncanny ability to put the ball over the fence. Indeed Corie Karaitiana managed that in his first three turns at bat against Cardinals, a mind boggling achievement by any standards.
Fielding was a bugbear for Giants earlier in the season but so solid was their performance in that area last weekend that Russell Thompson suggests the gremlins are now a thing of the past.
"We have worked hard at training on our fielding and we're probably as sharp there now as we have ever been," he said. "We pulled off some very nice plays last Saturday and that does the confidence the world of good."
Also pleasing seven days ago was the consistent pitching of Richard Clarke and Blair Thompson and with Justin Karaitiana and coach Tony Nixon, also capable of making a big impact there Giants should have few worries in that aspect of the game.
Russell Thompson is hopeful of a big crowd of supporters turning up at South Park to lend Giants vocal encouragement.
"It would be nice to think we could make South Park a fortress for visiting teams," he said.
"And with our support base growing all the time there's no reason why that can't happen."
The Giants Vets will also be playing at South Park tomorrow, their President's grade game against Hutt City United getting underway at 1pm, while the Giants premier two team meets Lonely Goat at Maidstone Park..