Giants crack top four to earnplay-off spot

Giants guaranteed themselves a place in the top four playoffs in the Hutt Valley premier men's softball league when they scored two big wins over Hutt Valley Marist in a double header played at South Park, Masterton on Saturday.
It was not until about the halfway mark that Giants took control of the opening game with the score standing at 1-1 at that point.
But over the latter stages there was only one team in it with Giants scoring six more runs without reply to win 7-1.
Highlight of the batting effort was the automatic home run struck by Justin "Chunky" Karaitiana while a solid effort in the field was spearheaded by pitcher Richard Clarke and catcher Curtis Ames.
Clarke always had the HVM batters struggling to pat bat to ball with any effect while Ames twice threw out runners trying to steal bases.
Also impressive was the speed around the bases of designated runner Terry Waitere
The consistency of their batting was unquestionably the major factor in Giants's crushing 12-1 win in the second of the two games.
Gordon Wilmshurst hammered an automatic home run and nine of the 12 squad members managed at least one safe hit.
Here too the performance in the field was of a consistently high standard with young short stop Ryan Shannahan a standout in that department.
Their two victories took Giants to second place on the premier league points table with only Hutt City United ahead of them.
And, what's more.they have the better batting statistics of the two sides, having scored 53 runs against HCU's 36
It is, in fact, HCU that Giants will play in the first of two games scheduled for them in the Hutt this Thursday.
They will clash at 6.15pm and then will follow a game against Dodgers, starting at 8pm.
If Giants were to win both of those games they would almost certainly take the competition lead but the closeness of the leading group is such that two losses could see them drop to fourth.
Giants are also a strong chance to make the playoffs in the Inter-City series which features the premier men's teams in Hutt Valley and Wellington.
They will play Porirua as part of that competition at Porirua next Saturday.