Giants look for slice of history

Giants will be looking for a slice of history in their Inter-City men's softball series semi-final match at Haitaitai Park, Avalon tomorrow.
The Masterton-based team has never progressed past the semi-final stage of this competition which features the premier teams from both Wellington and Hutt Valley and coach Tony Nixon says they are hell bent on changing that situation.
"This is our big chance to take the last step and we'll be giving it a decent shot," Nixon said.
Giants are the fourth seeds going into the semis and will therefore be playing the top seeds, either Porirua United or Miramar depending on the result of Porirua's catch-up match with Kapiti last night. Win that and Porirua would have the number one ranking.
Nixon, however, isn't worried which of the two teams Giants will play as he knows that both are formidable combinations, one no more so than the other.
But he also takes confidence from the fact that Giants have competed strongly against them in previous matches this season and are "very capable" of upsetting them with a peak performance.
"You go into these games knowing you have to play well to have any chance of getting a result, anything less won't be good enough," Nixon said. "We believe we have the ability to win, and now it's up to us to prove it."
Giants will have a full strength squad available for the semi with two of the big guns in Malcolm Namana and Justin Karaitiana back on deck after missing last weekend's action. They will add considerable strength to the batting department with both having the strike power to put the ball over the fence.
Next Monday will see the Giants squad leave for North Harbour where they will contest the national inter-club championships and Nixon says that will be an extra incentive for individuals to shine tomorrow as starting spots at the nationals are still very much up for grabs.
Giants are taking 14 players north, including two "pick ups" in catcher Jason Kelliher and utility Troy Caddy, with the draw for pool matches suggesting they will need to field their strongest possible side in most games.
On Tuesday they will play Papanui Tigers (Christchurch) and Glenfield (North Harbour), then Hutt City and Northcote (Auckland) on Wednesday and, on Thursday morning, Kapiti.
Nixon said the first objective for Giants at the nationals would be to repeat their effort of two seasons ago when they made the top eight. To manage that they will need to finish in the top two in their pool, a big ask but one within their scope.
Meanwhile, the Giants under-15 boys team are through to the semi-finals of their Hutt Valley competition. They actually qualified as the first seeds and will play fourth seeds Hutt Valley Marist tomorrow in a match starting at 10.30am.
Pitcher Kyle Morris is sure to be key figure in the Giants line-up which has suffered just the two losses all season as are catcher Sean Robinson, centre fielder Kawana Gaunt and short stop Mike McDermott.
The Giants under-18s have two home games at South Park on Sunday, starting at 11am and 1pm. Three other teams, Dodgers, Hutt Park and Totara Park, will be making the trip over the hill which means there will be action on both diamonds in those time slots.
Two Hutt Valley under-17 reps in pitcher Danny Brown and catcher Campbell Gaunt will head a Giants squad also including Tyree Broughton, Ashton Shannahan, Niko Broughton, Sean Robinson. Lucas Allen, Shannon Rimene, Jordan Waitere, Justin Fricker, Caleb Rowlands and Mitchell King.
Giants have also made the top four in the Hutt Valley President's grade for the first time in years and this weekend will see round robin matches completed there with the top two advancing to the final.