Giants target top qualifying ranking

Giants will qualify in the top spot for the semi-finals of the Inter-City men's softball series if they beat Cardinals at Fraser Park, Petone tomorrow.
Which would be a remarkable achievement when you consider Giants has never even made the semis before.
Coach Tony Nixon is anticipating a similar clash tomorrow to that which occurred the last time Giants and Cardinals met. Giants won that one but it took until the bottom of the seventh and final innings before they grabbed a slender 5-4 advantage.
"We know we can beat them but we also know that any mistakes and they will capitalise," Nixon said. "It's one of those games where you can't predict with any certainty what will happen, except that it will be close, very close".
Nixon sees their batting depth as being Cardinals's main asset tomorrow. Led by Black Sox David Butler and Jerol Lajpold they have several players capable of putting the ball over the fence and Nixon is well aware that Giants's performance in the field will need to be of a consistently high standard to combat them.
"You let a team like them get on a roll with the bat and they'll crucify you," he said.
Just who will pitch for Giants was to be decided after last night's training session with the return of Ritchie Clarke from injury giving Nixon three options there, the other two being Justin Karaitiana and Mark Quinn, both of whom have been in fine form recently.
Giants will also welcome back the big-hitting Corie Karaitiana, who was unavailable last weekend, but they will again be without ace short stop Ryan Shannahan, whose absence will see the versatile Terry Waitere in that crucial role. It's a post Waitere has filled with credit in the past and Nixon, for one, has no doubts he will do a decent job again. "Pressure doesn't faze Terry, he just does what has to be done without any fuss or bother", he said..