Giants turn up the heat

Giants slammed six home runs in just five innings in their 12-5 walloping off Hutt Valley Marist in a Hutt Valley premier division men's softball match played at South Park, Masterton on Saturday.
In a stunning batting display Mark Quinn, Richard Clarke, Gordon Wilmshurst, Corey Kinnon, Corie Karaitiana and Ryan Shannhan all put the ball over the fence.
Quinn was especially outstanding, batting in six of his team's 12 runs while Shannahan, Wilmshurst and Kinnon all batted in two runs.
Also impressive for Giants was pitcher Richard Clarke who kept the strong HVM battling line-up under wraps through most of the game.
Remarkably the second match between these two teams, which counted towards the Inter-City Series, produced an entirely different result with Hutt Valley Marist winning 8-6.
Giants coach Tony Nixon said it was simply a case of HVM wanting victory more with Giants being guilty of several fielding errors.
"We weren't hungry enough and they capitalised, that's all there was to it," Nixon said.
Mark Quinn struck another home run for Giants and Corey Kinnon had a safe hit at each turn at bat. Justin Karaitiana pitched for Giants and had a solid game despite not always getting the necessary support from his field.
Yesterday saw Giants travel to Fraser Park for two more Inter-City games against Cardinals and Kapiti and they came away with two excellent wins.
It was all even stevens with Cardinals, one of the favourites for the Inter-City title, until Wilmshurst batted in the winning run for a jubilant Giants side.
Kinnon again excelled with the bat, along with Quinn, and both Clarke and Karaitiana were in fine form on the pitching mound.
The pitching of Karaitiana was again a highlight when Giants beat Kapiti 5-2. He also struck a home run and a couple of safe hits while Quinn continued his grand form with the bat as well.
Nixon was "very pleased" with yesterday's two wins and the effort of three wins in four matches over the weekend.
"It probably should have been four out of four but we will take three and be happy with it ... at this level of competition you only need to drop your game a fraction and you get beaten," he said.
Giants will continue their Inter-City programme with matches against Cardinals and Hutt City United in the Hutt on Thursday night.