Giants win in three innings

Softball

Defending champions Giants blitzed Stokes Valley Cowboys 27-0 in their Hutt Valley Presidents grade men's softball match at South Park last Saturday but the massive scoreline is being kept in perspective.

Club president Allan Clarke labelled the game as "pretty much a non-event" with the Stokes Valley side offering very little opposition; so little, in fact, that it was all over in just three innings.

"They didn't fire a shot," Clarke said. "Quite frankly, you couldn't read anything into it, it was all too easy."

The win did, however, maintain Giants' unbeaten record in 2012 and they will go into this weekend's away match against Totara Park as warm favourites, although Clarke is quick to emphasise the opposition is sure to be sterner on this occasion.

"We've actually had some mixed results against Totara Park in the past, so we won't be taking anything for granted," he said.

The Giants premier two and three side suffered their first defeat of the season last Saturday when they lost 17-9 to Demons.

Giants were without first string pitcher Kyle Morris and his absence robbed them of firepower in that crucial area.

Two female members of the Giants under-15 team, Mikayla Julian and Ashley Edmonds, stood out when they kicked off their 2013 Hutt Valley campaign with a 14-2 win over Te Aroha at South Park.

And also starting promisingly were the Giants under-13s who scored a 20-1 win over Te Aroha in the Hutt. Nicholas O'Hara and McGregor Harper were the spearheads of their victory.