Willie Waitere … performing with the bat. PHOTO/FILE
SOFTBALL
CHRIS COGDALE
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Giants Red can lock a place in the Intercity Premier Three Section B final with a win over Tawa today.
Giants have two wins from two games, and with only two rounds to play, victory at Redwood Park, Tawa would guarantee the Masterton club a first or second-place finish and a spot in the decider.
Little is known about Tawa, who were seventh in the pre-Christmas competition with three wins and four losses – however, they didn’t play Giants Blue because their fixture was rained off.
Tawa’s form in 2022 has been erratic with a 16-4 thrashing of Dodgers White and an 11-18 loss last weekend to Totara Park Gold. That latter result would suggest that Giants Red start as warm favourites, having beaten Totara Park 15-1.
“We’re quite confident going into the game,” Giants president and team member Chris Feary said.
“We’ll have all our top guns, a full team, and everybody is on deck and healthy.”
Rustiness may be the only concern for the Reds, having not played for three weeks, after two games were washed out and having the bye last weekend.
Feary expects coach Russell Kawana to take an aggressive approach and try and pile on the runs in the early innings through the big hitters such as Matt Kawana, Terry and Willie Waitere, and Gordon Wilmshurst.
“If we win the toss, we’ll bat first, and we’ll just try and put the acid on them right from the outset of the game and try and get it over and done with in three or five innings.”
The Reds are the only Giants senior team in action today.
The Blues, in Intercity Premier Three Section A, and the women in Hutt Valley Major B, both have the bye.
The Giants Under-15s will be looking for their first win since the new year, against Wainui Tigers at 10.30am today at South Park.
