Giants are warmly favoured to go two from two in tomorrow’s Intercity Softball Premier Two [P2] and Three [P3] finals.
Both teams, Giants Blue in P2 and Giants Red in P3 topped the standings in their respective championships; however, only the Blues will get to play at their home venue of South Park after an error by Intercity Softball scheduled the P3 final for Paremata–Plimmerton’s home ground Ngatitoa Domain.
The Blues will take a step into the unknown against Hutt Valley Marist, who defaulted their round-robin clash, and Giants spokesman Chris Feary predicts a pretty competitive game.
Although pitcher and player-coach Justin ‘Chunky’ Karaitiana will be key in restricting Marist’s big hitters, Feary believes the Blues have the all-around depth to win their second straight title.
“They have a lot of good contact hitters, their fielding is sharp, and if they turn up with the right mindset – like they have every other weekend – they should come away with a win, but I’m picking it’s going to be tight,” Feary said.
The first pitch will thrown at 1pm tomorrow. Feary, who plays for the Reds, expects a pretty fired-up side to hit the diamond against Paremata-Plimmerton after being wrongly denied a home final.
“Our team is angry, so there’s going to be some angry ball played in our game,” he said.
The Reds will be back to full strength, with the return of Gordon Wilmshurst adding more depth to an already powerful batting lineup.
The Reds won their previous encounter 11-5 and a similar scoreline is likely.
The Giants women will wrap up the first part of the Hutt Valley Premier Three Championship with a tough encounter against Stokes Valley Beeze at Whakatiki Street, Upper Hutt.
