Terry Waitere hit Giants automatic home run. PHOTO/FILE
SOFTBALL
CHRIS COGDALE
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Giants have fallen to their second consecutive loss in the Intercity Premier Two Championship, beaten 4-3 by Demons after an extra inning at Fraser Park, Lower Hutt, on Saturday.
Demons took a 3-0 lead after picking up singles in three early innings, while Giants failed to make the most of their opportunities when they had runners on base.
“We didn’t take our chances, and we had plenty of chances to win it, but it was that sort of game, it was tight, and it could have gone either way,” Giants coach Russell Kawana said.
“We had a couple of runners on bases and we never scored them. We didn’t bat well when we had the runners on base.”
Giants finally did get on the scoreboard in the sixth inning, when a Terry Waitere automatic home run also brought home two runners.
With the scores locked at 3-3 after the regulation seven innings, the game went to a tiebreaker with each team starting with a runner on second base.
Giants failed to score in their turn at bat, only for Demon’s first batter to hit a safe hit to centre-field and bring the runner home for the winning run.
Kawana said there were some promising signs despite the loss against the team who were relegated from the premier reserve grade.
In the Hutt Valley Major B Women’s competition, the top of the table grudge match between Giants Blue and Stokes Valley, at South Park, ended in an 8-8 draw, at the end of the regulation 90 minutes of play.
It was the first time the two teams had met since an acrimonious final in March 2019.
Giants Red were thrashed 24-1 by Wainui in the other women’s match.
The Giants age group teams finished the year on a high with wins over Wainui.
The under-15s won 6-5, and the under-13s won 7-6.
