Player-coach Justin ‘Chunky’ Karaitiana is set to return to pitching duties for Giants Blue in this afternoon’s Intercity Premier Two game against Demons at South Park.
A split finger kept the former Hutt Valley representative out of the second of last weekend’s doubleheader, a 3-0 defeat to Cardinals and the first loss of the season for the Blues.
Kariatiana has reportedly recovered from the painful injury and will take his place as starting pitcher. Former Junior Black Sox Blair Thompson was a worthy replacement on Sunday and will provide useful cover for Karaitiana should the injury flare up again.
The Blues beat Demons 7-3 in their first-round meeting, and Giants stalwart Chris Feary is confident that they will bounce back to their winning ways.
The Blues are second in the standings, and Demons are third. The first pitch will be thrown at 1pm at South Park.
Feary expects a game of contrasting styles when his Giants Reds team take on Poneke-Kilbirnie [PK] Kowahi in an Intercity Premier Three encounter at Hataitai Park this afternoon.
He said PK are a young side who like to play the ‘short game’, with a lot of bunting and quick base running, whereas the Reds tend to look for the big shots.
The Reds know all about the ‘short game’ having come unstuck in falling to their second loss of the season to a youthful Tawa side last week. Feary though is confident that with the big hitters in Gordon Wilmshurst, Terry and Willy Waitere, and Matt Kawana, they have the power to come away with a win.
It won’t be easy, though; PK have suffered only one loss and have an impressive plus 32 runs differential, while the Reds have a three win, two loss, one draw record, with a runs differential of plus 23, which could mean a high scoring game is on the cards.
In the Hutt Valley Women’s Premier Three Championship, Giants are hotly favoured to get the better of WASC, a team they thrashed 17-0 in the first round.
