GIANTS BLUE 10
HUTT VALLEY MARIST 2
Giants Blue came from behind to retain their unbeaten record in the Intercity premier two championship against a feisty Hutt Valley Marist at South Park on Saturday.
Marist took an early 2-0 lead with both runs coming in the second inning, and that was the catalyst the Blues needed to kick into gear.
Giants stalwart Chris Feary said the Blues started applying pressure by using their short game and speed.
“They just put pressure on with that short game and base running and stealing bases, and it was quite good to watch,” Feary said.
“They’ve got a lot of speed, and when they get on the bases, they can really put the pressure on.”
An automatic home run by player-coach Justin ‘Chunky’ Karaitiana, which also brought home a second runner, strong batting from Blair Thompson and an on-fire Chris Cox, who batted 1000, saw the Blues steadily accumulate runs.
Coupled with a strong defensive effort, the home side built to a comfortable victory in the end.
“Defensively, they were right on song, and Chunky’s pitching exceptionally well at the moment — it would be the best I’ve seen him throw for a while.”
GIANTS RED 18 DEMONS 7
A solid first turn at bat put Giants Red in the driving seat against Demons, which led to a convincing win in their Intercity Premier Three clash at South Park.
“We batted first and got four or five runs on the board, and that put the opposition behind the eight-ball from the beginning, and they were always playing catch up,” said Feary, who plays for the Reds.
“Otherwise, we fielded well and did what we had to do to come away with a good win.”
Demons staged a bit of a comeback in the middle innings, including hitting an automatic home, but the Reds were well in control.
“We were strong defensively, we batted well from one to nine, and we kept plugging away.”
Feary singled out one of the Reds’ younger players Riley Hansen for another strong effort, saying that he’s probably been one of the most consistent performers in the team over the first part of the season.
There wasn’t such good news for the Giants women, whose Hutt Valley premier three clash with Hutt City United was deferred.
No softball is scheduled for next weekend because of the final of the men’s world championship being played in Auckland.
– A publication error resulted in Friday’s softball preview being re-run in yesterday’s paper. The Times-Age apologises for the oversight.
