‘Chunky’ Karaitiana pitched a flawless game for Giants then swapped sides for a friendly game. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
SOFTBALL
CHRIS COGDALE
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Giants only needed three innings to wrap up another victory in the Intercity Premier Three Championship.
The competition leaders thrashed Hutt City United [HCU] 16-0 at South Park on Saturday and extended their unbeaten run to six games.
Nearest rivals Paremata-Plimmerton also lost to Kapiti 4-1, giving Giants a four-point lead.
Giants president and team member Chris Feary said the game was very similar to their previous victories.
“We fielded first, and they were three up and three down, and we just got in there and did the damage with the bat, and accumulated runs,” he said.
“Then in the third inning, we scored six or seven runs to put the game to bed.”
Justin ‘Chunky’ Karaitiana put one over the fence to score the only automatic home run of the game.
Feary said the game was played in good spirits, and at its completion, the teams swapped pitchers and played another three innings.
“There’s no point them coming all this way and getting dealt to like that, so we had their pitcher, and ‘Chunky’ pitched for them, and we had a bit of fun.”
Feary understands that Giants will play Paremata-Plimmerton in a catch-up game on Saturday in what will be the final round before Christmas.
Giants Blue came from behind to retain their lead and unbeaten record in the Hutt Valley Major B Championship, with a 16-13 victory over Wainui at Fraser Park.
A disastrous second inning in the field, with a mixture of big hits, walks, and poor fielding, had Wainui cross for eight home runs.
Giants Blue slowly clawed their way back into the game with an improved effort in the field and some power hitting.
Tammy Waitere smashed a hat-trick of home runs, while Maia Cullen also hit a home run. Those and a combination of some good base running had Giants pull back the deficit and take the lead in the fifth inning.
Keely Riwai-Couch, Ashlee Edmonds, and Michael O’Connor also batted well for the winners.
In other games, Feary said the Giants Red women’s side went down by three or four runs to Dodgers Divas, the under-15s defeated Totara Park, and the under-13s had a 9-12 loss to the strong Te Aroha team.
