Giants begin their quest for the Inter-City men's softball title when they play the first of their top six playoff matches against Kapiti at South Park, Masterton tomorrow. The last time the two teams met Giants prevailed 5-2 but coach Tony Nixon is not reading too much into that result whenassessing their prospects on this occasion. "They (Kapiti) are a very good all-round side and we know they won't be easy," he said. " We won't be under-estimating them, that's for sure." Nixon believes Giants's performance with the bat could hold the key to victory in a game which will be a part of the club's 40 th re-union celebrations. He said the pitching of Shaun Jamieson was one of Kapiti's biggest attributes and he was sure to test the capabilities of a Giants batting line-up which has performed well over most of the season. "We are fortunate to have a lot of players who are capable of putting the ball over the fence and hopefully we will see a bit of that tomorrow" he said. Giants are also fortunate to have depth in the pitching department with both Justin Karaitiana and Ritchie Clarke proven performers in that crucial area. " They (Kapiti) won't find runs any easier to come by than we will?this one could be a real battle of the pitchers," Nixon said. Those attending the re-union-and there will be at least 120 of them- will have plenty of opportunity to see Giants teams in action with three other games also planned for South Park tomorrow. The under-15s will kick things off at 10.30am with the premier two and Presidents's teams starting their matches at 1pm and the Inter-City fixture starting at 3p,m. Guest speakers at the re-union dinner tomorrow night will be New Zealand softball legend Bill Massey and a former coach of the Black Sox in Mike Walsh.
