Giants still unbeaten in Inter-City Series

Cross Country Rentals Giants maintained their unbeaten record in the Inter-City series men's softball competition with a 5-1 victory over Hawke's Bay at South Park, Masterton on Sunday.
It was their fourth win from as many matches with coach Tony Nixon being delighted with the way his side disposed of a young and enthusiastic Bay line-up which had been leading Cardinals 5-4 the previous day when the match was called off because of foul weather.
"They gave us plenty to think about, they were no push overs," Nixon said of Hawke's Bay.
"We had to work hard for what we got."
Giants scored their opening run in their third innings.
Justin Karaitiana was walked to first base where he was replaced by designated runner Nathan Shannahan.
The latter "stole" second and then made it to home on a wild pitch.
Hawke's Bay then levelled things up at 1-1 but Giants struck back with two runs in the fifth innings. The same scenario as before with Karaitiana and Shannahan occurred before rookie Campbell Gaunt hit down the middle of the diamond to score Shannahan while making first base himself. Gaunt then "stole" second before reaching home when a throw from the Hawke's Bay catcher found open spaces.
The sixth innings provided Giants with their other two runs, Blair Thompson being walked to first base and Ritchie Clarke hitting an automatic home run to score both Thompson and himself.
Both Giants pitchers, Justin Karaitiana and Ritchie Clarke, were impressive on the mound with Karaitiana giving up just four safe hits in the first four innings and Clarke no safe hits in the last three.
Karaitiana also pulled off an excellent play in the field which probably saved a couple of runs and Ryan Shannahan was his usual alert self at short stop.
Giants had earlier been scheduled to meet Johnsonville in Wellington on Saturday but after travelling to Wellington for the match they discovered it had been postponed because of persistent rain.
This coming Saturday will see Giants play a double header over the hill, Hutt Valley Marist at 1pm in what will be their opening game in the Hutt Valley premier league and Porirua at 3pm in an Inter-City series match.
The latest round of club games produced mixed results for other Giants teams.
The premier twos lost to Dodgers 15-3, the under-18s had a narrow 6-4 loss to Hutt, the under-15s continued on their winning way with a comprehensive 20-3 defeat of Hutt City and the Presidents grade side lost to their Hutt City opponents 7-6.