So close yet so far away. That was pretty much the case for Giants in their two Hutt Valley premier division men's softball matches played at Fraser Park on Thursday night. The defending champions showed all their customary tenacity against formidable opposition before losing 3-2 to Cardinals and 2-1 to national clubchampions Hutt City United, the team they beat to win the Hutt Valley title last year. Coach Tony Nixon said a slow start proved costly against Cardinals with the latter scoring all three of their runs in the first innings and staving off a determined Giants comeback. "We don't want to make excuses, but we were practically straight off the bus and into the game and that probably had something to do with the start we made," he said. "But once we got into the swing of things we more than held our own." The match with Hutt City United was touch and go right to the end with the scores being locked at 1-1 going into the seventh and last innings, where HCU struck what was to be the winning run. Both pitchers used by Giants, Richard Clarke and Justin Karaitiana, were in fine form while starring with the bat were Mark Quinn and Curtis Ames although the latter's night was spoiled by an ankle injury suffered while trying to make it to home plate. He was on crutches yesterday and is likely to be sidelined for at least one week. Thursday's losses weren't all bad news for Giants though as they managed to pick up a couple of bonus points and keep themselves well in the reckoning for a playoff berth later in the season. "It would have been nice to have had at least one win, but when you are playing opposition of this calibre nothing is ever certain," Nixon said "We might have lost but we did well enough to suggest we can turn the tables next time we meet them." Giants were scheduled to play an Inter-City series match against Royals on Saturday but that match was postponed because of inclement weather.
