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Blue’s season back on track
SOFTBALL Chris Cogdale
chris.cogdale@age.co.nz
Fifteen-year-old Mitchell Shields was the star of the show for Giants Blue as they got their Intercity Premier Three campaign back on track with a 15-1 drubbing of Kapiti on
Saturday. The Blues went into the game in Paraparaumu on the back of a 0-8 loss to Poneke-Kilbirnie Kowhai [their fi rst of the season] and two weeks of inactivity because of cancellations due to rain, and a win was vital to revive their championship chances. The Masterton club took control of the game in their fi rst turn at bat, with two home runs, one by Chris Cox who scored two runners, and Tristan Hillock, who scored one runner for a 5-0 lead. But it was teenager Shields who stole the show with bat and ball. In three turns at bat Shields had three safe hits. He then took over pitching duties from playercoach Justin ‘Chunky’ Karaitiana, who battled through a niggling back injury to pitch the fi rst two innings for fi ve strike outs and no hits from the seven batters faced.
In his debut at pitching in Premier Three, Shields faced nine batters and struck out six of them and wrapped up the victory in four innings.
Giants president Chris Feary, who assisted with the coaching on the day, suggested the move to Karaitiana because the club was looking for a young pitcher after Michael McDermott, who had pitched for the team while in Masterton on a short-term teaching placement, had left the region.
“We played a really good game, but to be fair Kapiti’s pitching wasn’t very strong, but it was exactly what the guys needed, and they will take a lot of confi dence from it,” said Feary.
The youthful Giants Blue side share the lead in Premier Three Section A with Dodgers Black.
The Blues have the bye this weekend, before facing Dodgers Blue in their last game before the fi nals.
The news wasn’t so good for the other Giants teams, with the women well beaten 5-15 by Totara Park Gold, and the Under 15s going down 2-6 to Te Aroha.
Mitchell Shields had three safe hits with the bat, and then closed out an impressive Giants win on the pitching mound. PHOTO/FILE
