All matches have been played, and the verdict is that the 8th-placed team from 2023 will remain in D1 next year. The Cometz traveled to Béziers, the D2 champions, last weekend. They secured their spot in D1 for next season with a 2-1 victory.
Béziers put in a lot of effort, courage, reinforcement, and public support to reach D1. After the euphoria of winning the D2 French championship, they still had to beat the 8th-placed D1 team. No regrets for the Pirates, who are ultimately satisfied with their year, both for the high level and for the regional and youth sections of their club. They will continue to gain strength and will be on the starting blocks in 2024 to repeat the feat.
The French D1 has seen some significant changes in the number of teams. From 12 in 2019, it went down to 11 in 2021, then to 10 in 2022 and 2023. Next year, there will be 8. Two teams that consistently finished at the bottom, Nice and PUC, will find themselves in Division 2 next year. Incidentally, these are two teams that have performed well in the youth categories, especially PUC this year. We will return to this in other articles.
Metz had benefited from an administrative promotion in 2019 and nearly faced a sporting and administrative relegation in 2023. That won’t be the case. So, in 2024, we will have 3 teams around Paris (Sénart, Montigny, and Savigny), two outlying teams: Rouen in the west and Metz in the east. Then two teams in the south (Montpellier and Toulouse) and one team in the southwest (La Rochelle). So, nothing in the center, southeast, north, and northwest of France. The balancing system will therefore continue to operate at full capacity. We already know that the eight teams will face each other 7 times each in home and away matches, making for 14 rounds of the championship.
But let’s return to Metz and its President David Ten Eyck:
BTVF: What is your general feeling as President about these playoffs?
I am very proud of our players’ performance. They prepared well for this crucial moment and rose to the occasion to win these playoffs against a strong Béziers team, determined to reach D1 and who put us under pressure all weekend. I salute the fighting spirit of the Pirates, as well as the fervor of their supporters who brought the atmosphere all weekend.
BTVF: How did the team experience this crucial moment?
It’s a collective success that testifies to the mental strength of our players and the determination of our club. Despite all those losses in the 9th inning at the start of the season that eliminated us quickly from the playoffs… despite the numerous injuries we suffered… we continued to work and progress, and we were there, at the necessary level, for the key moment of the season. I am particularly proud of the progress our young players have made this season. We started all matches with 7 ‘JFL’ on the field, including 6 under 23 years old. This bodes well for the future.
BTVF: Surely some players have been at the center of these improvements?
We emphasize the collective, of course — but there are also individual performances that need to be highlighted. Like Clément Noblet, who will take a break from his baseball career after this season, but who worked hard to hold on until the end of this season, and who had to catch 27 innings following Matic’s injury. Shane Priest, on the pitching side, who did everything to return from injury for these matches and made two decisive saves. Victorien Roze, who returned from injury to anchor our offense and infield and fulfill his role as captain. Corentin Maimbourg, who had to learn a new position in the space of a month for these playoffs and has already become one of the pillars of our roster at 17 years old. Of course, Pierre Cézard, who played his last match as D1 manager yesterday… the end of a 14-year career as a manager, which began in Regional 2, and ends with a victory that ensures our presence in an 8-team D1.
BTVF: The club certainly comes out a winner?
For the club, this is the end of the first stage in the Division 1 adventure. In 2019, at the time of the expansion to 12 teams, if you had asked the connoisseurs of French baseball to name the eight clubs that would remain in case of a contraction, very few would have bet on Metz. And yet — we’re still here… a bit the ‘last man standing’ of the 12-team D1 experience. We can be very proud of that. And now, on to other adventures!
