It’s the mid-season point, and the championship is slowly splitting into three groups. Nothing is set in stone yet, upsets and slumps can still happen, but it seems that Montpellier and Rouen (who have played two more games) are set for a spectacular duel for the 1st place, while Sénart, La Rochelle, and Toulouse will battle for the other two semifinal spots, and Béziers, Metz, and Savigny will fight tooth and nail to avoid relegation.
The Bottom Three and the Rest
Let’s start with this group. Savigny, riding high on a wave of confidence, thought they had pulled off a great result. That lasted until the 7th inning of the 2nd game against Sénart. But the Lions’ bullpen, a recurring issue since the start of the season, dashed Savigny’s hopes. Even Orozco couldn’t turn the tide. Untouchable since the Challenge, the Lions’ closer entered a highly complicated situation: bases loaded and a one-run lead. A wild pitch would have tied the game, and Yorfrank Lopez hit his first career home run to give the Templiers the win. You can’t really blame Orozco, who had pitched 3 innings for the save the day before, and came in after Hassed and Chevet had walked 5 batters, a catcher’s interference complicated things, and Kittrell, clearly off his game, made a costly error. Savigny came close to a double win that would have done them good, but can at least take comfort in the arrival of Pena (6 IP, 0 ER, 8 K), who will completely change their season’s end. For Sénart, the arrival of Mathis Nayral will do them good. The excellent pitcher (7 K in 3 IP) kept his team in the game and ultimately helped them win, keeping their place at the head of the chasing pack.
Metz could have also thought they’d won twice. The Lorrainers had done the job in the first game, against a Toulouse team heavily hampered by numerous absences (A. Soriano, Delogu, Cegielski, Rojas, Garcia-Martinez, Navarro—none of them played, and that’s a huge blow). Seeing A. Saumande sent to the mound in the second game, we feared the worst for Randy Perez’s men. The young man didn’t exactly have an impressive resume as a pitcher (4 IP in D1 with a 11.25 ERA, a tough outing against Rouen in the France Challenge). But after a shaky first inning, he didn’t give the Lorrainers anything more, and his offense, once again led by the ever-reliable Mendoza, made the difference.
In the end, those who had a bad weekend were the Pirates, beaten twice by Rouen, not without putting up a fight in the late innings of game 1. Béziers paid the price for the Huskies’ resurgence but still hold a slight lead over their two pursuers. The Biterrois offense remains solid, but the pitching, which gave up 16 walks last weekend, is still very problematic. What seems certain is that among these three teams, no one wants to give an inch, and survival could come down to the wire.
The Top Two and the Rest
Since we were talking about the Huskies, they managed to reassure themselves after a tough stretch. Gonzalez was dominated, as never before this season, by the Rouen bats, and we saw Bastien Dagneau back in action. After a season without playing and a start to the season marred by injuries, the slugger has found his groove, hitting two home runs, his 32nd and 33rd in D1. Two home runs, moreover, hit in two consecutive at-bats. In game 1, another Huskie stood out, Gabriel Harrison, who drove in a whopping 7 runs, a very rare performance. While rumors suggest the Huskies haven’t completed their recruitment and new faces could arrive to finish the season, Rouen has reacted as needed in a tricky away game.
But the Huskies couldn’t catch up to Montpellier, who continue to impress. The Barracudas dominated La Rochelle twice, not without suffering in the first game against the young pitching trio of Krzykawiak, Hernoux, and Perrois. The 9th inning could have turned the game, but after loading the bases with 2 walks and a single, Quinonez woke up and shut the door with 3 consecutive strikeouts. In game 2, it was simpler for the leader, who took the measure of a De La Rosa far from his level of last season. Good news for Montpellier, the Canadian Walters, who was mired in a 0-for-12 slump (0-for-22 if you count the Challenge), got going with a double in the 2nd inning and a home run in the 3rd. The Barracudas racked up 25 hits in the two games, their pitching is holding up, and it’s going to take a lot to catch them! It’s more worrying for the Buccaneers, who are gradually slipping (2 wins in their last 8 games).
But absolutely nothing is decided, every weekend can see the certainties of the previous week overturned.
F.C.
Photo credits: Frédéric Volpato
