Béziers has had a lot of movement and work during the off-season, hoping to make their first season in D1 a complete success.
The Pirates held their own for their first adventure in D1. A good French Challenge, where they twice took down Rouen, and an excellent start to the season, which allowed them to flirt until the final sprint with a place in the play-offs. Unfortunately, five defeats in the last five matches (and only one victory in the last eight) spoiled the party. Béziers clearly lacked fuel, as seen by their offensive average dropping from .319 in the first half of the season to .231 in the second. Injuries, departures, a lack of commitment from some players, and it takes very little to slip down the rankings. « We lacked seriousness, discipline. We worked on these elements for this season, » says coach Lionel Teixidor.
Working is not something to be afraid of.Béziers : « Nous avons dû être plus forts pour rester au niveau »
D’autant plus que la trêve n’a pas été un long fleuve tranquille pour Béziers, qui a subi une véritable hémorragie au sein de ses JFL. Bernardelli parti à Nice pour ses études, même motif pour le rookie de l’année 2025, Keurinck, qui rejoint l’Île-de-France et les Lions de Savigny et Sohy, qui a déménagé à Rouen, mais conserve sa place dans l’équipe. « Nous avons dû mettre les bouchées doubles cet hiver pour compenser ces départs et être prêts pour la saison », explique le manager des Biterrois. « On a pu se rendre compte que la D1 est un monde très exigeant, qui représente une marche très haute à franchir quand on vient de D2. Tous les aspects sont concernés, le sportif, la structuration, les finances, les bénévoles… Tout ce que nous avons vécu en 2025 nous a appris qu’il fallait encore être plus forts pour rester au niveau. Nous avions mis les bouchées doubles par rapport au passé, et nous avons atteint l’objectif du maintien. On les remettra encore cette saison, en sachant qu’après l’euphorie de la première année, la suite peut s’avérer plus difficile. Nous avons donc travaillé très fort cet hiver. »Switch to English
licence in his home club. Lesfargues, on the other hand, took over the neighbouring Montpellier team and Volpato expressed the need to take a break after two seasons that were very heavy in terms of pressure and mental load. « It was difficult and complicated to live through all of that. It’s a bit of a disappointment to see all these departures, but I have no hard feelings. For the most part, we’re talking about life trajectory in relation to studies, » says the coach. « The players are free to go where they want, they don’t belong to us. » And it’s also true that it’s not always easy for Béziers to compete with the student attractiveness of Montpellier or Toulouse.
We also had to look into foreign recruitment, having identified some recurring weaknesses. For example, behind the plate, with 68 stolen bases conceded in 74 attempts, we needed to do better. That’s how Angelo Mora, a catcher from the Reds organization, was recruited.And to tie all this together, the first decision of the Pirates was to recruit a manager, and not just any manager, Eduardo Patino, who has reached the highest level of the MLB with Philadelphia. « We had inscribed in our plan of
absolute priority to recruit a manager, and not just any manager, Eduardo Patino, who has reached the highest level of the MLB with Philadelphia. « We wanted to bring in someone with experience and who had a winning mentality, » said the Pirates’ general manager, Raul Zerpa. « We are confident that Eduardo will be able to guide us to success. »The need to bring in an outside perspective who can bring experience is essential for D1, but also and especially for the establishment of the Academy. This project is essential for us, and it is a great satisfaction to see our 19 little academicians train five times a week and benefit from Eduardo’s advice, emphasizes Lionel Teixidor.
The duo at the head of the Pirates holds the same discourse: to talk about exemplarity in relation to the community. « We have volunteers, people who come to encourage us, we must give the best of ourselves, whatever our status and role in the club. We must respect the jersey that is handed to us. This is an essential value in my eyes, » says the coach, who hopes that the recipe concocted this winter is the right one: « we have interesting elements to go and get a better result, with an emphasis on individual commitment ».
Other laurels have already come to adorn the forehead of the Pirates, elected best club of the year by the Federation. It is with sincere and strong emotion that Lionel Teixidor talks about this recognition: « Our club is growing year by year, and even faster since 2020. We have a real anthill of people who work and get involved with passion. It is huge for us to be considered in this way. It is more important than a victory on the field. And even than a D1 title« . This is also the exemplary mentality of the Pirates. As is the small message that Lionel wanted to pass on: « it is very good news to see the return of the baseball TV France website ». Thank you coach.
