Au soir of July 14th, 1789, upon hearing of the taking of the Bastille, King Louis XVI asked the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, « Is this a revolt? » To which the noble replied, « No, sire, this is a revolution. » The historical accuracy of the quote is not entirely established, but it is certainly what came to mind when we closed our computer after watching this 4th day, which was completely crazy.
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Because let’s face it, to see the two leaders of the championship, the logical favorites for a place in the final, return from their two away games against teams that were in bad shape with a 0-4, this is not really what we had planned. So, is this a passing revolt or a total change of paradigm in D1? We will have to wait a bit to decide, but the ranking is terribly tight, perhaps more so than ever.
We already knew that Béziers, who finally returned to its home field, was not going to present itself as a sacrificial victim against Rouen players.who appeared to be in quiet force mode. But Rouen missed everything. For example, in trying to play the finer ones with the top of the Pirates’ lineup, distributing intentional walks like Halloween candy, all to be beaten by the JFL of Béziers, Tranbarger and the surprising Limouzin, who confirms the Pirates’ ability to bring out talented young players at any time. Another proof of Rouen’s inadequacies, no stolen bases against a team that had allowed 19 in 6 matches, and no points earned against a pitcher (Froment) who had conceded 12 in three outings. Admittedly, Rouen was without its two best pitchers (Mercadier and Prioul) and two important veterans (Bert and Blondel), but it is normally the role of great teams to overcome the vicissitudes of a season. But if Rouen was bad, it is certainly because Béziers was good. The Pirates showed real moral qualities by resisting the Huskies’ comebacks in both matches, to make the difference at the end of the game (10th inning in game 1, 7th inning in game 2), while Rouen was struggling.
Montpellier could have taken advantage of its rival’s misstep. However, all the weaknesses that a haphazard start to the season had managed to hide were on display. In Game 1, the weaknesses of the relief pitchers, defensive errors and generosity on the bases loaded were too costly against a Sénart team that turned everything around with a 7-run 5th inning and relied on another successful outing from Émile Brelle, who recorded his 3rd quality start in 3 starts. In Game 2, Anderson Vera had a message to send to his former team, something along the lines of « you should have kept me ». He had a field day against the MHB bullpen, recording 12 strikeouts.Translation:
Barracudas lineup during 7 innings (0 points, 3 hits, 8K), before running out of gas in the 8th and making the game interesting, especially with the very hesitant relief of Matthieu Brelle, who found himself in the delicate situation of facing Montpellier’s best hitter, Farina, with only one point ahead, two runners on the paths and two strikes. But the veteran pitcher managed to get out of it. Sénart, except for the game against the Huskies a week ago, has turned into a high-end team this weekend, further proof that this championship has not finished delighting us. As for Montpellier, we can question the choice of Brossier as the starter for game 2, and the 7 BB he gave up (he is at 22 in 16 innings) made things difficult for his team. We can also wonder why go get three young French pitchers and not trust them to start?
The third game saw Savigny confirm its good intentions.This season, the Lions are definitely a team to reckon with. Pena is as strong as ever and, as in each of his outings, he gave his team every chance to win. The Amoros brothers had an incredible weekend, hitting 9 hits in 13 appearances between them, with two doubles, two triples, a home run and 6 RBI. There are still some weak points, Orozco is not at the level of previous years and almost let the victory slip away in game 2, Keurinck (0 in 9 this weekend) seems to be experiencing the sophomore slump, and the defense made too many mistakes, but Savigny is proving to be very solid. Toulouse showed its weaknesses away from home, even though the Stade came very close to turning the tables at the end of game 2, confirming its ability to never give up.
In the end, the big winner of the day is La Rochelle, which, without playing, has taken the lead in the championship. The Boucaniers can even think that they have a huge advantage over their opponents.Playing cards in their match against PUC (which will take place on May 23 and 24), taking their distance from the rest of the pack. As for the Parisians, they can have some concerns about seeing the gap with the other teams gradually widen. PUC is going to embark on a pursuit race that is far from being won in advance.
With 5 teams within 1 match, 2 games apart between the 1st and 7th, this day has completely shuffled the cards and changed the landscape. Everything is possible for everyone, we couldn’t ask for better.
F.Colombier
Photo credits: RS Club
