Illustrative photo for the article, American Michael Vochelli, Valenciennes Vipères. Thanks baseball overseas!
Above: the baseball field of the Clermont Arvernes.
« The main concern of not winning your games is, among other things, becoming dependent on the victories of others. » Damn, it’s beautiful…
Baseball, the summer sport….
I’ll have to explain how one can play baseball in Texas, Mexico, Venezuela, South Korea, Cuba…
On the side of the little sister of D1, the second act was supposed to begin, which once again sees the teams of each group face each other but with a ranking determined by the first part of the season. Three decisive matchdays… Who survives in the playdowns, who flies to the playoffs…
Out of the sixteen clubs (a pool of 250, 300 players), three are already certain not to be able to compete in the final stage. Only two are still hanging on in Group C: Bréal and Eysines, who at the same time threaten the Rochellais. Notable is the « walkoff single » by Collet for the Boucaniers in the second match against Bréal on June 5th, which secures a second position at the end of the first part of the season for the maritime team, in a relatively homogeneous group.
Above, Jeremy Collet hits a walkoff single against Bréal for La Rochelle.
« Dommage Eliane »:
Out, therefore, (unless a plague of locusts or a random catastrophe): Group A: PUC 2 (1-11, .205 avg, 10.82 ERA), Group B: the Cougars’ reserve team (2-10, .193 avg, 9.89 ERA), Group C: it’s hot under the « gorra » between Bréal and Eysines who were supposed to cross bats on June 19th!… The two clubs are at 4-8. Group D: Montpellier 2 is in a bad mood under the Occitan summer with a record too tight (3-9, .254 avg, 5.98 ERA).
The stakes:
At this point, each team has faced its three group neighbors in a « double header » format, two seven-inning games, home and away.
Now it’s about confirming the ranking for the dominant teams and trying for the outsiders (generally third) to snatch the second spot.
Group A:
The Temple’s revenge?
Rouen’s reserve team (6-6 – .241 avg, 7.35 ERA) and Quentin Becquey juggle with a busy schedule: PUC, Sénart (8-4, .295 avg, 3.82 ERA) and Thiais (9-3, .286 avg, 4.09 ERA). While against the first opponent, not much is feared for the reserve team of the European champions (even if the latter managed to concede their only victory to the Parisians), against Sénart and Thiais (even if the Huskies took a « game » 0-1 against the Tigers), the days should be a bit longer… This reserve team from Rouen seems capable of anything… Winning and suffering. Thiais and the Montanovanh brothers really seem safe for the next round. Rouen must confirm to surpass the Templiers of Emile Brelle, who have every intention of doing better than their elders in the first division.
Group B:
In the shadow of the Comets.
Above, the Vipères, ready to bite, present an overall average of .393!
Dunkerque, a bit lonely between the dominant teams and Montigny 2, has a record of 4-8 and a .218 avg, 8.84 ERA. Then there’s Montigny, Ronchin (9-3, .311 avg, 5.05 ERA) and the best attack in D2: Valenciennes (9-3, .393 avg, 2.99 ERA) to provoke. Two wins and two losses in the season against Montigny. The rest of the adventure is even more uncertain. The expeditions between Valenciennes and Dunkerque are bad memories sown with thunderbolts in the wings of the Korvers (24 runs to 52 in four matches in favor of the Vipères), good evening. The confrontations against the Ronchinois ended, for their part, with three victories to one in favor of Victor Jeammot’s Dragons. We don’t see the Dunkerque team reversing the tide in their favor. Ronchin and Valenciennes will very likely have their ticket for the third act.
Group C:
The Gambas, finely chopped.
Above, Anglet, leading Group C.
Bréal and Eysines are in a delicate position as we said earlier. The Breton Panthers (315 avg, 7.90 ERA) and the Raiders (233 avg, 3.39 ERA) are neck and neck, sharing a record of 4-8. Will one of the two be able to extract themselves from the context? Part of the answer was supposed to be given on June 19th. On the other side, the top two: Anglet (9-3, 324 avg, 5.14 ERA) and La Rochelle (7-5, 253 avg, 4.78 ERA). Anglet conceded a match to Andrew Yorick’s Raiders and it was a close call that the Bordelais didn’t take a second one. The Rochellais also snatched a victory from them with Emmanuel Bonnin on the mound. The Panthers also suffered against the Basques with four heavy losses a bit noisy (44 runs for the Gambas to 24). In Anglet, Foucaud and his colleagues haven’t said their last word, playing, admittedly, a notch above. A challenge to the pole position remains probable… Really, it’s the second place that’s still at stake here. Will the Boucaniers of Tom Regnier hold up? They’ll need to win at least half of the remaining matches…
Group D:
The Gaul pirated?
Above, Clermont’s pitching leads D2 with a 2.22 ERA.
Meyzieu (4-8, .222 avg, 4.65 ERA) starts its summer with a small calendar from behind the bushes: Barracudas, Pirates (7-5, .249 avg, 5.42 ERA) and finally Arvernes (10-2, .256 avg, 2.22 ERA). Bastien Leveque’s Cards are three defeats and one short victory against Béziers and produced an identical result against Demazy and his Arvernes, (a strange heavy defeat of the latter, 10-0)… Clermont-Ferrand, tipped for the finals, is the first team to have reached ten wins with the best ERA in D2. We don’t see how things can change in Group D for the occupants of the Cézeaux. With the Barracudas’ reserve team out of the running, Laurent Andrades and the Pirates of Béziers, the defending champions, will almost certainly pass this stage as well.
We are pleased to announce that BaseballTVF will be live from La Rochelle next Sunday for two D2 games of seven innings, against the Raiders of Eysines.
See you soon! Vincent Picard
