Four clashes in seven innings. The championship standings held firm. No real surprises in store.
First meeting of this France Challenge between two teams that haven’t faced each other this year, being in different pools. Montpellier quickly silenced Montigny’s ambitions with a three-run homer by Yoan Antonac in the first inning. The final score reflected that three-run margin. Seven hits for Montpellier and just one error, against four hits and five errors for Montigny. Montpellier’s homer and Montigny’s too many mistakes meant the championship points leader logically won this first clash.
Similarly, Metz and La Rochelle hadn’t met yet. Wilce Nieves held firm for La Rochelle, conceding just one run in the fourth inning. Adames for Metz gave up five runs in the same span. However, the fifth inning saw a barrage of hits for La Rochelle, who scored no less than eight runs. The die was cast. Both teams changed pitchers twice in the final two innings, and the score didn’t budge.
Toulouse had only faced Rouen as a major opponent. Against Savigny, they needed to show determination and grit. They didn’t. Quickly, the Lions capitalized on Toulouse’s errors and held off the Stade Toulousain’s bats. Despite a stunning homer by 18U Arthur Saumande, Toulouse logically fell to Savigny’s opportunistic hitting.
Rouen is struggling, and it showed again against Sénart. Dagneau and Blondel were effective, but the team still made too many errors. The four errors weren’t solely responsible for their loss, as Sénart hit better, even if Moulin pitched well. 10 hits for Sénart against six for Rouen. The four-run difference at the end was partly due to this.
This France Challenge is a microcosm of the championship. We’ll have a better chance to make more confident predictions tomorrow when the losers face each other and the winners do too.
More great matches today. We appreciate that all games are broadcast. We hope the wind isn’t the only commentator at Limeil-Brévannes. But at least, through the images, we can understand the action.
Today, two matches at 10 AM, Rouen vs. Metz and Montigny vs. Toulouse. Then at 1:30 PM, Savigny vs. Montpellier and at 2 PM, Sénart vs. La Rochelle. In the evening, we’ll have two matches at 5 PM and 7 PM that will depend on the day’s results.
