At home, Lithuania found the strength to win the European Championship at the expense of a formidable French team that had been flawless until then.
The French Baseball5 machine is ahead in this European Championship, a competition that the U18 and Senior teams won in the previous edition. For the Seniors, it was first about qualifying for the next World Cup in Hong Kong in 2024, which is now done. Then it was about defending their title. So, disappointment is the word that stands out the most. It’s just a matter of time, and that’s the harsh reality of sports.
Ludovic Mellier, the technical commissioner of the competition, sums up his week in Lithuania in two words: « Successful and exhausting. » He continues on the French team: « You can’t say that France missed much to achieve the double of the title and qualification. Maybe less tension, more experience of finals and key moments of a competition. Being better prepared for a noisy crowd in favor of the opponent. Less readable and too often repeated strategies for some. Unnecessary frustrations against the refereeing which is also on the margin of progress. But what a beautiful French team. »
Stephen Lesfargues expresses himself on the entire competition: The disappointment is great, our goal was to be European champions and there was no other, but a lot of pride in having lived the preparation and this week with this collective. What needs to be remembered is that we are European vice-champions. Losing a final is something that happens in the life of a sportsman. We faced an opponent with a lot of quality, I congratulate them, they have a very good Baseball5 program. These are our Blues and with the entire staff, we will always support them, and an appointment is made for 2025 to challenge the Lithuanians and all the European countries that progress every year.
We are now returning to work to prepare for the 2024 World Cup. To maximize our chances of success, we will have to mobilize and train our adaptation and stress management capacities, which can generate performance drops and decision-making in important moments like a European Championship final. This French team will surely be even stronger and more experienced than the one that lost to Lithuania. Looking forward to 2024 and the rest of the story.
Note that the French players won numerous individual awards at this championship, summarized in the table below.
As for Lahcène Benamida, the coach, he had the pleasure of bringing both Baseball5 teams to second place in their respective competitions this year and receiving the award for best baseball coach for the French women’s team, what a year for him!
Since September, the Montpellier Hope Pole has opened a Baseball5 section. This is good news for the preparation of the next U18 European Championship, which will be organized in France in Clermont-Ferrand. The latter will be qualifying for the World Cup and especially for the Youth Olympic Games scheduled for Dakar in 2026.
