Last week, the federation announced the schedules for Divisions 1 and 2 in baseball, men’s and women’s softball. Let’s start by examining the D1 baseball schedule.
MyWBSC
Before diving into the dates and matchups themselves, it’s essential to look at the CRM system (competition tracking software). This system is called MyWBSC and is standardized in Europe and worldwide by the World Baseball Softball Confederation to track national and international competitions. It allows for player and official coding, live play-by-play tracking of all matches, and standardized statistics reporting. For scorers, it’s a double job (they will continue with the paper version), but it helps track the game better. We’ve already seen this system in European cups and last year’s French Challenge. It’s only being introduced this year in D1 and will offer two huge advantages: the immediacy of information and standardization with other countries, along with all multimedia links (Live, Replay, various videos).
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New Division 1
This will be a competition with eight teams, all facing each other over fourteen weekends, with two additional weekends for three teams: Metz, Montigny, and Montpellier in July. Two reserve matchdays on June 2nd and July 14th. Each team will play 28 matches, as always interspersed with two events: the French Challenge in Rouen and Chartres from May 9th to 12th and the All-Star Game in Valenciennes on June 16th.
This new setup will allow for better comparison of the different teams’ levels. Even more so this year, as new regulatory provisions concerning D1 divide players into two categories: JFL players (Locally Developed Players) and non-JFL players. This will shake up some sporting habits. The number of innings pitched by JFL players must be at least seven over a weekend, with a mandatory start. Other rules will also shift some lines: the pick-off rule will be stricter to prevent them from being too successive and repeated, and finally, the disappearance of the player placed on first base during extra innings.
Teams on the field will therefore consist of 5 JFL players and 4 non-JFL players. This means that, as in previous years, there will likely be 4 reinforcement players, typically foreigners, always on the field. Players who will surely be found in the first four or five spots in the line-up.
Another rule, still tacit but incentive, has also emerged: playing a match on Saturday late afternoon and the other on Sunday late morning. Advantages and disadvantages will surely arise. The main advantage is the audience, which should be stronger on Saturday evening. However, another difficulty may arise in mobilizing volunteers for clubs, who will have to come twice for tasks such as the snack bar, streaming, scoring, and officiating.
Four matches per weekend generating eight games. Statistics analyzable from the first match, all available to comment on, dissect on platforms and social networks by Sunday morning, will improve the overall communication of this championship.
The regular season will conclude in mid-September, making way for playoff sessions with the top four teams and play-downs for the others. This eight-team system will make the eighth place fiercely contested to avoid. Indeed, promotion to D1 becomes very difficult in this system, and if some D2 teams want to move up, the will to stay in the group of 8 D1 teams will come at a high price.
If we had to summarize the initial mindset of the eight D1 teams in one sentence, it would be:
- Montpellier: Aiming for the double, nothing but the double in sight
- Toulouse: We won’t be fooled twice by the length of the season and the travel
- La Rochelle: We’ll stay up at any cost
- Metz: We won’t relive a year like the previous one, we’re raising our level
- Rouen: We’re back and you’ll see what you’ll see
- Montigny: Close last year, we’re back even stronger
- Savigny: Resilience, our strongest asset
- Sénart: Stronger every year, count on us this year
Photo Credits: Hiep images
