D1 Roundup: One Corsair Smiles, the Other Cries

La Rochelle makes a statement

The Boucaniers are really on a roll. They’ve just secured their 14th win of the season, equaling last year’s record, and confirming their steady progress year after year: 12 wins in 2022, 13 in 2023, 14 in 2024 and 2025, and obviously more this year. One might have feared that the painful defeat in the Challenge de France final would slow them down. But not at all. Since that competition, the Rochelais have won 9 matches out of 12, for the 2nd best average in D1 behind Montpellier (8-2, .800). The team has ironed out some of the weaknesses of past seasons. First, away games. .389 win percentage on the road since their promotion to D1, 7 wins in 10 matches this season. And also, losing streaks, which have always marked a season, like the 6 in a row last year or the 4 consecutive in 2024. This year, La Rochelle is the only team not to have lost two games in a row. No doubt, the Boucaniers are confident in their strength, with real solidity in pitching, both in starters and, often decisive in the playoffs, in relievers. The Paredes – Nieves duo has no equal, and it’s no coincidence that the Boucaniers are 10-0 when they lead after 6 innings. What’s interesting is that La Rochelle doesn’t particularly dominate in any offensive, defensive or pitching category (except for bunts, we’ll come back to this incredible and excessive sense of sacrifice), but is never in the bottom ranks either. This is the sign of a solid, complete and complementary team. The Boucaniers now have time to prepare for the playoffs, and that too can change the game. In any case, La Rochelle is among the most serious title contenders, and the double victory over Béziers has clearly demonstrated this.

Béziers takes on water

The Pirates are sinking in the late innings. In their last 6 matches, Béziers led the score 5 times. But only won once. And if we look at the whole season, after 5 innings, coach Teixidor’s team led the score 11 times, was tied 3 times and was behind 8 times. All for a record of 6-16. It’s not very complicated to identify the Biterrois’ problem, if not adding that the Pirates are the team that has scored the fewest runs in the last 3 innings of a game (21, Rouen who leads them is at 26) and that Béziers is the only team (with the PUC) to have a negative record (4-7) when they score the first point of a game. And even when you give the ball to Ace Gonzalez to try to finish the games, it doesn’t work, as evidenced by the two defeats in the 9th and then in extra innings against Rouen and La Rochelle. Béziers could have joined the playoff race, and if this goal is not totally out of reach, it’s mainly the rearview mirror that the Pirates will finish the season with, hoping that the PUC doesn’t start winning. True, Béziers wasn’t at full strength this weekend and the absentees, held back by the France 18U team, might have changed the game, but it remains that this second season in D1 is not the easiest.

Not everything is totally black for the Pirates, and we can notably mention the case of left-handed pitcher Robin Froment, who has just completed three superb outings against Montpellier, Rouen and La Rochelle, which are three attacks not really easy to face. He took advantage of this to lower his ERA from 9.60 to 6.50, giving up only one run in 15.2 innings of work. He unfortunately couldn’t sign his first win, the missteps of the bullpen mentioned above having produced their negative effects, but after a very complicated start to the season, he managed to pick himself up and produce great quality play, and that was worth noting. Note that he is the pitcher who has hit the most double plays (10), which proves that he knows how to get out of delicate situations. Speaking of pitchers, we watched with interest the performance of Romain Krzykawiak, after his difficult outing against the PUC, he bounced back well, with a quality start (6 innings, 3 runs given up), but a bit too many walks and a 4th inning that could have turned the game. Overall, his performance remains positive and encouraging for the future.

The calendar heats up

The heatwave is doing a lot of damage to the D1 championship. And we are seriously starting to wonder about the end of the season. Will we have to postpone the playoffs? Will we have to play the last two weeks of August, which shouldn’t make things any easier for most clubs? The reserve day of July 19 is already filled, and there are no more dates available, except for August 15-16 and 22-23. But at the time of writing, they have not yet been mobilized.

The FFBS and the CFS are not to blame for the heatwave. Like the rest of France, they were caught off guard by this event, and reacted well (a bit late, but nothing is simple) by publishing a fairly explicit communiqué. What is needed now, for the next seasons, is to anticipate. For the moment, we have seen an idea pass by: have the southern clubs play among themselves during the summer. An idea that doesn’t work, first because there are not enough clubs in the south for it to be feasible, then because it is three matches from the north that have been postponed. The heat strikes indiscriminately of geographical habits. Will we have to know how to be flexible? The postponed Sénart-Rouen could have been played in Rouen, Seine-Maritime being on orange alert. Imposing, when possible, this kind of decision can become the norm in the future. We can also think about the start of the season: will we have to remove the traditional reserve days of March and April to keep them for the summer? The task is enormous, but it is essential. Baseball, a summer sport, will have to cope with climate change and find solutions. Hoping that the 2026 season will not be scuttled and that everyone can play all these matches. Good luck to our decision-makers.

F.Colombier

Photo Credit: Piat