Illustrative photo for the article: Montpellier’s outfield, Paolo Brosier. Photo credit Glenn Gervot.
Credits photos Glenne Gervot.
GELLAINVILLE 27 May
– The second day of the French Baseball Championship is also the most grueling, and this year was no exception. It’s the day when the group of eight participants is reduced to four, and to narrow the field, three matches are played at each of the two host sites.
In the end, the first team to secure their ticket to the tournament semifinals was last year’s winner, the Montpellier Barracudas, who faced the Sénart Templiers on Friday afternoon in Gellainville, near Chartres.
Above: The Barracudas celebrate in the outfield.
With ace Kevin Canelón as the starting pitcher, Montpellier had a clear advantage in this match, and the left-handed Venezuelan, as he does week after week, did not disappoint. In seven innings of work, he allowed only two runs (both unearned) and four hits while striking out eight.
His counterpart with the Templiers was José Andrés Paula, a two-way player recently returned from a season of college baseball in the United States. Paula also had impressive moments on the mound, but little by little, the Barracudas lineup wore him down, collecting timely hits that allowed them to take a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning, then extend the advantage by three more in the seventh.
Above: Paula can pitch too!
American rookie Steve Anderson had three RBIs in the game. Paolo Brossier had two. And after an appearance in the ninth inning by Japanese sensation Kenjiro Sugiura, Montpellier left with an easy 9-3 victory that sets them up for a semifinal showdown tomorrow against the Savigny Lions.
Above: The towering first baseman, Steve Anderson.
The Lions took a more circuitous route to the semifinals. After winning their opening match on Thursday against the Montigny Cougars in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, they lost a nail-biter on Friday afternoon to the Rouen Huskies.
Above: Ivan Acuna of the Savigny Lions.
Tied 5-5 after the ninth inning, the two teams played into the tenth. Savigny got the green light early in the inning on an RBI single by Tom Dahan, who had three hits in the game. But the Huskies responded at the end of the inning with two runs to win 6-5.
Above: Rouen’s offense, the most prolific in D1, struck again…
This forced the Lions to play again the same afternoon, in an elimination match against Montigny, who had narrowly survived earlier in the day against the Metz Cometz (the Cougars won 13-12, also in the tenth inning).
Above: This afternoon, it was very hot between the Cometz and the Cougars…
It was a high-scoring game – no surprise given the exhaustion of both teams when it came to pitching – but when all was said and done, Savigny came out on top with a 15-5 score thanks to big hits from Dahan, who went 2-for-3, Ivan Acuña, who had three hits and four RBIs, and Gédéon Coste, who also had three hits.
The other semifinal tomorrow, surprise surprise, will feature the eternal D1 champion Rouen Huskies, who, like Montpellier, are undefeated so far in the tournament, but as already mentioned, secured this second victory on Friday with the narrowest of margins.
Their opponents will be the great rivals Sénart Templiers, who, despite the loss to Montpellier, managed to sneak into the next round by beating the La Rochelle Boucaniers 10-0 in a late afternoon match.
Above: La Rochelle’s catcher Daniel Torres.
Earlier in the day, the Boucaniers pulled off a comeback win against the surprisingly courageous Toulouse Tigers, who led 5-2 halfway through the eighth inning, largely thanks to an inspired pitching performance by John Will García. La Rochelle, however, came back with three runs at the end of the inning before scoring the winning run in the ninth.
Above: The Boucaniers come back to score.
Against La Rochelle, the Templiers dominated despite the absence of their star catcher, American rookie Thomas Greely, who had been ejected from their previous match for questioning the umpire on a controversial call. Felix Brown and Mohamed Baoui each had three hits in the game, and Mathis Meurant, who also pitched, had two.
Above: Milar Ramiro, the powerful left-hander of the La Rochelle Boucaniers.
Both semifinals tomorrow will be played at Gellainville, home of the French Cubs club. Montpellier and Savigny take the field first, at 11 a.m. Rouen and Sénart will play the afternoon match, starting at 4 p.m.
Credits photos Glenn Gervot
Benjamin Witte
Layout Vincent Picard.
