They started eight and finished two. And as every year, one of the two is Rouen. And this year, it will be Montigny as the underdog.
We wondered about their start. The Huskies were nervous, especially against Sénart. We thought the task against Montpellier would have been tougher. The lineup had sharpened up in the round-robin phase, especially against La Rochelle. The grand slam is the domain of the power hitter. Among the Rouennais, for some time now, this role has been entrusted to Bastien Dagneau. Right from the start of the match, the big four-bagger hitter blasted a four-run home run. Montpellier took a hit right after. The young Ben Covert, as promising as he is, also took a hit. Following that, Rouen cruised and easily secured their spot in the final with a seven-run sixth inning. With thirteen hits against four, Rouen is back in the final…
As for the second semifinal, it didn’t go the same way as the first. Suspense reigned for the first seven innings, with both teams, Sénart and Montigny, trading points. Montigny tied it up at four runs each in the seventh. On Sénart’s side, the pitchers kept changing, while on Montigny’s side, a providential man in the form of Robinson Maestre racked up the pitches and brought out his bionic arm. In extra innings, Montigny took a two-run lead, and the Cougars played it smart, building their advances on base. A throwing error by the third baseman, and the gap widened to three runs. Mathéo Launay was replaced by Sénart’s Japanese pitcher, Takahashi. Fagnonni smashed a triple and drove in an RBI for an eighth run. Sénart against Mastre, who exceeded 150 pitches, lost with a final score of 8-5. A great feat for Montigny, who secured the final spot with a strong emotional fatigue that will surely leave Rouen fresher. But in one game, anything can happen. At 2 PM today, the final between two well-acquainted teams.
