The second French men’s softball challenge took place in Rouen over the weekend of May 6-8, 2023. The winner is the Clapiers-Jacou club, which won all its matches and secured a spot in the 2024 European Cup. Baseball TV France met with the team’s manager-coach, Eric DEDIEU.
BTVF: Tell us about the club’s history?
Clapiers-Jacou is a small town of 6,000 inhabitants near Montpellier. From the start, the ambition was to create a softball club with senior men and women and juniors up to 15U. Those who want to continue with baseball then move to the Montpellier club. The municipality supports us and was supposed to help us get top-notch facilities. Unfortunately, the rise in energy costs means we’ll only have part of the planned facilities. It will take longer than expected, but our ambitions remain the same.
BTVF: This was your second time competing in this tournament. How did you approach it compared to 2018, when Montpellier won?
First of all, I wanted to relive the joy of winning another French Challenge. The goal was clear from the start: win the French Challenge again, just like in 2006!
Indeed, as the manager of the D1 team for the Barracudas, I won the French Baseball Challenge in 2006 with Thomas LANGLOYS and Jonathan HARAS on my team, as well as Anthony CROS and Laurent ANDRADES, who are now with the BRACOS.
For softball, in 2018, the Rabbits were just making an appearance. However, since then, we’ve strengthened our team with young players, seasoned adult players, and foreign reinforcements. For this challenge, we wanted to be very aggressive at the start of the pool matches. As we had recruited a high-level pitcher two years ago in the form of Hector FERNANDEZ from Honduras, we could rely on him to score a lot of runs early on and not concede any. In fact, it started so well that he threw a perfect game in the first match. We had never experienced that before. It’s no surprise that he was voted the best pitcher of the tournament. The line-up was built for that. For the final, we changed our strategy and tried to build the game base by base, player by player, and it worked because we had to play differently against Montpellier given their level of play.
BTVF: Pride is the dominant feeling. How does it manifest itself?
Several points: three players who have been with the club since the 9U level were today starters for the final. Lucas DEDIEU (17 years old), Simon TUAILLON (18 years old), and Liam TRANBARGER (18 years old), who won their first national title with the RABBITS!!!
Then, the Challenge began with a perfect game by our battery Grégoire MAURETTE and Hector FERNANDEZ against St. Raphaël.
It was also in the semi-finals that the offense scored 10 runs in the first two innings, allowing us to reach the final under the mercy rule. Special mention to our veteran Alain CLERGUE, who at 55 years old hit two singles in three at-bats in this match. ‘El comandante’ knew how to put his experience to good use for the team.
Then, we found ourselves facing the big team from Montpellier, our neighbors in the final. It took a big game from Hector with a three-run homer in the first inning and a solid defense to contain the Montpellier attack.
Eric Dedieu congratulates Hector FERNANDEZ on a three-run homer
BTVF: The matches are broadcast and available for replay afterwards. Does that help you?
Yes, completely. In the evening, we watched all the matches, ours and those of the other teams. After analyzing them, it helps us better understand our opponents but also ourselves, to dissect our mistakes and our strengths. It’s really very useful and valuable. We at Clapiers aren’t ready to set that up yet, priority is the field and its improvement. Realize that after 12 years of existence, we’ve just set up a batting cage. But to seek performance and high level, video is an indispensable tool, so for this tournament it was very important.
Alexandre MARI (player from Contes on extension with the RABBITS) best hitter
And
Hector FERNANDEZ best pitcher and MVP of the competition.
BTVF: What are your feelings after this victory?
It’s the first time I’d say we feel completely legitimate, and we can’t wait to play matches like that again, regularly against the BRACOS and other teams. Finally, we feel really ready to play on equal terms with the big teams.
Photo credits: FFBS Glenn Gervot
