The championship has entered hot seat mode. It’s not a good time to be the leader. Rouen, Montpellier, and La Rochelle have all tried to claim the throne, only to be quickly dethroned. Now, it’s the Lions’ turn, boasting 4 consecutive wins, to give it a shot at the top spot. For how long? What is certain is that no one is pulling away. All teams show certain weaknesses, most often found in three categories: errors, walks, and the bottom of the line-up. That said, the Lions make a solid leader. Their rotation is well-balanced, as is their line-up, with a few young players adding to the foundation built by the veterans. It’s sturdy, it can weather storms. But the Lions have only turned one double play so far and are the team with the most errors (24), which always comes at a cost in the long run. In any case, Savigny did the job cleanly against the struggling PUC, with that little touch of luck or talent that characterizes teams in form, like Hugo Désir’s double as a pinch hitter that sparked the Lions’ big inning in the 1st game.
Another team undefeated in 4 games (and, coincidence or not, since the return of Felix Brown) are the Templiers de Sénart, who weren’t expected to be in such good shape after a shaky start. After correcting Montpellier, they held their own against a always-clutch Béziers team, with interesting bullpen management, like Vera’s decisive relief in the 1st game against the Pirates, or Mathieu Brelle’s contribution at the end of the game. Sénart is hitting hard (3 HR in their last three games) and has experienced players capable, after two negative seasons, of putting the Templiers back on the map.
La Rochelle has relinquished its leading position, but not without merit. The Boucaniers came close to sweeping the Huskies, which would probably have happened without the 4 errors in game 2. Defensive miscues led to three unearned runs, which made the difference. Pena’s huge performance in game 1 stands out, with two home runs including the decisive grand slam, and 6 RBIs. It’s hard to do better. La Rochelle continues to boost its non-JFL contingent, after the recent arrival of Schechter, followed by American pitcher Matthew Dadlani for a short stint, before the arrival of another American pitcher. It’s a lot, but it shouldn’t overshadow the performances of young French players, like Krzykawiak who surprises on the mound and Hernoux who nailed the coffin of the Rouennais last Saturday.
Toulouse continues to hang in there, but lets too many opportunities slip away at home. Coach Perez’s choices are interesting, especially trusting Duquenoy as a starter, which allows him to have a dynamic Laot – Rojas duo in relief. The bet isn’t won yet (0-3, 7.91 for the young pitcher), but it’s a long-term play. If Duquenoy gains confidence and fixes his control issues throughout the season, Toulouse will have effective solutions on the mound and will be a serious contender.
At the bottom of the standings, the PUC is still looking for its first win, and we can start to be a bit worried about the future of the Parisians. They fight, they do what they can, but there always comes a moment when everything collapses. The 7th inning of game 1 against Savigny is typical of what happens to the PUC. The score is 0-0, the PUC scores a run on an error, loads the bases with no outs. Two strikeouts and a ground ball later, no other run will come to score, and Savigny will score 5 in their next at-bat. The Parisians had the game, then collapsed, a scenario that tends to repeat itself, especially in the 6th and 7th innings, where the Parisians have a -23 run deficit.
It won’t be easy to catch Béziers, who have a three-game lead and have already played 8 away games out of 10. The Pirates lost by a hair against Sénart, they will certainly secure other big wins, if their offense shows a bit more productivity and their pitching is less generous.
As for the two struggling teams, Rouen and Montpellier, they narrowly avoided disaster. When the Huskies made an error on the 1st batter of the 9th inning of game 2, we even thought that Rouen, like last season, would collapse at the end of the game against the Boucaniers, but the defense held up. It is, moreover, one of the few satisfactions of the beginning of the season for the Rouennais, who are still looking for themselves at the plate and in relief. The Barracudas took on water again against Toulouse, with the now well-known cocktail of walks and errors. The victory in game 2 does not erase the fact that if Montpellier scores a lot of runs (97, 24 more than the next team), they also give up a lot (93, 19 more than the next team). In a championship that promises to be very tight, it is not at all impossible that a playoff spot will be decided by a tiebreaker, and the heavy defeats suffered during the season could well catch up with the Barracudas.
One certainty is that nothing is decided, and that every matchday, every game, every at-bat will have real importance. And the team that can make a difference on the road will have a good chance to stand out. Indeed, so far, D1 is a very home-loving championship: 28-10 at home for all teams (and therefore 10-28 away), .269 against .237 batting average, 4.37 against 6.75 ERA. We are so comfortable at home… Will someone manage to disrupt this well-established order?
François Colombier
Photo credits: RS Club
