This year’s championship is thrilling, with Rouen struggling and surprises throughout. Only two matchdays left to decide the four play-off and play-down teams. Some near-certainties are emerging, like Toulouse in Pool A and Montpellier in Pool B securing their play-off spots.
For the second spot, it’s still within reach for two teams in each pool: Montigny and Rouen in Pool A, and Sénart and Savigny in Pool B. Montigny and Savigny have the edge, but the final two matchdays could shake things up.
La Rochelle and Metz are definitely headed for the play-downs. Nice and PUC are facing relegation to Division 2. After the play-down phase in September, the promotion/relegation playoffs will be held in October between the 8th-place D1 team and the D2 leader.
What happened in Round 13?
We at Baseball TV France predicted all teams would split their games this weekend. Wrong! Toulouse, Montigny, Montpellier, and Savigny each swept their doubleheaders against PUC, La Rochelle, Metz, and Sénart, respectively.
La Rochelle had the roughest weekend, failing to capitalize against Montigny. Beating Montigny’s ace Yorfrank Lopez (who had a monster game with two triples) is a tall order for nearly any team this year. Their second game went into extra innings, but a wild throw by catcher Miguel Lopez at third base gave Montigny the edge, which they held onto, thanks to smart pitcher management.
Tom Mayeux of Montigny shared his thoughts: « I think this weekend’s results reflect our team’s momentum since the France Challenge. We’re having a blast playing together for the team and the club on weekends. These two games against La Rochelle were crucial—our pool is tight this year, and play-off spots are hard-earned. We played two intense games where we made the difference at the right moments. To keep our play-off hopes alive, we had to leave with two wins, and we delivered. I’m thrilled with our performance! »
Toulouse dominated PUC on their home turf, securing their play-off spot.
In Pool B, Montpellier continued their dominance, looking very confident.
Owen Ozanich shared his thoughts: « Our team keeps working hard to position ourselves well for the play-offs. We have some absences (softball) the next two weeks, so we wanted to win both games here against Sénart to rotate our roster against Nice and Savigny in the final two weekends in July. »
The other match between Savigny and Metz went to the Lions. David Ten Eyck, Metz’s president, shared his thoughts: « We’re all disappointed with these results. We’re giving young players a lot of playing time this season, and it will pay off. Those who will form our team’s core in the coming years are understanding the demands of top-level baseball and the work needed to perform in D1. But we can’t accept defeats by blaming youth, inexperience, or injuries. A new phase of the season starts with the play-downs, and we must approach it with fight. Our survival in D1 is at stake from August 15… and until October 15 if needed. »
Next weekend is a break, with the All-Star Game on July 15 in Metz. We’ll cover that in an upcoming article. The 14th and penultimate matchday is July 23. Montigny and Metz will have an extra week off, finishing on July 30 for the final 15th matchday.
Photo credits: Benjamin Witte
