TOULOUSE
The staggered schedule of this year’s D1 meant Sunday was once again opening day, at least for three of the six teams in action. Yeah baby!
One of these teams is the Stade Toulousain, who have a number of new players and high hopes of climbing the ranks after finishing 7th last year (out of 11 teams). And by a glorious spring day on the sunny grounds of the Argoulets, just outside Toulouse, the Tigers, as they are also known, were all smiles before their opening match.
Facing them, however, was one of the toughest draws in the league: the Sénart Templiers, runners-up in 2021 and undefeated, at 2-0, heading into the weekend.
With plenty of new faces themselves, the Templiers are a work in progress and don’t yet inspire the same fear and respect as last year, when they went 18-2 in the regular season. But they’re still a force to be reckoned with, especially when ace Shane Priest takes the mound, which he did in Sunday’s first game in Toulouse.
The American import (9-4, 2.70 ERA in 2021) is one of the top pitchers in French baseball and, unfortunately for the Stade Toulousain, he proved it once again with a masterful performance.
In eight innings of work, Priest allowed just one hit and struck out 11, bringing his season strikeout total to 22, the best in the league.
The Tigers’ starting pitcher, Jhon Will García, had a decent outing of his own, allowing three runs, two earned, and striking out seven. However, defensive errors cost the Tigers dearly, allowing the Templiers to take a 3-0 lead after five innings and force García, a former Minnesota Twins prospect, out of the game.
The Templiers added a fourth run in the seventh inning against reliever Kenny Esposito, who attends the Pôle France baseball academy in Toulouse. With Priest, meanwhile, continuing to dominate, the home team never managed to mount a rally, ultimately losing 0-8.
Sénart benefited from the offensive contributions of newcomers Thomas Greely from the United States and Héctor Velasquez, a Venezuelan making his debut in French baseball but with a decade of experience in Europe. The rookies combined for four hits and four RBIs.
Disappointed, obviously, with the result, the Toulousains still felt good about their chances of winning the second game. And for much of the match, they were able to do just that.
Sénart’s number two starter (at least for now) is Alexandre Lods, a French player who doesn’t have a ton of power in his pitches. The Tigers took advantage, scoring three runs in the first two innings, and after six, led the game 3-2.
They couldn’t capitalize beyond that, however, and in the top of the ninth, with the score tied 3-3, the Templiers exploded for four runs against Euri García of the Stade Toulousain, who pitched a complete game.
Velasquez led the Templiers’ offense once again. He went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. The 36-year-old « rookie » now has nine hits on the season (tied for first in D1 with La Rochelle’s Théo Lakmeche). He also leads the league in RBIs, with nine, and is batting a sizzling .600.
Sénart ultimately won the game 7-3 to improve their record to a perfect 4-0 and take the top spot in Group B. With both losses, the Tigers start the season at the bottom of the pool.
Offensive explosion
Nearly 700 kilometers further north, at the Stade Pershing in Paris, Sunday was also Opening Day for two teams in Group A: the local Paris UC and the Savigny Lions. And as in Toulouse, the visiting team went home triumphant, winning both games of the double-header by scores of 12-5 and 13-2.
Offense was Savigny’s strong suit last year, when they reached the D1 semifinals but lost to Sénart, and based on Sunday’s performance, it looks like that’s the case again.
In the first game, returning stars Tom Dahan and Jacques Boucheron both hit triples. Together, they also drew five walks – talk about discipline! Ivan Acuña, one of the league’s most electric hitters, drew three BBs himself, plus a hit, and Axel Amorros went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
On the pitching side, Gédéon Coste threw a complete game, allowing five runs (three earned) and striking out eight. The losing pitcher, for the Paris UC, was Akimasa Yasuda, a Japanese rookie with experience in the Czech Extraliga. Yasuda allowed seven runs (only one earned) in four innings.
The Savigny batters continued to shine in the afternoon game. Newcomer Pablo Gonzales, a utility player from Venezuela, had two hits in the game, as did Acuña, Boucheron, and Amorros. And Yeixon Ruíz, a Dominican in his fourth year with the team, had three hits.
Pitchers Hassad Firmin and Evertz Orozco combined to limit Paris UC to just four hits, two of them by teenager Thomas Demory, and with the sweep, the Lions (2-0) quickly positioned themselves at the top of Group A, ahead of the Rouen Huskies and Montigny Cougars (both 1-1).
Promising start
Last but not least in our D1 weekend recap, a match under the sun in La Rochelle, where the Boucaniers, 1-1 after a split result last Sunday against the Montpellier Barracudas, hosted Nice Cavigal (0-2) in front of a local crowd that is more than a little excited about their team’s prospects for 2022.
La Rochelle, a mid-table team over the past two seasons, is hungry for more and once again proved they might just have the pieces in place to finally take their place at the table of the league’s top clubs.
With a revamped lineup and solid pitching, the Boucaniers jumped all over Nice in the opening game, taking advantage of shaky defense to score five runs in the first inning on just two hits. One of them was a two-RBI single by Théo Lakmeche, who had three hits in the game (and five on the day!).
Led by Jonathan Montas, last year’s D1 batting champion (.478), Nice climbed back into the game with three runs in the third inning. La Rochelle’s starting pitcher, Franklin De La Rosa, however, kept his cool and prevented the visitors from scoring in the next two innings before being relieved by Venezuelan ace Wilce Nieves.
In four innings, the former Chicago White Sox prospect, now in his second season with La Rochelle, allowed two runs, none of them earned, and helped his own cause by going 2-for-2 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored.
Jorge Suazo also performed well at the plate, with two hits in the game, including a two-RBI triple in the fifth inning, when the Boucaniers extended their lead to 9-3 and never looked back.
Final score: 13-5.
After a short lunch break, the Boucaniers feasted in the afternoon game. Brazilian rookie Felipe Lot hit a three-run home run in the third inning, and his fellow South American Ramiro Milar from Argentina had three hits before Nice Cavigal, leading 1-13 after five innings, finally decided to cry « uncle » – as they say in English – and throw in the towel.
Special shoutout also to La Rochelle pitcher Nicolas Antoine, who allowed just one hit (and no runs) in four innings of work to pick up his first W of the season.
With the win, the Boucaniers move to 3-1 and currently sit in second place in Group B behind Sénart. The victory was awarded, however, by forfeit from Nice (9-0) as the Nicois had to head home (10-hour drive) and some players had trains to catch.
The Montpellier Barracudas (1-1) had the weekend off but will look to make up ground on the leaders when they travel next Sunday for a double-header in Nice.
Rouen and Montigny didn’t play either, nor did the Metz Cometz, who haven’t taken the field yet this year. If the weather cooperates, they’ll have their long-awaited opening day on May 1st, on the road against Montigny.
Benjamin Witte
Photo: Alenso Almedo Castro, Stade Toulousain
Visuals: Maxence Esteban and Aline Héry
