The fate of several teams is already sealed. Play-downs, play-offs, and mid-table. Already, La Rochelle and La Guerche de Bretagne are in the play-downs, and one more team will join them: Ronchin or Dunkerque. On the play-offs side, the work is done for Valenciennes in Pool A and Clermont and Béziers in Pool B. It’s still uncertain between Rouen and Sénart.
Several teams are now safe and will finish their season comfortably in Pool A: Ronchin, Thiais, Eysines, Meyzieu, and Anglet.
Pool A
La Guerche pulled off the day’s key result by beating Ronchin twice in close but crucial games. However, it won’t be enough to avoid the play-downs.
Valenciennes is comfortably leading this pool and deserves their top spot.
The battle for the second play-off spot will be fierce between Sénart and Rouen. Indeed, both teams have the same records as Valenciennes and Ronchin. Valenciennes can still mathematically lose their top spot if they lose their last four games, but it will also depend on the other teams.
Pool B
Anglet’s victory over Clermont saved them from the play-downs at the expense of the Rochelle side, who lost both their games against Meyzieu. On the other side, Eysines also managed to split their series with Béziers. It may seem surprising to see the top two teams in the pool splitting with two bottom-dwellers. It’s true that there’s no stakes for them as they had already secured their play-off spots. The pool has finished their matches and will now watch the Pool A action over the next two weekends.
On the statistics front, three teams have a batting average above .300 and will likely all be in the play-offs: Valenciennes, Béziers, and Sénart. In pitching, Clermont leads, followed by Valenciennes and Sénart. These numbers reveal that Rouen will have a tough task to prevent Sénart from reaching the final four of the play-offs.
Photo credits: Clermont, Valenciennes
