With half of the French Division 1 Women’s Softball Championship completed (5 matchdays out of 10 played), it’s time for the Challenge de France, where the six teams will face off in two pools before advancing to the knockout stages.
Over three days starting this Saturday, June 18, through Monday, June 20, the winning team will succeed Évry Courcouronnes, who won last year’s Challenge at home and are now competing in the European Cup.
The event takes place in Béziers, on neutral ground. You can find all the matches and their schedules in the link below. The games will be broadcast on the FFBS social networks and on Baseball TV France. The softball players will experience their third type of competition after the championship and the SuperLeague.
Based on the championship standings, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the teams?
Three teams currently have more wins than losses: the Comanches, the Pharaonnes, and the Rabbits. The other three teams—Panthères, Cavigal, and Grizzelys—are in the opposite situation.
The battle between Évry and St. Raphael, currently leading the championship standings, looks intense right from the first matchday since both teams are in the same pool. Pessac will have to fight hard to stand out. Clappiers Jacou has a better chance, facing Nice and Grenoble.
However, as we saw in the Baseball Challenge de France, the three-day competition format changes the dynamics in terms of pitching depth, recovery, and strategy adjustments when teams meet again. Sometimes, the top teams in the championship standings don’t perform the best in the tournament.
The first day will feature six matches, with each team playing twice. The second day’s standings will determine the three qualifying matches to decide the knockout stages on the third day.
