There are three certainties in life: taxes, death, and the Huskies transforming into a war machine when it’s time to play a French Championship final.
It wasn’t at all obvious to imagine the Rouennais dominating the Barracudas without mercy. True, the Huskies, at home, had only lost one game in the regular season and had just turned the tide against Toulouse. But Montpellier seemed to be of a different caliber, quite capable of leaving with at least one victory. Final score, 2-0 for Rouen, 12 points to 3, 24 hits to 14, 5 doubles to 1, 6 hit by pitch to zero, 6 stolen bases to 2. There wasn’t anyone who could have bet on such a gap.
The feeling is that everything went well on one side and everything went wrong on the other. The Huskies perfectly executed everything needed to impose themselves. First, taking the lead in the first inning of each game, which always boosts morale. In the first three innings, the Huskies scored 9 runs and the Barracudas none. The writing was on the wall. Then, with at-bats much better managed than usual. True, the Huskies always swing at the first pitch (16% in the final vs. 18% in the regular season). But they were seen as more patient, more selective, more able to wait for the good pitch, especially with runners in scoring position. They batted .321 in these situations (vs. .298 in the season), and were also very effective with two outs (.354 vs. .268 in the season), a situation where they scored 6 of their 7 runs in game 2. There were one or two bad runs, you can’t change that, but the Huskies achieved 100% success in stolen base attempts, which is not easy against Kovacs and is much better than the 78% of the regular season or the 82% of the semi-final. In defense, the Huskies, who had committed 11 errors against Toulouse, found all their qualities: no errors (it’s the 16th time the Huskies have a perfect defensive record this season) and some beautiful moments, including double plays turned at high intensity by MacKenzie and Harrison.
The collective work was therefore impeccable. It was sublimated by some high-end individual performances. Thibault Mercadier, first. After a regular season in the shadows, and a mediocre first game in Toulouse, he found all his qualities. We remember his 9 innings and 123 pitches in the decisive game 5. He did it again on Saturday: 9 innings and 132 pitches, and apart from a small scare in the 5th inning, he well mastered the Barracudas’ attack, retiring the first batter 8 out of 9 times, and being intractable at the end of the game. We could maybe expect a great outing from Mercadier, whose qualities we know. It was less obvious to see Luke Livian deliver an even more impressive performance than in the semi-final against Montpellier. He challenged the Barracudas’ line-up for 8 innings, relying on his defense, and well helped by the 5 runs scored early in the game. So yes, the Huskies’ starting pitchers did the job.
But the man of the semi-final is the center fielder Logan Flood. He looked in shape when he caught, after a long run and a nice dive, a hit from Monks that could have fallen safely. When he hit a single to produce the 1st run, we had confirmation that he was having a good day. We didn’t expect him to hit 5 more hits in a row (4 in game 1, 1 to start game 2), before receiving an intentional walk, another walk, and being hit by a pitch. 9 plate appearances on the paths in his first 9 at-bats, it’s simply unbelievable. After his ground ball to third base to end the 8th inning, he finished his weekend with 6 hits, 1 double, 4 RBI, 1 stolen base, a .857 average, and a 2.043 OPS.
Talking about the impeccable collective of the Rouennais and the three individualities who dominated the debate is also pointing a major element: the Huskies played above their 2025 standards. While the Barracudas were below. A Vera who is dominated, then chased after 5 and a third innings, Brossier who is 1 in 7, Zan 0 in 7, Kovacs 0 in 8, Guiraud 2 in 8, these are not the Barracudas we know.
And that’s where everything can change. Because it’s hard to believe that Montpellier won’t raise their level of play, especially at Veyrassi, where their record is as spotless as the white sand of the outfield. There’s no doubt that coach Smith’s men have the technical qualities to find their baseball again. Remains one of the essential elements of a final, the hardness of the mind. Do the Barracudas, psychologically, have the resources to turn the light back on and go on the offensive? They know they have a relative advantage if it comes down to game 5. But before that, they’ll have to win two. It’s not impossible, we know. Montpellier will have to play much better, Rouen a little less well. This final has been of excellent level so far. It can become superb, one of those we’ll talk about in decades, those of an impossible but true comeback or to fit into an implacable, inexorable, inescapable logic, that of a 19th title. It’s going to be hot this weekend in Montpellier.
F. Colombier
Photo credits: Glenn Gervot
