A French team in the final
It’s a bit sad, a semifinal between two French clubs. It feels like a regular championship Sunday, taking away the thrill of facing new opponents. But on the other hand, it guarantees at least one French representative in the final, and in the European Cup, that’s not exactly common.
The Rouen vs. Montpellier match on Saturday (5 PM) promises some fireworks. It will be the 3rd round of clashes between these two teams at the European level. A curious coincidence: the previous two meetings also took place in Rouen, with Montpellier coming agonizingly close to turning the tide in the 9th inning, in vain, both in 2016 and 2022. But we’re not in 2016 or 2022 anymore. Three weeks ago, the Barracudas dominated Rouen twice, notably hitting 27 hits against 16. Montpellier benefited from an unexpected day off (what a great idea to play a European Cup in Normandy in June, we all know it rains, remember 1944), while the Huskies, who were supposed to have a day off, had to face Deurne. Sure, it was more like batting practice, but Rouen burned an extra pitching bullet, which wasn’t necessarily in the Huskies’ management plans.
Montpellier might start with a slight advantage in the predictions, not only because the Barracudas are first in the championship and the Huskies are second, but also because they played a tough match against Hoboken on the first day (before making their cannons roar like the Diving Ducks), which certainly helps in preparing for a tight showdown. We pause for a moment on the case of the Belgians, who played two fantastic matches, against Montpellier and then against Tenerife, but lost by a hair each time. Tough luck for them. Rouen struggled against Vienna before pulling away late, then crushed Deurne.
It’s not a pure power surge, but the Huskies are at home, and the motivation will surely be there. The real question is about the pitching. Montpellier has brought out Vera and Couvreur, leaving carefully in the bullpen Polit, Ozanich, and Quinonez, enough to see them through. Rouen has handed the ball to Bellina, Pioul, and Laval-Quesney, so we can estimate that Mercadier (especially with the unfortunate absence of Kenny Esposito, who only had one training session with his new team before injuring his hand) will be called to the mound. It didn’t go very well for him the last time, only two innings pitched, 7 runs, 8 hits, 0 strikeouts, and 2 walks. One can hope he’s learned from his mistakes.
The winner of the French showdown will very likely have the dubious honor of facing the formidable Marlins of Tenerife in the final on Sunday. Indeed, it’s hard to see Deurne, who has already used their best pitcher, Gerdel-Nieto, to barely overcome Vienna, standing up to the offensive armada from the Canary Islands. This week makes us regret the new organization of the European Cups. The absence of the Germans or the Czechs, who would have given a different look to a competition where the Austrians are often relegated to the role of sacrificial lambs. We need higher-level clashes to truly savor the salt of Europe. It’s high time the WBSC revisited their plans.
F. Colombier
