The Return of the Lion King

There are pleasant moments in a journalist’s job. Coming to ask Guillaume Coste, Monsieur Savigny, a few questions after winning the French championship is one of them. It starts with a generous hug, continues with a smile that stretches from ear to ear, and a look that shines with so much joy. It’s also a lot of kindness, because he must have wanted to join his guys, celebrating in the dugout. Through the closed door, we expected chants, “We’re French champions!” The Lions could have even sung the national anthem. It’s a day of glory and fierce warriors. Because this title, they fought tooth and nail for it, with their guts, with an unshaken will to never give up.

Yet, they took a serious beating on Saturday. A 10-0 loss, Pena removed from the mound, and the feeling that the coach had slammed his fist on the table and called an end to recess. That feeling was doubled in the fifth game when Hugo Blondel’s two-run home run in the 4th inning made it 5-0. We could feel the wind shifting, see the inevitable happening again. The Huskies were shaken, close to defeat, but suddenly raised their game and cleared everything in their path. Except everything flipped. When we thought the Lions were on the brink of collapse, Rouen cracked. Gloves tore, arms trembled, minds froze. The door opened a crack. And the Lions pushed through with one big swing, then two, then took it all.

Of course, we can talk about Nunez’s (what a game 4!) and Acuna’s big hits, especially in the 6th inning when everything changed. The leaders did their job, sounded the charge. But we’ll remember the 9th inning most, where the bottom of the line-up, the youngsters, executed perfectly. In game 2, Savigny overwhelmed Rouen with home runs. In game 4, in the deciding inning, it was small ball that finally sank the Rouen team, powerless to react against carefully placed bunt hits. Savigny can do it all, and he proved it brilliantly this time. Bernardi-Chiba’s hit, Grosjean-Gardaix’s bunt—it was the new generation at work. “Believing in our young players is part of our culture,” Ivan Acuna told us at the end of the game. “We’ve been doing it for a long time in this club. Developing players, making winners out of them, not being afraid to give them responsibilities in tough situations—that’s essential for us. That’s also why we never give up. We all trust our abilities. We always believe.” We also can’t forget Hugo Désir’s double (who is turning into a true Huskies Killer) in that 6th inning of redemption. Danger came from everywhere. But the veterans had their say, and how could we not mention Gédéon Coste’s two massive performances. For us, he’s the MVP of the final. Because he could have cracked in game 2 when his defense failed him in the 1st inning, or in game 4 when it got tough against Rouen’s heart of the line-up. But he held it together. He kept his team in the game. He allowed them to come back from 0-2 (game 2) and, even more, from 0-5 (game 4), by continuing to face Rouen batters who didn’t always show discipline. All he had left, after his effort, was to hand the ball to Orozco, who finished the job with the coolness and precision of a surgeon. A final is also full of small (or big) redemption stories. Adrian Pena was dominated like never before in game 3. He made a big error in right field early in game 4 to give the Huskies their first run. But he hit a game-winning bunt in the 9th inning, and it was him who scored the winning point. Before the final, we thought he’d cause huge problems for Rouen and could win his two games. We never imagined it would be with his bat and legs that he drove the final nail into Rouen’s coffin. That’s clearly the Lions. With them, there’s never a problem without a solution.

Writing this, we obviously think about the field. It’s been a hot topic, and it will keep being. How can we not pay tribute to the team spirit of a squad that’s never at home? The president, Seminet, who sometimes says very smart things, posted a long message on social media that ended with “How far could they go if we finally gave them the facilities worthy of their commitment and ambitions?” When you see what they’re capable of, asking the question is almost answering it. They’d be terrifyingly hard to play. “We’ve built a great partnership with the Chartres club,” Acuna said. “We feel at home here.” Yes, it’s certain, it’s perfect, but it’s still a makeshift solution—it’ll never be ideal. There’s no one in French baseball who wouldn’t want the Lions to finally get their home back. Because, on top of dominating on the field, they’ve also won the crowd battle. How many fans were there, how loud, how enthusiastic—the Savigny supporters during this final. It’s so nice to see that kind of support.

It proves this Lions success didn’t come out of nowhere. Since 2022, the Lions have one championship title, one challenge, two lost finals. It’s undeniably a golden generation taking over, and the veterans around the field—Martinez-Scott, Lemestre, Ferreira, and others—can be proud of the legacy they’ve passed on. With one big difference: today’s Lions beat Rouen in the final, something those legendary players never managed to do. Take a moment to appreciate this feat. Beating Rouen in the final had never happened before. So, as all statisticians know, the longer a series goes, the closer it gets to its outcome. Rouen had to lose eventually. That it happened against Savigny isn’t the worst thing.

But let’s go back to the Coste family, starting with Guillaume. “Baseball, you have to believe in it until the last inning, the last pitch, the last swing,” he said. “They’re a huge team, they play tough, they’re strong. But we’ve got our little guys, our small advantages—we believed. You have to believe in your dreams. You have to dream… that’s why I’m here every weekend.” Then with Gédéon: *“Immense pride in seeing it through. Since D1 lost the right to play at Savigny, we’ve always hoped a national title might, maybe, move things along.
But beyond that, this title also crowns all the work done in building the club. From the rebuild, we bet on the baseball school and supported young players all the way to D1. Over the years, it built a real club culture, a strong identity.
And in the end, we win with our strengths… but also with our weaknesses. We’re probably the team that makes the most mistakes, and the lack of a field definitely shows in our play: we’re limited defensively. But we go all out on pitching and hitting. It gives our performances a slightly chaotic edge: we take hits, bounce back, hit even harder… and most importantly, we have a great time!”*

The Lions dreamed with their eyes wide open this season. There’s a new ruler in French baseball. Let’s bow before the Lion King.

Key Facts and Figures from the 2026 Final

·         It’s the first time since 2017 (Rouen – Sénart, 9-8 game 5) that a final ended with a walk-off.

·         The mercy rule in game 3 (10-0) is the first since 2012 (Rouen – Sénart, game 3, 10-0). There have been only four other mercy rules in finals: Rouen vs. Savigny 2010 (game 1, 16-4), Rouen vs. Sénart 2008 (game 4, 12-2), Savigny vs. Rouen 2005 (game 1, 17-7), Savigny vs. Montpellier 2002 (game 5, 12-2).

·         Still on scores, the Lions’ 1-0 win in game 1 is only the third time such a score has happened in a final (Sénart vs. Rouen, game 1, 2007, and Montpellier vs. Montigny, game 3, 2003).

·         When Blondel hit his two-run home run in the 4th inning of game 4, the Huskies’ probability of winning was 86.3%. It even rose to 93.9% after their turn at bat in the 6th inning, according to Fangraphs’ calculator.

·         After the 6th inning of game 4, the Huskies hit 3 times, while the Lions hit 9. Over the entire series, in innings 6 to 9, Rouen hit 6 times, and Savigny hit 14.

·         The Huskies left 32 runners on base, while the Lions left 16. Rouen hit .139 (5 for 36) with runners in scoring position, and Savigny hit .222 (4 for 18).

 F. Colombier

Photo Credits: Glenn Gervot