Rouen Huskies – Stade Toulousain 9-6, 17-2 (6)
The Rouen Huskies swept a two-game series against Stade Toulousain. In game one on Saturday Rouen had the better start, putting eight runs on the board in the first two frames and leading 9-0 after four. Toulouse answered with six runs in the fifth, but couldn’t do anything afterwards, losing 6-9. J. Bert highlighted the first rally of the Huskies with a steal of home. Y. Bret drove in three. S. Morgavi and F. Rouge had two-run hits for the Tigers in the fifth.
In the second game on Sunday morning Rouen easily cruised to a 17-2 win in six innings. Three four-run rallies blew the game wide open. A. Ramelet cleared the bases with a double in the second. D. Gauthier hit a grand slam and crossed the plate three times overall. L. Piquet scored four times. J. Bert went 4-for-5. J. Crystal struck out nine in five innings for the win.
Montpellier Barracudas – Paris UC 14-4 (7), 14-4 (8)
Recap by Jeff Stoeckel, Paris UC
The story of last week’s games between Paris UC and Toulouse was solid defense and timely hitting. On Sunday, when Paris UC traveled to Montpellier to play the Barracudas, it was a whole different story. Montpellier used a solid offensive attack, helped by 10 Paris UC defensive errors, to dismantle the team from the capital by a score of 14-4 in both games.
In the first game, Montpellier got on top in the bottom of the first inning when A. Cros laced a triple to left field off of Paris UC starting pitcher W. Musson. Montpellier shortstop A. Zuaznabar scored easily after reaching on an error earlier in the inning. A. Cros then scored on an aggressive baserunning play when he raced home after Paris UC catcher C. Mesguich let a pitch trickle too far away from home plate. The rest of the game followed a similar story, with Montpellier racking up 14 runs on 15 hits and 4 Paris UC errors. Six Montpellier batters had multi-hit games, led by shortstop Zuaznabar who went 3-5 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. Montpellier used an effective rotation of pitchers, including starter L. Andrades and relievers J. Navarro (W) and P. Granier. Musson took the loss for Paris UC after pitching only 2.1 innings.
In the second game, it felt like deja vu. Paris UC started the game, like they did in the first game, by getting a run in the first half of the first inning. However, Montpellier responded by scoring 6 runs of their own on 6 hits and 2 Paris UC errors. The lead created in the first inning proved to be too much for Paris UC to overcome, as they cut the lead to 7-4 in the middle of the game, but ended up falling 14-4 to the Barracudas. Montpellier shortstop A. Zuaznabar led the offensive charge again recording 4 hits in the game and scoring twice. Teammate A. Pitcher added a pair of hits and drove in 4 runs as well. Paris UC reliever W. Musson provided a solid relief effort for the Pucistes, tossing 5 innings, giving up only 4 hits and striking out 8. However, Paris UC could not claw their way back into the game after giving up too many runs early.
What follows is a quote from Paris UC Head Coach Jeff Stoeckel: “There’s not much to say about the games we played today. You simply can’t win if you make 10 errors in 2 games, and that doesn’t include the countless other mistakes that do not show up in the scorebook. I take responsibility for a couple of mistakes today, but ultimately, our team has to find it in themselves to battle against the tougher teams in the league. We will hit practice hard this week and prepare for our home games against Senart on the 15th.”
Paris UC hosts the Templiers from Senart in Paris on May 15 starting at 11:00 a.m.
Montigny Cougars – Pessac Panthers 3-4 (10), 2-10
The Pessac Panthers continue to impress in the French Elite League, sweeping the winless Montigny Cougars on the road. In game one Pessac took advantage of the IBAF Tiebreaker Rule, winning 4-3 after ten innings. An error by the right fielder helped to plate the two decisive runs in the tenth. The Cougars were able to cut the deficit to a run in the bottom of the frame, but eventually stranded two en route to the loss.
In the second game the Panthers celebrated a 10-2 win. M. Charlot and J. Mullaly combined for four RBI. G. Bouchard scored three times. W. Coopman accounted for both Montigny runs with a solo homerun and a RBI single. He also was charged with the loss, losing the duel on the mound against G. Gisbert.
Templiers Senart – Savigny Lions 5-4, 13-18
The two top-ranked teams prior the game day, the Templiers Senart and the Lions Savigny, settled for a split in their twin bill. In game one Senart prevailed 5-4 thanks to an eight-inning homerun by B. Lorienne. The Templiers had tied the game on a three-run homerun by J. Brelle in the bottom of the fifth. V. Ferreira went deep for Savigny. M. Brelle-Andrade struck out eight in a complete game win. C. Cooper collected eleven Ks in seven innings. P. Lemestre relieved him in the eighth and took the loss.
In game two the Lions got payback, scoring twelve runs in the first three innings en route to out-slug Senart 18-13. E. Deblanc doubled twice and drove in six. L. Aponte hit a homerun for Savigny. P. Lemestre scored four times. F. Hanvi homered twice for Senart. He also crossed the plate for four runs. M. Brelle-Andrade had two doubles and four RBI for the Templiers. K. Atkinson retired all twelve batters he faced in a relief outing for Senart. He was the lone pitch not getting charged with run in the game.
Box scores, Stats at Official Website of French Federation
{mrb-standing:france-2011}