The Elite League playoffs in France completed the first half of the round robin this past weekend and nearly all decisions regarding the finals are made. SENART already had clinched a ticket for the championship series a week ago. ROUEN beat the TEMPLIERS twice this week in dominating fashion and now has a five-game advantage in the standings with six games to go. SAVIGNY held on to their slim chances and defeated MONTPELLIER also in two games.
Results:
Senart – Rouen 0-6, 4-18 (in Rouen)
Savigny – Montpellier 8-4, 12-5
Standings:
- Senart 28-6
- Rouen 26-8
- Savigny 21-13
- Montpellier 16-18
Playdowns:
Toulouse – La Guerche 4-3, 9-6
Clermont-Ferrand – Paris UC 8-6, 8-15
Templiers Senart – Rouen Huskies 0-6, 4-18 (in Rouen)
ROU 210 000 030 6 12 3 SEN 000 000 000 0 2 2 ROU 006 000 156 18 26 1 SEN 200 000 020 4 7 0
In game one between SENART and ROUEN everybody expected a pitcher’s duel between Samuel Meurant (SEN) and Keino Perez (ROU). However two frames after the first pitch, the HUSKIES were up 3-0 en route to a 6-0 shutout. The third batter in the match, Kenji Hagiwara ripped a double into center field to drive in two runs. Luc Piquet added a run with a RBI single in the second. Olivier Israel (2 RBI) and Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Joris Bert, who led off for ROUEN, brought home three more runs in the eighth. Perez struck out five in seven innings to pick up the win. He gave up two hits and a walk. Laurent Aoutin replaced him in the bottom of the eighth and completed the two-hitter. Meurant allowed three runs on ten hits in six innings, while striking out five.
In the second match the TEMPLIERS actually had the better start, taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on RBI singles by Andy Meurant and Gaspard Fessy. But the offense of ROUEN took over shortly after. They scored six runs in the third to turn the result to their favor and added twelve runs in the last three frames for a lopsided 18-4 victory. They punched out 26 hits in the second part of the doubleheader. The highlight probably was a two-run homerun by Randy Perez in the ninth. Mathieu Crescent started and received the win after five innings, three hits, two runs and three base on balls. Ian Young took the loss after giving up six runs in 4 1/3 innings.
