The French Elite League Club Cougars de Montigny announced first roster changes for the 2010 season on their website last weekend. We already knew that talented shortstop Maxime Lefevre will leave the club to join the Rouen Huskies, if he is not going to an American University. He will be accompanied by Yohan Bret, who also will go to the reigning French champion.
Also not coming back are the Americans Derek Malikian and Chris Patterson. British national teamer and MLB Game Development Manager Jason Holowaty already switched to the Belgian club Namur Angels mid-season.
The club already has brought in several new players. While Minnesota Twin Frederic Hanvi probably only could help in September, the others should be with Montigny all season. 18-year-old pitcher Thomas Gicquel, who is also a member of the Baseball Academy in Rouen, comes from the Nationale 1 club Expos d’Ermont.
Also new on the Elite League pitching staff full-time will be the 16-year-old Sebastien Neumann, who already helped out during the Challenge de France and the play downs this year. He played for the reserve team of the Cougars mainly. Gicquel and Neumann also were part of the French national team during the European Championship Juniors in Bonn, Germany this August.
Two players, which arrived at the end of the season in Montigny, will start the year with the reserve team. Alexandre Dovigo and Haywood Wise played for the Patriots de Paris. The Cougars have especially some hopes for the 37-year-old Dovigo as a bench player, who won several French championships in the past and also was a member of the French national team.
Another change was made at the top of the coaching staff. Manager Gregory Fages is leaving because of professional reasons. Veteran players Christophe Herard (38 years old) and Nicolas Launay (28) will take over.
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