Stade Toulousain – Montpellier Barracudas 5-9, 1-14 (7)
The Montpellier Barracudas took away two wins from their trip to Toulouse. In game one Jonathan Haras drove in four and Jean Michel Mayeur and Andy Pitcher scored three runs apiece in a 9-5 win over Stade Toulousain. The home team offense only woke up in the ninth, scoring four runs, which was too late to change anything in the outcome. Laurent Andrades (W 4-0) allowed three hits, a run and five walks in six innings. James Murrey (L 0-1) issued four hits, two runs and four walks in five innings.
In the second game the Barracudas blew the score wide open with seven runs in the fifth en route to a 14-1 victory. Anthony Cros reached base four times, went deep, scored twice and drove in three. Luc Didier had four hits. Rudolph Ware (W 2-0) conceded three hits, an unearned run and three walks in five innings. Thomas Dourlens (L 1-3) surrendered six hits, four runs and four bb in three innings.
Rouen Huskies – Montigny Cougars 13-0 (7), 3-2
The Rouen Huskies held the Montigny Cougars winless this season, celebrating a pair of wins at home. Game one was a short story, as Rouen scored nine quick runs in the first three frames on its way to a 13-0 shutout. Kenji Hagiwara reached base and scored four times. Luc Piquet had three hits, two runs and a RBI. Boris Marche drove in two. Jordan Crystal (W 3-1) struck out ten in six scoreless innings, issuing three hits and two walks. Julien Higashiyama (L 0-1) was charged with 13 runs (11 ER) on 14 hits and six bb in six innings.
The second match was a completely different affair with the same outcome, as the Huskies downed the Cougars 3-2. A walk-off RBI single by Aldo Ramelet in the bottom of the ninth lifted Rouen to the win. They had to erase an early 0-2 deficit, as Montigny opened the game with RBIs by Warren Coopman and Olivier Daire. Boris Marche scored in the first and the third to tie the game. Keino Perez (ROU) gave up eleven hits, two unearned runs and a walk in eight innings. Joris Bert (W 2-0) picked up the win with a scoreless ninth. Coopman (L 0-5) was charged with six hits, three unearned runs and two bb in 8 1/3 innings.
Paris UC – Templiers Senart 1-11 (7), 9-12
Recap by Jeff Stoeckel, Paris UC
After suffering a quick defeat in the first game on Sunday, Paris UC responded by sending the second game of the day into extra innings. However, the Templiers of Senart proved to have more depth on the mound and left the day with two more victories to their name.
In the first game, Senart used a solid pitching performance from Mathieu Brelle Andrade and a potent offensive attack, led by new acquisition Felix Brown (3-5 with 3 RBI), to dismantle the team from Paris by a score of 11-1 in 7 innings. Paris UC started the game on a positive note when in the bottom of the 1st inning, Jean Baptiste Breton came home on a Will Musson sacrifice fly to left field. However, the lead wouldn’t last long, as Senart immediately responded in the top of the 2nd. Ernesto Martine led off the 2nd inning with a double, and later scored on another double by Bryce Lorienne. Paris UC managed to give Senart too many chances to score with a costly error in the outfield and a few misplayed defensive opportunities that could have ended the inning. By the end of the 2nd, Senart had tallied 6 runs on 6 hits. That was all that Senart starter Mathieu Brelle Andrade (7.0 innings, 4 hits, 0 earned runs, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts) needed, as he improved to 6-0 on the year with another quality start for Senart. Frederic Mouchet (6.0 innings, 13 hits, 10 earned runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts) took the loss for Paris UC, falling to 2-3 on the season.
The second game provided spectators at Stade Pershing (Paris) with a lot of excitement. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Paris UC got on top when Jean Baptiste Breton scored for the second time in two games on a sacrifice fly from Gabriel Bollet. Paris UC looked like they were in for a big first inning, with one run already scored and men on 2nd and 3rd with one out, but a costly base running error by Frederic Mouchet ended the inning prematurely with a double play. Paris UC added 4 more runs in the bottom of the 4th with some well-played baseball. After a throwing error from Senart third baseman Kevin Atkinson, Gabriel Bollet sacrificed Will Musson to second base. Camille Mesguich then came through for Paris UC with a single to right field that scored Musson. Later in the inning, Takafumi Iwata doubled to left-center field, scoring Mesguich. Finally, Paris UC scratched across the last two runs of the inning with a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Bertrand Dubaut and heads-up base running by Iwata.
Senart did a fantastic job of responding yet again with 4 runs in the top of the 5th and 2 runs in the top of the 6th to erase the Paris UC lead. In the top of the 5th, aggressive baserunning by J. BRELLE and Felix Brown put the Templiers’ Kevin Atkinson in position to rip a 2 RBI triple that narrowed Paris UC’s lead to 5-4. In the 6th, Julien Brelle and Mathieu Brelle reached on a walk and error by Paris UC pitcher Musson. After a ground out from Brown moved both runners into scoring position, shortstop Devon Franklin plated both runners with a 2 RBI single up the middle to take the lead, 6-5. Paris UC tied the game in the bottom half of the 6th, when Oscar Saavedra plated Mesguich with a single. The score remained tied through 9 innings, and the game was sent into a tie-break. Senart made the most of the tie-break, scoring 6 runs in the 10th inning on only 3 hits, highlighted by a 3-run homerun by Atkinson. Paris UC made a charge in their half of the tie-break, but ultimately fell short and the game ended with Senart winning, 12-9. Atkinson (4.0 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts) picked up the win for Senart, throwing 4 innings of effective relief after starter Samuel Meurant. Musson (9.0 innings, 8 hits, 5 earned runs, 4 walks, 14 strikeouts) pitched well in a no-decision appearance, and Maximin Monbeig (1.0 innings, 3 hits, 4 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts) picked up the loss in his one inning of relief.
Pessac Panthers – Savigny Lions 2-13 (7), 4-5
The Savigny Lions solidified first place in the French Elite League with a pair of wins over the promoted Pessac Panthers. In game one five runs in the fifth and four in the sixth sealed the deal in a 13-2 rout. Luis Aponte and Thomas Salado combined for six RBI. Vincent Ferreira scored three times. Pierrick Lemestre (W 1-2) issued just one hit, two runs (1 ER) and a walk in his first start of the season. He struck out seven in six innings. Guillaume Gisbert (L 2-2) gave up eight runs (7 ER) and nine hits in five innings.
The second game was much closer, as the Lions edged out a 5-4 win. Pessac tried to come back twice, but only managed to cut the deficit to run, failing to score in the last four frames. Clayton Cooper (W 5-0) went the distance for Savigny. He allowed nine hits and four runs (2 ER), while striking out nine. Vincent Ferreira and Luis Aponte again were a RBI machine, combining to drive in four. Lucas Mangle scored twice for the Panthers. Maxwell Tyler (L 1-2) was charged with seven hits, five runs (3 ER) and a walk.
Box scores and Stats at FFBSC.org
{mrb-standing:france-2011}