Head coach Jeff Stoeckel and right-hander James Murrey recently concluded the regular season with Paris UC in the French Division I and captured a third-place finish en route to the playoffs. Gaétan Alibert asked for their impressions of the team in the 2012 season a couple of days before the start of the postseason in French Baseball.
Jeff Stoeckel:
Regular Season — I am extremely proud of my team for what they have accomplished in the regular season. Just two years ago, the first team of PUC won a total of 3 games in the regular season. After a few roster changes and some hard work, it’s amazing to see us finish the regular season with 18 wins. For me, the best test of a team is its ability to consistently produce wins and compete for an entire season. We started the season strongly, going 6-0 in our first six games, and we ended the season strongly going 5-1 in our last six games.
Finishing in 3rd Place — As a team, we had a goal from the beginning of the season to qualify for the playoffs. Halfway through the season, when we realized that we were definitely going to make the playoffs, we modified that goal and said that we wanted to finish in the top 3 of the league. This last weekend, we had to win a game against a good team to secure our goal of 3rd place, and we did it. Hopefully we can take this momentum into the playoffs.
Playoffs — The format for the playoffs is very different than the regular season. Many times, you play 3 games in one weekend, and many teams do not have enough pitching to play that many games in one weekend. We will have some challenges, as we will be missing a few players the first round of the playoffs, but if we can play well the first weekend in the quarterfinals, I think we will have some good momentum going into the semi-finals. But the first goal will be winning the first playoff series.
James Murrey:
Overall I think the season went well for us. We weren’t very consistent at times and I think we lost a lot of energy during the middle of the regular season. 18-10 is good for a team that was 3-25 a few years ago, so I think you could call our regular season a success. Generally the league seems weaker than it was last year, but finishing 3rd is still a nice way go into the playoffs.
The playoffs are going to be difficult for us just because of the way they are structured. We don’t have as much French pitching as other teams, which makes it difficult when you play 3 games on a weekend, with a limit on foreign innings. I think we should be fine in the first round (3-game series) if we play well and don’t make the same mistakes we’ve made so many times this year.