After looking at the German Baseball-Bundesliga a few weeks ago, we would like to continue in our review series with the French Elite League.
Rouen Huskies
For the fifth time in six years ROUEN won the French Baseball Championship. In a rematch from 2007 they defeated SENART in five games in the finals. However it didn’t look like a continuation of the dynasty at the beginning of the season. They struggled in the first half of the year, compared to their standards of course, and finished in second place in the regular season standings with a 21-7 record.
In the semi-final round they managed to overcome the three-game deficit against the TEMPLIERS to clinch home field advantage going into the championship series. After a scare with a 5-8 loss to MONTPELLIER on game day one of the playoffs, the HUSKIES won eleven games in a row to conclude the round robin part of the season with an overall record of 32-8.
In the finals they once again had to rally, after losing games one and three to SENART, but did this in dominating fashion to secure their profile as number one team in France. In the European Cup in Grosseto they couldn’t repeat their 2007 runner up finish, but did well enough with the fourth place behind KINHEIM, GROSSETO and SAN MARINO.
What the stats say
With Kenji Hagiwara still playing college ball ROUEN had a few problems to get going in the first part of the season. However things got better after a few weeks and they climbed back at the top of the standings in most of the categories. The HUSKIES not only won their fifth title in team history, but they also led the league in batting average (.331/OBP .418/SLG .428) and team ERA (3.04). They scored a whopping 397 runs and allowed just 184 (137 ER thanks to 62 errors).
Individual four players scored more than 40 runs this year. Eleven players, with at least 30 at bats, hit over .300, three even reached the .400 level. Hagiwara batted .417 (.537/.537) with seven doubles, three triples, 41 runs scored, 23 RBIs and 17 stolen bases, despite playing only in 29 games. LOS ANGELES DODGERS prospect Joris Bert came over after finishing his minor league season with the Gulf Coast Dodgers. He hit .429 (.476/.643) with one homerun, three triples, three doubles, 21 runs scored and nine RBIs in 13 games. Boris Marche (.383/.458/.464) was the most productive player in the lineup with 13 extra base hits, 47 runs scored and 48 RBIs. Romain David (.342/.449/.460) had 36 runs and 47 RBIs. Randy Perez (.341/.372/.511) had four of the seven homeruns on the team. Luc Piquet (.342/.411/.453) had the most runs on the team with 49. Player/coach Dany Scalabrini (.378/.463/.453) scored 42 runs and drove in 26.
ROUEN brought in the American pitcher Jason Kosow, a former Minor Leaguer in the CUBS organization and cast member in the 2007 movie ‘The Bronx is burning’, to strengthen the pitching staff. However in the end he only pitched in eight games (four starts) in the French championship. He had a 2-1 record with an ERA of 3.16 with 42 strikeouts (13 walks) in 25 2/3 innings. He had his best game during the European Cup, when he struck out 18 in a complete game shutout against the Belgian champion PORT OF ANTWERP GREYS.
Like the years before Keino Perez led the staff as their ace. He finished with a 13-3 record with an ERA of 2.51 in 22 games (17 starts). He struck out 118 (26 walks) in 132 2/3 innings. Besides Kosow, Mathieu Crescent (5-1, ERA 3.06, 47 IP, 37 SO, 36 BB), Giovanni Ouin (6-2, ERA 3.58, 50.1 IP, 28 SO, 35 BB), Alexandre Sochon (3-2, ERA 2.86, 50.1 IP, 31 SO, 22 BB) and later in the season Nicolas Dubaut (3-0, ERA 2.16, 25 IP, 10 SO, 11 BB) split starting duties in game two. Laurent Aoutin (23 games, 5-0, ERA 3.98, 43 IP, 35 SO, 24 BB) was their number one option out of the bullpen. Randy Perez had ten relief appearances with a team-leading 1.42 ERA in 12 2/3 innings.
ROUEN got challenged by SENART this season, but prevailed in the end anyway. Their roster features the most depth in all areas of the game in France, which was also probably the deciding factor in the finals. If they are bored from their dominance in their own country, the HUSKIES might look more into the European Cup. On this level though, they need a strong foreign pitcher to beat the odds against the powerhouses from Netherlands and Italy.
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Paris University Club
Arvernes de Clermont-Ferrand
La Guerche Hawks
Stade Toulouse
Montpellier Barracudas
Lions Savigny
Templiers Senart