Rouen Huskies – Savigny Lions 4-12, 8-7
In a rematch of last year’s final series the Rouen Huskies and Savigny Lions settled for the split to open the 2011 season in the French Elite League on Sunday. In game one the Lions pounded out 15 hits for an easy 12-4 victory. Clayton Cooper dominated through five innings, allowing just three hits and a walk, while striking out seven. Keino Perez took the loss. Kenji Hagiwara hit a two-run homerun for the Huskies. He drove in all four Rouen runs.
The second game was much different. Both teams battled back and forth. In the top of the ninth Savigny took a 7-6 lead thanks to a RBI triple by Eric De Blanc (4-4). But it was not enough for the sweep. David Gauthier opened the bottom of the frame with a double and crossed the plate for the tie when Luis Aponte threw away the ball on a sac bunt try of Boris Marche. He advanced to second on the plate and scored the game winner moments later when first baseman Tomas Salado couldn’t handle the groundball of Oscar Combes. Keino Perez got the win, Pierrick Lemestre the loss. Yann Dal Zotto hit a homerun for the Lions.
Stade Toulousain – Montigny Cougars 18-2 (7), 10-5
After a 40-minute rain delay and the ceremonial first pitch by US Consul David Brown Stade Toulousain dispatched the Montigny Cougars on Sunday afternoon. In game one they broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the third when they sent eleven batters to the plate for a seven-run rally. They added three more in the fifth and six in the sixth for an 18-2 rout. Oakland Athletics signee Andy Paz went 3-for-4 with two triples and six RBI. Sebastien Morgavi had three hits as well. Fred Rougé produced four RBI.
Montigny tried to avoid the sweep in the second game, answering a four-run third with four runs in the fourth. But the Tigers got the lead back right away and ran away with a 10-5 victory. Bastien Dagneux hit a three-run homerun for the Cougars. Thomas Dourlens (TOU) and Warren Cooper (MON) were the starting pitchers. Gary Garcia Martinez got the win in relief, not allowing a run in three innings, while striking out four.
Paris UC – Pessac Panthers 11-1 (8), 6-17 (8)
Paris UC and the promoted Pessac Panthers shared the wins on opening day in France. In front of the eyes of 250 people in the stands, PUC took game one 11-1 in eight innings. Will Munson allowed just two hits, a run and a walk in eight dominant innings, striking out 13. Fred Mouchet reached base four times, going 3-for-5 with three RBI. Chabelo Reyes-Calderon crossed the plate three times. Aurélien Leroy took the loss for Pessac.
The Panthers got some payback in game two. They led off with five runs in the first and sealed a 17-6 with eight runs in the sixth. Alexandre Defontaine went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate; Aurélien Leroy was 4-for-5. Maxwell Tyler struck out five in four-plus innings for Pessac. Guillaume Gisbert received the win in relief. Paris’ starter Sacha Katchincheff lasted only six batters to take the loss. Maximin Monbeig was brilliant in relief for PUC. But it was not enough. PUC head coach Jeff Stoeckel following the game:
“I was very pleased with our offensive production today. We had 10 hits in the first game, and we had 11 hits in the second game. We ran the bases very effectively, and forced Pessac to make plays to get us out. In the first game, our team played phenomenal defense behind Will, and I believe our offense was successful because we relied on the momentum from the pitching performance. In the second game, I felt like our team didn’t respond well to being down by 5 runs in the first inning, even though we were within 2 or 3 runs of Pessac for most of the game. Maximin Monbeig did a fantastic job of coming in the game and giving us a chance to win, and I am upset that we couldn’t be more in the game for him. I look forward to covering some things this week in practice so that we can win 2 games against Rouen next week.”
Montpellier Barracudas – Templiers Senart 0-2, 18-9
The third split of the game day in France happened in southern France, where the Montpellier Barracudas and the Templiers Senart shared wins. In game one on Saturday Mathieu Brelle-Andrade won the pitcher’s duel against the combination of Joris Navarro and Thomas Meley to lead Senart to a 2-0 shutout.
In the second part of the two-game set the Barracudas out-slugged the Templiers 18-9. They scored seven runs in the second and seven in the seventh. Senart put five runs on the board in the third. Anthony Cros reached in all six of his plate appearances, four times with a walk (twice IBB) and twice with a hit including a triple.
{mrb-standing:france-2011}