BASEBALL – Challenge de France: Montigny eliminated in pools at home, Rouen crowned
The backyard adventure tour. The Montigny-le-Bretonneux Cougars were unable to clear the group stage of the Challenge de France organized from May 26 to 29 and which the club co-hosted with Chartres. It must be said that the Ignymontains were not selected in the best conditions for this annual competition bringing together the eight best French clubs. The fault in particular of a workforce cut off from its best elements.
A decimated team
“From the weekend before, […] there were a few major players who were injured, says Franck Lecarpentier, former president and now assistant coach of the Cougars. We approached the competition without one of our best pitchers (Yorfrank Lopez, Editor’s note), [et] one of our best hitters, Allan Fagnoni, who was knocked out the week before. When you have your best pitcher and one of your best hitters who are not there, it gets complicated, and in the first game, we also lost one of our best hitters and one of our best defensemen on the field, Agustin Tissera. “Added to this is Dylan Mayeux, “one of our best French players, who had had surgery 15 days before the Challenge and is not present either, he is still on sick leave until June 6”.
Concerning Yorfrank Lopez, Franck Lecarpentier indicates that “he must pass an arthroscanner but we do not yet know what he has”, but concedes that “it does not smell very good”. As for Allan Fagnoni, “we are not going to take any risks”, but “we will try to recover the other two”, for the next match, in the league, on June 12 in Metz, said the assistant coach.
It is therefore with a decimated team that the Cougars competed in the Challenge de France. The ignymontain club lost for its opening match, against Savigny (6-3), on May 26, before recovering against Metz the next day (13-12), then being beaten again by Savigny (15- 5) the same day. “It’s a double elimination format, like at the World Cup. From the moment you have two defeats in a row [en poules]you are eliminated”, specifies Franck Lecarpentier.
The public at the Jean Maréchal stadium was therefore not enough. “On the Thursday Montigny-Savigny […], there were already a lot of people since we have a maximum capacity of 300 people and there were about 250 in the stands. So it was almost full, it was quite nice. Friday […], there were a little fewer people because it’s a working day and a lot of people were leaving for the weekend as well. But we had about 200 people and there was a lot of encouragement, ”recalls the ex-president.
For Montigny, who had already hosted the Challenge de France three times, it’s always “a great pride, and it allows us to test ourselves, because the Challenge de France is a bit of repetition to receive things a little more large,” says Franck Lecarpentier. And in particular a European Cup. “The ground was created for the organization of a European Cup, he recalls. We would like to welcome one and if possible, be qualified for this European Cup. This year, we were to host a European Cup B with Rouen [mais], with the war in Ukraine, the Belarusian team is not allowed to participate in the competition. As a result, the match schedule fits into a single field, so Rouen organizes everything on its own. »
The fervor of an ignymontane public who encourages his team against clubs from all over the continent, the Cougars could afford the right to experience it by winning the Challenge de France, only the winner of the tournament obtaining a sesame for the cup from Europe. The club has therefore grilled a joker, but it still has the championship. To qualify for the European Cup, you have to be a champion, or a finalist if Rouen, which won this Challenge de France, achieves the double.
“We are very well placed in the group ranking (2nd, and you have to finish in the first two to reach the final stages Editor’s note), judge Franck Lecarpentier. Savigny certainly has two games less than us, but a slightly more serious schedule than ours, since they still have to play in Rouen. “The Savigny-Montigny match on July 3 could well be decisive, Franck Lecarpentier specifying however that “if they have not made a result against Rouen, there is a chance that we will no longer be recoverable”.
PHOTO CREDIT : Montigny Baseball/Softball – Cougars