The Rouen Huskies one step away from the final of the French baseball championship
Caps screwed on and bats in hand, hitters practice shots while receivers practice their ranges. 48 hours from the return matches of the semi-finals, the Huskies are concentrated but calm. And they have reason, so far their season has been crowned with success: the Norman club has won the Challenge de France and the Confederation Cup, the European Cup B. But the pack is still hungry for titles.
The Huskies start favorites with two wins in two games
After two victories last weekend against the Barracudas of Montpellier at home, the Rouennais are only one victory away from the final. This is what they will be looking for this Saturday in the Hérault, and if necessary Sunday for the next two potential capitals. And the team is determined like its right fielder, Bastien Dagnaud: “We played a lot of good games this year. For the new generation, because we have a lot of young players, it would be the first time we played the triple together so we have to go to the end. It’s our title , it is up to us, and we have to prove that we are the best team in France“.
With 16 titles won in the last 18 Division 1 seasons, the Huskies reign over French baseball. “We cannot ask this club and this team to arrive, to participate in a championship without claiming to win it”, launches Sylvain Virey, sports director. For his part, the manager, Boris Marche, shows his confidence before the trip: “I believe a lot in this group and we have a team that I think is stronger than the one we will face this weekend in terms of depth. [de banc] especially and individualities”. Thus, the Huskies can count on a team of players in the first against a dozen for the Barracudas. In baseball, each team fields nine players on the pitch.
Training, recruitment and infrastructure: the recipe for success
Where does this winning culture come from? For the president of the club, Pierre-Yves Rolland, it’s a clever mix: “The winning cocktail is the quality of the training, the quality of the recruitment and the fact of managing to have a relatively stable group over time to build a real collective. It is also the fact of having the best infrastructures of France”.
Maintaining this domination requires a victory this weekend. The third game of the semi-finals begins on Saturday at 5 p.m. But the Huskies intend to participate in the final, starting next weekend.