This year, the senior team is much more robust than in previous years. The advancement of young players, along with the return of our two members from the Pôle France in Toulouse, Thomas Dourlens and Florian Pavia, has allowed us to improve our level of play and have a much more cohesive group, coach Olivier Camus tells us.
On the agenda for this second part of the championship are 2 groups of 6 teams (Group B: Nice, Beaucaire, Rouen 2, Bois-Guillaume, and Cherbourg) for five single-round matches of nine innings, with only the top 2 spots qualifying for the semi-finals.
With 4 victories out of 4 matches against Rouen 2 (1-0 and 5-4) and Cherbourg (19-5 and 17-4), Nice traveled to Bois-Guillaume as the leader, one of the favorites of this group. Unfortunately, after a grueling journey, the team from Nice was caught off guard and was soundly defeated twice on Normandy soil (10-0 and 9-2).
On Sunday, September 20, Nice Cavigal hosted the Chevaliers de Beaucaire, leaders of this group following their victories against PUC. During the regular season, the Reds and Blacks had won three out of four encounters and aimed to continue on that path.
In the first game, Nicolas Flayol, followed by Thomas Dourlens on the mound, well-supported by a flawless defense, left no scoring opportunities for Beaucaire. On offense, it wasn’t until the fifth inning that Nice scored three points, followed by a fourth in the seventh inning to win 4-0.
In the second game, Nice took the lead right from the first inning by scoring 5 points, but would go no further. After containing Nice’s offense, Beaucaire caught up in the seventh inning, took the lead in the next inning, and won 6-5.
With this result, the Chevaliers are in a strong position to qualify for the semi-finals, though mathematically, Nice Cavigal is still in the race but will need to win twice in Paris against the PUC on October 3 and 4.
