Barracudas de Montpellier

The Barracudas de Montpellier are a French baseball team in French Division 1 Baseball Championship based in Montpellier, Hérault. They were founded in 1985. The team plays its home games at Veyrassi Sports Complex on the northern edge of the city of Montpellier.

History[]

Under Canadian coach Greg Hamilton, the team won three consecutive French leagues titles from 1993–1995. In 1994, the then 22-year old fellow Canadian pitcher Jeff Zimmerman would spend a season with the Barracudas. Five years later, in 1999, the righthander was selected for the American League All-Star team as 26-year-old rookie for the Texas Rangers. In his '99 season, Zimmerman went 9-3 with a 2.36 ERA for the AL West champs. In his career, the reliever would post a 17–12 record with a 3.27 ERA in 228.2 innings in the majors. Following the departure of Greg Hamilton after the 1997 season, the club had nine different managers from 1998-2008.

In 2009, Jean Michel Mayeur took over the helm and for three seasons was player/coach before becoming the full-time manager in 2012. In early 2010, local product Anthony Cros would become at the time, just the third French player to sign with a pro club in North America. The power-hitting righty spent 2010 with the Quebec Capitales before returning to the Barracudas the following season. Cros' number 55 is one of five numbers retired by the club to this date. In 2011 and 2015, the Barracudas lost to the Rouen Huskies in the French Series. The club has finished in the top 4 in the 11 team French Division 1 in every year but one since Mayeur became manager. In 2018, Montpellier pitcher Yoan Antonac, who came up through the Montpellier youth teams and academy, was the first player from the club to be signed by an MLB franchise. The tall righty is currently in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system.

In 2019, the club finished in third place in France with a 23–9 record, thanks in large part to Venezuelan ace Kevin Canelon, who finished 11–1 in 110.2 IP, with 125 K and a 0.49 ERA. The annual Challenge de France was held in Montpellier in 2019, where Senart edged Rouen in a thrilling final by the score of 7-5. Following the end of the 2019 season, the club said goodbye to former AAA Venezuelan shortstop Larry Infante. Infante, in his two seasons with Montpellier, batted .389 (63-for-162) with 27 runs scored, 1 HR, and 31 RBI in 44 games played.

After a year without baseball due to Covid-19, the 2021 Barracudas won the Challenge de France, qualifying the club for the 2022 CEB Cup, alongside 2021 French champions Rouen. Kevin Canelon, Erly Casanova and Owen Ozanich anchored the pitching staff, which finished with a league best 2.12 ERA. The Barracudas added power hitting infielder Ariel Soriano mid-way through the season. Youngsters Mathis Nayral and Pierre Doat made their division 1 debuts for the club.

European Cup appearances[]

1994 Champions Cup (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
1995 Champions Cup (Nettuno, Italy)
1996 CEB Cup (Zagreb, Croatia)
1997 CEB Cup (Montpellier, France)
1998 Champions Cup (Karlovac, Croatia)
2000 Champions Cup (Nettuno, Italy)
2001 CEB Cup (Montpellier, France)
2002 Champions Cup (Regensburg, Germany)
2005 CEB Cup (Montpellier, France)
2007 Champions Cup (Hoofddorp, Netherlands)
2011 CEB Cup (Montpellier, France)
2016 CEB Cup (Rouen, France)

Retired numbers[]

2 James Schwedhelm
12 Lahcene Benhamida
42 Laurent Cassier
55 Anthony Cros
58 Frederic Raynaud

2022 Schedule and Preview[]

2022 Spring Training Schedule

February 27 @ Nice

March 26 vs Toulouse

March 27 vs Nice

April 3 vs Metz

April 3 vs Meyzieu

2022 Regular Season Schedule

April 10 vs La Rochelle

April 24 @ Nice

May 8 vs Toulouse

May 15 @ Sénart

May 22 @ La Rochelle

May 26-29 Challenge de France

June 6-12 European Cup

June 19 vs Nice

July 3 @ Toulouse

July 24 vs Sénart

Semi Finals

July 30 Game 1

July 31 Game 2

August 6 Game 3

August 7 Games 4/5 if nec

French Series

August 12 Game 1

August 13 Game 2

August 19 Game 3

August 20 Games 4/5 if nec

Following a successful 2021 season, Jean Michel Mayeur's club have set their goals high for 2022. Returning to anchor the pitching staff are the club's "three aces"; Kevin Canelon, Erly Casanova and Owen Ozanich. Infielder Ariel Soriano returns for a second season with the club, and his brother will be joining the left side of the infield next to him. Power hitting first baseman Steve Anderson has signed on to play first base and bat alongside the Soriano brothers in the heart of the lineup. Japanese two-way Kenjiro Sugiura fills out the team's foreign player quota. The hard throwing righty figures to close games when not behind the plate catching.

The majority of Mayeur's French talent will be back in 2022. Currently finishing their college seasons in the US are Ismail Pontiac, Fred Walter, Paolo Brossier, Mael Zan and Julien Monks. Fabien Kovacs and Pierre Doat will be in the mix to catch alongside Sugiura. Mathis Nayral, who made his French national team debut in 2021, figures to get more innings out of the bullpen when not in the Barracudas lineup as a position player. Veterans Clement Le Pichon and Mathis Guiraud should also have a spot in the starting nine.

The Barracudas will open the 2022 season at home on Sunday, April 10 against La Rochelle. In May, the club will try to defend it's Challenge de France title from 2021. In June, the club will head north to Rouen to play in the European Confederations Cup.

2021[]

After finishing third in the 2019 campaign, the 2020 version of the Barracudas hoped to reach the French Series however they, along with all the other clubs in France were forced to wait, as the 2020 season was cancelled due to Covid-19.

The club has made some significant additions to the roster. In late 2019, Montpellier announced the signing of pitcher Owen Ozanich. The 32-year-old Ozanich has played in the Australian Baseball League for Adelaide in 2011–2012 and for Parma in the Italian Serie A in 2019–2020 in addition to 8 seasons in Rouen where he went 91–15, winning 7 French championships.

Canelon (7-3, 1.75 ERA), Cuban righty Erly Casanova (7-1, 2.25 ERA) and Ozanich (4-2, 0.86 ERA) anchored the rotation.

Two Americans, Patrick Cromwell (.280/.430/.404) and Andy Cosgrove (.266/.406/.405) joined the club, Cromwell played infield at Clemson University while Cosgrove arrived after stints at NC State and in the minor leagues (Twins organization).

Nine Barracudas returned from US college seasons. Fabien Kovacs, Mael Zan, Julien Monks, Luc Polit, Nolan Soliveres, Nicolas Khoury, Ismail Pontiac, Fred Walter and Paolo Brossier all played in the states in early 2021 and came back in the south of France to solidify manager Jean Michel Mayeur's team.

The Barracudas finished the regular season 17-3, second in their pool behind Senart.

In September 2021 Montpellier went 4-0 in the annual Challenge de France, taking home the club's first title since 2006. Montpellier's pitching staff led the tournament in ERA and strikeouts. Mathis Nayral, Owen Ozanich, Erly Casanova and Kevin Canelon each won a game. Canelon took home tournament MVP honors. Paolo Brossier, Ariel Soriano and Clement Le Pichon homered in a 15-1 win over Rouen in the final. The Barracudas earned a spot in the 2022 CEB European Cup.

The defending French champions, Rouen Huskies, knocked the 2021 Barracudas out of the playoffs in the semi-finals; taking the best-of-five series three games to one.

2021 Schedule[]

Regular Season Record: 17-3

Challenge de France: 4-0

Playoffs: 1-3

2021 Overall: 22-6

Current roster[]

PITCHERS

Kevin Canelon (VENEZUELA)

Erly Casanova (CUBA)

Owen Ozanich

Yoan Antonac (PHILLIES MILB)

Mathis Nayral

Ismail Pontiac

Kenny Esposito

Kenjiro Sugiura (JAPAN)

CATCHERS

Kenjiro Sugiura (JAPAN)

Fabian Kovacs

Luis Delagu

Pierre Doat

INFIELDERS

Steve Anderson (USA)

Mael Zan

Ismail Pontiac

Ariel Soriano (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

Yudi Soriano (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

Mathis Guiraud

Mathis Nayral

OUTFIELDERS

Paolo Brossier

Clement Le Pichon

Julien Monks

Nicolas Khoury

Greg Cros

External link[]

Official site